According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, April marked the tenth consecutive month of severe (or worse) drought across South Central Nebraska. This continued one of the most notable droughts since the 1950s, although much of the area saw some encouraging trends during the month. Based on Drought Monitor weekly issuances, for the first time in several months there was a widespread - albeit slight - improvement in drought classification. More specifically, most locations generally west of a line from Franklin-Aurora-Silver Creek improved from D4 Exceptional Drought (the worst-possible category) to D3 Extreme Drought, while most places east of this line improved from Extreme to D2 Severe Drought. In fact, only southwestern Furnas County remained in Exceptional drought at month's end. Based on reports from around 50 NWS cooperative observers, and also incorporating radar-derived estimation, roughly 70 percent of the area tallied above normal April precipitation (based on normals generally between 2-3 inches). Even for the roughly 30% of the area that measured below normal precipitation, most of these places checked in only slightly below normal and tallied at least 1.50 for the month. In other words, no areas were left bone-dry through the entire month, as had been the case several times during the past year. Thanks largely to multiple rounds of thunderstorms that trained over the same corridor on the night of the 8th, the highest monthly precipitation totals of 3-5 inches (and locally higher) concentrated within a southwest-to-northeast axis running roughly 15 miles either side of a line from Holdrege-Ravenna-Fullerton. Within this zone, some of the highest-known April totals included 6.01 seven miles north-northeast of Central City, 5.07 two miles west of Genoa, 4.96 at Fullerton and 4.75 at St. Paul. At Fullerton, it was the 11th-wettest April on record dating back to 1901. On the comparably drier side of things, those areas that received less than 2.25 of precipitation during the month were largely concentrated within parts of Adams, Webster, Franklin, Nuckolls and Furnas counties. A few of the lowest monthly totals were reported at Red Cloud and two miles northeast of Upland (1.57), Franklin (1.91) and Beaver City (1.98). As for April snowfall, a predominant below normal temperature regime set the stage for generally above normal amounts, with a few spots such as Ord and Belgrade accumulating as much as 7 inches.
Despite the positive news for much of South Central Nebraska during April, there was still a long way to go to fully relieve the area of severe or worse drought given that longer-term impacts to subsoil moisture and groundwater deficits remained. The trend was on the right track, however, as most of the 24-county area observed between 75 and 115 percent of normal precipitation during the first four months of 2013. According to the USDA Nebraska Crop Progress and Condition Report for the week ending May 5th, state-averaged topsoil moisture had decreased to 36% short to very short, a notable 44% improvement since late March. However, subsoil moisture supplies still rated 84% short to very short, only a 12% improvement over the same time span. The state-averaged wheat crop rated 49% poor to very poor, and hay and forage supplies rated 70% short to very short, 11% worse versus late March. Pasture and range conditions across Nebraska averaged 70% poor to very poor, however, stock water supplies were only 21% short to very short, a 15% improvement since late March.

Drought in ADAMS, NEBRASKA
From 01-APR-13 00:00:00 to 30-APR-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in BUFFALO, NEBRASKA
From 01-APR-13 00:00:00 to 30-APR-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in CLAY, NEBRASKA
From 01-APR-13 00:00:00 to 30-APR-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in DAWSON, NEBRASKA
From 01-APR-13 00:00:00 to 30-APR-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in FILLMORE, NEBRASKA
From 01-APR-13 00:00:00 to 30-APR-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in FRANKLIN, NEBRASKA
From 01-APR-13 00:00:00 to 30-APR-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in FURNAS, NEBRASKA
From 01-APR-13 00:00:00 to 30-APR-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in GOSPER, NEBRASKA
From 01-APR-13 00:00:00 to 01-APR-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in GREELEY, NEBRASKA
From 01-APR-13 00:00:00 to 30-APR-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in HALL, NEBRASKA
From 01-APR-13 00:00:00 to 30-APR-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in HAMILTON, NEBRASKA
From 01-APR-13 00:00:00 to 30-APR-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in HARLAN, NEBRASKA
From 01-APR-13 00:00:00 to 30-APR-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in HOWARD, NEBRASKA
From 01-APR-13 00:00:00 to 30-APR-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in KEARNEY, NEBRASKA
From 01-APR-13 00:00:00 to 30-APR-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in MERRICK, NEBRASKA
From 01-APR-13 00:00:00 to 30-APR-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in NANCE, NEBRASKA
From 01-APR-13 00:00:00 to 30-APR-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in NUCKOLLS, NEBRASKA
From 01-APR-13 00:00:00 to 30-APR-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in PHELPS, NEBRASKA
From 01-APR-13 00:00:00 to 30-APR-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in POLK, NEBRASKA
From 01-APR-13 00:00:00 to 30-APR-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in SHERMAN, NEBRASKA
From 01-APR-13 00:00:00 to 30-APR-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in THAYER, NEBRASKA
From 01-APR-13 00:00:00 to 30-APR-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in VALLEY, NEBRASKA
From 01-APR-13 00:00:00 to 30-APR-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in WEBSTER, NEBRASKA
From 01-APR-13 00:00:00 to 30-APR-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in YORK, NEBRASKA
From 01-APR-13 00:00:00 to 30-APR-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor