Drought — Wheeler, Nebraska

2023-01-01 to 2023-01-31 · Wheeler, Nebraska

Event narrative

Severe (D2) drought conditions persisted across far southwestern Wheeler County through the end of January. Across the remainder of the county, extreme (D3) drought conditions persisted through the end of the month. The cooperative observer at Bartlett 1W reported 2.63 inches of precipitation for January. This was 1.87 inches above the normal of 0.76 inches.

Wider weather episode

Precipitation across western and north central was well above normal for January and led to improvement in drought conditions across portions of north central, central and southwestern Nebraska. Precipitation totals for cooperative observers across the area ranged from 1.16 inches at Ellsworth 2W to 5.25 inches at Purdum. Heavy snow occurred across the area on January 18th with upwards of 2 feet of snow being reported in Custer County. North Platte had its heaviest calendar day snowfall on record with 13.9 inches on the 18th. Valentine had its wettest January on record.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1077661. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.