According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, May 2014 marked the 24th-consecutive month during which drought of at least category D2 Severe intensity plagued some portion of this 24-county South Central Nebraska area, continuing one of the most notable droughts in decades. Unfortunately, in the wake of fairly decent April precipitation for much of the area, May signaled another setback as the vast majority of South Central Nebraska fell well-short of normal precipitation. There was only one localized exception to these predominantly dry conditions, as much of York, northeastern Clay and southeastern Hamilton counties received near-to-above-normal rainfall thanks in large part to severe storms on Mother's Day, the 11th. According to reports from nearly 50 NWS cooperative observers, and also taking into account radar-derived precipitation estimates, roughly 95% of the 24-county area observed below normal May precipitation, and more significantly, somewhere between 20-30% of the area measured less than one-fourth of normal May rainfall (meaning generally less than 1.05). For many locations, this was at least the sixth month out of the last seven to feature at least slightly below normal precipitation, and for northern sites such as Ord it was the eighth-consecutive below normal month. As just one prime example of this prolonged dryness, the nearly 7-month stretch from Nov. 6, 2013-May 31, 2014 tied for the fourth-driest on record (4.67) at Grand Island airport between those particular dates out of 119 years of records.
Despite the dubious May rainfall deficit across the majority of South Central Nebraska, there was relatively little change in drought classification during the month according to the weekly U.S. Drought Monitor. At month's end, at least a slight majority of the area remained in category D1 Moderate drought. On the worse-off side of things, D2 Severe drought remained firmly in place throughout the month in several western counties, including large portions of Furnas, Gosper, Dawson and Valley, while also expanding somewhat to include decent chunks of Sherman and Greeley counties. Farther southeast, a separate zone of D2 Severe drought also crept into southeastern Thayer County. Actually, there was a limited positive note during the month as the majority of Hamilton, York, and Polk counties received enough May rain to be deemed void of all drought categorization. Surrounding the fringes of this limited drought-free area and also extending farther southwest to include large portions of Adams and Kearney counties (and small portions of other counties) was a corridor of category D0 Abnormally Dry conditions (considered to be one category better than ���true��� drought). As for May precipitation extremes within South Central Nebraska per NWS cooperative observers and NeRAIN observers, a few of the paltriest totals from the prevailing below normal areas included 0.49 at Hubbell, 0.51 at Ord airport, 0.62 at Greeley and 0.71 at Kearney airport. Within the limited corridor of above normal rainfall, a few of the highest May totals (all from York County) originated from one mile east-southeast of York (8.51 inches), three miles east of Waco (7.41) and from Bradshaw (5.80). Despite the prevailing below normal May precipitation regime across the local South Central Nebraska area, state-averaged topsoil moisture supplies actually improved somewhat during the month according to the USDA Nebraska Crop Progress and Condition Report for the week ending June 1st, as the short to very short categories decreased from 53% to 32% since late-April. Subsoil moisture supplies exhibited similar improvement, decreasing from 62% to 47% short to very short.

Drought in SHERMAN, NEBRASKA
From 01-MAY-14 00:00:00 to 31-MAY-14 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in GREELEY, NEBRASKA
From 01-MAY-14 00:00:00 to 31-MAY-14 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in DAWSON, NEBRASKA
From 01-MAY-14 00:00:00 to 31-MAY-14 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in VALLEY, NEBRASKA
From 01-MAY-14 00:00:00 to 31-MAY-14 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in GOSPER, NEBRASKA
From 01-MAY-14 00:00:00 to 31-MAY-14 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in FURNAS, NEBRASKA
From 01-MAY-14 00:00:00 to 31-MAY-14 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in THAYER, NEBRASKA
From 01-MAY-14 00:00:00 to 31-MAY-14 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in PHELPS, NEBRASKA
From 01-MAY-14 00:00:00 to 31-MAY-14 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor