HASTINGS — For the first time since February 2022, areas of central Nebraska recorded no severe drought conditions, thanks to beneficial moisture through late April and early May.
According to the National Weather Service – Hastings, over the course of several rounds of showers and thunderstorms, nearly their entire warning area received between one and three inches of precipitation.
The year 2022 was historically dry across the region and was comparable to 2012 in several ways. 2022 was a notably dry year with most places falling between five to 12 inches short of 30 years normal.
Some locations had to dig back further in the record books to find a drier year. For example, Hastings had its driest year in 56 years, since 1966.
“For many official long-term NWS stations, 2022 ranked between a top 10 and top 15 driest years on record,” NWS Hastings stated.
A site eight miles south of Elwood was the second driest in the entire NWS Hastings area, recording only 12.61 inches for the whole year, a departure of 10.67 inches from the average.
Per the U.S. Drought Monitor, 2022 began with the majority of our coverage area no worse than the Abnormally Dry, D0. However, by year’s end the vast majority of our area had degraded to a mix of Moderate, D1, Severe, D2 and Extreme, D3 Drought, with the majority of the worst-off D3 concentrated north of Interstate 80 in Nebraska.
Drought began to ease slightly in 2023 as the La Niña weather phenomenon was transitioning to neutral and later El Niño.
La Niña and El Niño are part of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle in the Pacific Ocean.
During La Niña events, trade winds are even stronger than usual, pushing more warm water toward Asia.
These cold waters in the Pacific push the jet stream northward. This tends to lead to drought in the southern U.S. and heavy rains and flooding in the Pacific Northwest and Canada. During a La Niña year, winter temperatures are warmer than normal in the South and cooler than normal in the North.
This particular La Niña, which started in September 2020, is considered three years old because it affected three different winters, was unusual and one of the longest on record. It took a brief break in 2021 but came roaring back with record intensity.
Looking locally, a lobe of moderate drought, D1, conditions exist to the east of the Tri-Cities. Hall County and the eastern area of Buffalo County are under abnormally dry, D0, conditions. Adams County is mostly under moderate drought conditions.
There are no severe drought conditions in place across the whole state of Nebraska.
“Moderate to heavy rain amounts fell in eastern portions of the High Plains region, especially in central and eastern Nebraska, northern and eastern Kansas and eastern North Dakota,” the U.S. Drought Monitor stated, “In parts of eastern Nebraska, improvements were somewhat tempered by remaining long-term precipitation deficits and hydrologic impacts from those deficits.”
Looking ahead through the May 16, NWS Hastings said the period does not look overly wet but there are scattered chances for rain.