According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, December marked the sixth consecutive month of severe (or worse) drought across South Central Nebraska, as the latter half of 2012 marked its place in history as one of the worst droughts since the 1950s. For the year as a whole, the vast majority of the 24-county area only measured between 40-80 percent of normal precipitation, with only a small portion of Clay County finishing the year near-normal. In terms of percent-of-normal annual precipitation, one of the driest sites during 2012 was Grand Island (Central Nebraska Regional Airport), which established its driest year on record with only 11.55 inches...a notable 15.11 below normal.
Focusing solely on December, despite a welcome change of pace featuring above normal precipitation for most (but not all) of the area, all 24 counties remained under a federally-designated drought disaster. According to weekly issuances of the U.S. Drought Monitor, there was essentially no change whatsoever in drought classification during the month. Category D4 exceptional drought (the worst possible category) remained firmly in place across all or part of 15 counties, primarily those north of Interstate 80 and also west of Highway 183. Meanwhile, category D3 extreme drought persisted across most of the other nine counties, while only a small sliver of category D2 severe drought held on in southern Thayer County. Based on reports from around 50 NWS cooperative observers, and also incorporating radar-derived estimation, roughly 85 percent of the area realized above normal precipitation in December (per normals generally between 0.50-1.00). The majority of this much-needed precipitation was associated with two winter storms. The first of these slammed most areas with blizzard conditions and several inches of snow on the 19th, with the highest snow totals of at least 6-9 focused within a southwest-to-northeast swath including places such as Holdrege, Hastings and York. A less-intense snowfall event on the 31st blanketed southern counties mainly between Highway 6 and the Kansas border with 2-4. Per NWS cooperative observers, a few of the highest December precipitation totals included 1.81 near Gresham, 1.77 at Central City and 1.69 at Hastings. On the drier side of things, and continuing trends from the past several months, the limited area that measured below normal precipitation was largely confined to a few northwestern counties including Valley, Greeley, Sherman and Dawson. Within these counties, a few of the lowest monthly totals included 0.12 at Cozad, 0.31 at Gothenburg and 0.35 at Ord airport. According to the December 31st issuance of the USDA Nebraska Weather and Crops Report, 49 percent of the state-averaged wheat crop was in poor to very poor condition, well below the 74% good-to-excellent rating one year prior. Hay and forage supplies across the state rated 39% short to very short, also in sharp contrast to December 2011 when 96% was adequate to surplus.

Drought in BUFFALO, NEBRASKA
From 01-DEC-12 00:00:00 to 31-DEC-12 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in CLAY, NEBRASKA
From 01-DEC-12 00:00:00 to 31-DEC-12 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in DAWSON, NEBRASKA
From 01-DEC-12 00:00:00 to 31-DEC-12 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in FILLMORE, NEBRASKA
From 01-DEC-12 00:00:00 to 31-DEC-12 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in FRANKLIN, NEBRASKA
From 01-DEC-12 00:00:00 to 31-DEC-12 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in FURNAS, NEBRASKA
From 01-DEC-12 00:00:00 to 31-DEC-12 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in GOSPER, NEBRASKA
From 01-DEC-12 00:00:00 to 31-DEC-12 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in GREELEY, NEBRASKA
From 01-DEC-12 00:00:00 to 31-DEC-12 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in HALL, NEBRASKA
From 01-DEC-12 00:00:00 to 31-DEC-12 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in HAMILTON, NEBRASKA
From 01-DEC-12 00:00:00 to 31-DEC-12 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in HARLAN, NEBRASKA
From 01-DEC-12 00:00:00 to 31-DEC-12 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in HOWARD, NEBRASKA
From 01-DEC-12 00:00:00 to 31-DEC-12 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in KEARNEY, NEBRASKA
From 01-DEC-12 00:00:00 to 31-DEC-12 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in MERRICK, NEBRASKA
From 01-DEC-12 00:00:00 to 31-DEC-12 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in NANCE, NEBRASKA
From 01-DEC-12 00:00:00 to 31-DEC-12 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in NUCKOLLS, NEBRASKA
From 01-DEC-12 00:00:00 to 31-DEC-12 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in PHELPS, NEBRASKA
From 01-DEC-12 00:00:00 to 31-DEC-12 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in POLK, NEBRASKA
From 01-DEC-12 00:00:00 to 31-DEC-12 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in SHERMAN, NEBRASKA
From 01-DEC-12 00:00:00 to 31-DEC-12 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in THAYER, NEBRASKA
From 01-DEC-12 00:00:00 to 31-DEC-12 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in VALLEY, NEBRASKA
From 01-DEC-12 00:00:00 to 31-DEC-12 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in WEBSTER, NEBRASKA
From 01-DEC-12 00:00:00 to 31-DEC-12 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in YORK, NEBRASKA
From 01-DEC-12 00:00:00 to 31-DEC-12 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in ADAMS, NEBRASKA
From 01-DEC-12 00:00:00 to 31-DEC-12 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor