For at least some portion of May 2022, 21 of the 24 South Central Nebraska counties were completely or partially-assigned either Severe (D2) or Extreme Drought (D3) by the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM), marking the fourth consecutive month with D2 within the area and third straight month with D3. That being said, for much of the area it was a somewhat encouraging month for drought trends, with prevailing near to above normal rainfall in most (but not all) places prompting a slight decrease in overall drought intensity over the course of the month. Specifying more county-based categorical detail, May began with at least portions of nine far northern/western counties in D3: Valley/Greeley (entire counties), Sherman, Howard, Nance, Buffalo, Dawson, Gosper and Furnas (the remainder of these counties opened the month in D2). Meanwhile, at least portions of 12 other counties started the month assigned D2: Merrick, Polk, Hall, Hamilton, York, Phelps, Kearney, Adams, Clay, Fillmore, Harlan and Franklin. Outside of these worst-off D3/D2 zones, Webster, Nuckolls and Thayer counties were the only ones to start the month entirely categorized as Moderate Drought (D1). Once May got underway, a few much-needed early month rain events quickly started whittling away at especially D3, which was completely removed from all but parts of western Furnas County by the 10th. Elsewhere in the local area, a mix of D2/D1 held firm through most of the remainder of the month, although very late in the month parts of York, Fillmore, Nuckolls and especially Thayer counties actually improved to D0 (Abnormally Dry)...marking the first appearance of D0 in South Central Nebraska since a brief/localized stint in late March.
Turning to May 2022 precipitation data, the best news of all was that roughly 40 percent of the 24-county area measured at least slightly above normal amounts, and about two-thirds of the area was at least near normal (75+ percent of normal...a big improvement over April 2022 trends). However, around 60 percent of the area still registered slightly below normal for the month, precluding truly major drought improvement. The majority of South Central Nebraska tallied between 3-5 inches for the month. On the wetter side of things, parts of several eastern counties (mainly east of line from Osceola-Red Cloud) saw more widespread coverage of 5-6+. On the other end of the rain gauge, the overall-driest locales primarily concentrated in parts of Buffalo, Hall, Howard, Nance and Merrick counties, where monthly totals of only 2-3 were noted. This included Central Nebraska Regional Airport (Grand Island), where the May total of 2.45 was only 52% of normal. Per several dozen NWS/CoCoRaHS observers, a few of the very wettest May amounts featured 6.65 near Nora and 6.11 in Superior. In contrast, a few of the very-driest sums originated from nine miles northeast of Palmer and also eight miles west-northwest of Genoa (both 2.39).

Drought in VALLEY, NEBRASKA
From 01-MAY-22 00:00:00 to 31-MAY-22 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in GREELEY, NEBRASKA
From 01-MAY-22 00:00:00 to 31-MAY-22 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in SHERMAN, NEBRASKA
From 01-MAY-22 00:00:00 to 31-MAY-22 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in HOWARD, NEBRASKA
From 01-MAY-22 00:00:00 to 31-MAY-22 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in NANCE, NEBRASKA
From 01-MAY-22 00:00:00 to 31-MAY-22 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in MERRICK, NEBRASKA
From 01-MAY-22 00:00:00 to 31-MAY-22 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in DAWSON, NEBRASKA
From 01-MAY-22 00:00:00 to 31-MAY-22 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in BUFFALO, NEBRASKA
From 01-MAY-22 00:00:00 to 31-MAY-22 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in HALL, NEBRASKA
From 01-MAY-22 00:00:00 to 31-MAY-22 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in HAMILTON, NEBRASKA
From 01-MAY-22 00:00:00 to 31-MAY-22 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in GOSPER, NEBRASKA
From 01-MAY-22 00:00:00 to 31-MAY-22 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in PHELPS, NEBRASKA
From 01-MAY-22 00:00:00 to 31-MAY-22 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in KEARNEY, NEBRASKA
From 01-MAY-22 00:00:00 to 31-MAY-22 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in ADAMS, NEBRASKA
From 01-MAY-22 00:00:00 to 31-MAY-22 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in CLAY, NEBRASKA
From 01-MAY-22 00:00:00 to 31-MAY-22 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in FURNAS, NEBRASKA
From 01-MAY-22 00:00:00 to 31-MAY-22 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in HARLAN, NEBRASKA
From 01-MAY-22 00:00:00 to 31-MAY-22 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in YORK, NEBRASKA
From 01-MAY-22 00:00:00 to 30-MAY-22 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in FILLMORE, NEBRASKA
From 01-MAY-22 00:00:00 to 30-MAY-22 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in POLK, NEBRASKA
From 01-MAY-22 00:00:00 to 03-MAY-22 00:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in FRANKLIN, NEBRASKA
From 01-MAY-22 00:00:00 to 03-MAY-22 00:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor