Through all but the final few days of June, an unusually long-lasting, roughly six-week period of generally minor flooding continued along the Platte River in South Central Nebraska, impacting local areas from Gothenburg downstream to near Grand Island. This flooding event got underway during the May 15th-20th time frame, initially spurred by a combination of heavy rainfall over upstream portions of northeast Colorado and the southern Nebraska Panhandle, coincident with above normal Rocky Mountains snow melt. During June, flooding persisted, and at times worsened, thanks to multiple rounds of heavy rain falling directly over the local Platte basin, especially downstream from Kearney. Although peak water levels and impacts during this May-June event closely resembled those which occurred during the Platte River flooding of late-September to early-October 2013, this event was considerably more prolonged. The vast majority of local flooding impacts were noted within Dawson, Buffalo and Hall counties, mainly affecting pastures and lowlands immediately adjacent to the river, with very little impact to infrastructure. That being said, a few locations did experience legitimate disruptions. One of these was the Blue Heron Campground near Gothenburg, and another was the area around the south side of the Interstate 80/Highway 281 interchange (exit 312) near Grand Island, where water occasionally encroached into the parking lots of businesses. Flooding concerns were noticeably lower downstream from the Grand Island area, largely due to the widening of the main river channel.
Taking a closer look at local flooding trends during June, of three automated Platte river gauges near Cozad, Kearney and Grand Island, all of them spent the majority of the month in minor flood stage. Grand Island even briefly exceeded moderate flood stage of 7.0 feet on two occasions, first on the 5th and again on the 19th. The gauge sites near Cozad and Grand Island briefly dropped slightly below flood stage for a few days around mid-month, before going into flood again. In general, there were June crests in water levels, one early in the month between mainly the 2nd-8th, and again later in the month from primarily the 17th-23rd. The early-month peak was clearly tied to multiple rounds of heavy rain that fell between the 3rd-6th. During this four-day stretch, a concentrated area of the Platte basin between Kearney, Hastings and Grand Island was drenched with 3-7. During a heavy rain event at Grand Island on the evening of the 4th, the river actually flowed over South Locust St. near Interstate 80 exit 314 for a short time. Fortunately, a noticeably drier weather pattern settled in for the latter half of the month, allowing excess water to gradually work its way out of the local area. From roughly the 23rd onward through the end of June, a steady decline in water levels occurred at all three aforementioned gauge sites, with the Kearney gauge being the last to drop below its flood stage of 6.0 ft. on the 29th.

Flood in DAWSON, NEBRASKA
From 01-JUN-15 00:00:00 to 23-JUN-15 18:00:00 (CST-6)
Location: GOTHENBURG
Flood cause: Heavy Rain / Snow Melt
Property damage: 25.00K
Crop damage: 3.00M
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Flood in BUFFALO, NEBRASKA
From 01-JUN-15 00:00:00 to 30-JUN-15 00:00:00 (CST-6)
Location: ELM CREEK
Flood cause: Heavy Rain / Snow Melt
Property damage: 25.00K
Crop damage: 3.00M
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Flood in HALL, NEBRASKA
From 01-JUN-15 00:00:00 to 28-JUN-15 18:00:00 (CST-6)
Location: WOOD RIVER
Flood cause: Heavy Rain / Snow Melt
Property damage: 25.00K
Crop damage: 3.00M
Reported by: Emergency Manager