For at least part of January 2023, portions of 21 of the 24 South Central Nebraska counties continued to be assigned at least Severe Drought (D2) by the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM), with portions of 11 counties assigned worse-off Extreme Drought (D3). This marked the 12th consecutive month that D2 plagued parts of the local area and the sixth straight month with at least limited coverage of D3. Despite the lingering, longer-term drought situation remaining firmly intact, January offered some encouraging precipitation trends as widespread above to well-above normal totals prompted a reduction in the coverage of D3 (see below for more Jan. precipitation details). Focusing on county-level USDM drought category specifics during January, the month opened with at least portions of the 21 counties containing D2, with D2 blanketing the vast majority of real estate along/north of the Highway 6 corridor. In fact, only three of the southeastern-most local counties (Webster/Nuckolls/Thayer) began the month entirely void of D2...holding onto a varied mix of Moderate Drought (D1) and Abnormally Dry (D0). On the worst-off side of things, fairly sizable portions of the following counties along/north of Interstate 80 opened the month with D3: Valley, Greeley, Sherman, Howard, Nance (the entire county), Merrick, Polk, Dawson and Hall. To the south of I-80, D3 also nicked small sections of northwestern Gosper and southwestern Furnas counties. Over the course of January, most of the area underwent no categorical change whatsoever, with at least D2 retaining its grip on at least 70 percent of the area. However, a fairly significant precipitation event early in the month (on the 2nd-3rd) resulted in a decent reduction in the coverage of worst-off D3, shrinking from including nearly one-fourth of South Central Nebraska to only about one-eighth of it. More specifically, D3 was completely removed from portions of Dawson, Valley and Sherman counties, and partially removed from Greeley, Howard and Merrick counties.
Turning to January 2023 precipitation details, although actual precipitation amounts were not nearly enough to put a significant dent in drought categories (due to the winter months being the overall-driest months of the year on average), January nonetheless featured the most widespread coverage of above normal monthly precipitation within South Central Nebraska in nearly two years...since March 2021. In fact, not only did the ENTIRE area measure above normal precipitation, but nearly 70 percent of it scored at least twice-normal and roughly 20% at least three times normal. More specifically, the majority of the 24-county domain received 1-2 inches of precipitation, or 160-330% of normal. The overall-highest totals favored the western half of the area (counties mainly west of Highway 281), while the overall-lowest amounts concentrated in far eastern local counties (along Highway 81). Many long-standing official NWS stations notched a Top-10 wettest January, including the wettest on record near Arcadia and the second-wettest on record at Kearney, Ord, Ravenna and Loup City. Elsewhere in the Tri Cities, Grand Island recorded its 6th-wettest January and Hastings tied for 9th-wettest. Per over 100 NWS and NeRAIN/CoCoRaHS observers, some of the very highest January tallies featured: 3.03 nine miles northwest of Ord, 2.81 six miles southwest of Lexington, 2.32 near Arcadia and 2.17 eight miles north-northeast of Scotia. On the drier (but still above normal) side of the ledger, some of the lower totals from eastern counties included: 0.82 near Shickley, 0.84 near Shelby, 0.86 near Tobias (extreme eastern Fillmore County) and 0.88 in Hebron.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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