Drought in Blaine, Nebraska

Extreme (D3) drought conditions persisted through the end of January over the northern third of Blaine County. Extreme (D3) drought conditions improved to severe (D2) drought conditions over the southern two-thirds of the county by the end of the month. The cooperative observer at Purdum reported 3.30 inches of precipitation for January. This was 2.73 inches above the normal of 0.57 inches.

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.