LINCOLN NEBRASKA IN 2002

2002 WAS A WARMER THAN NORMAL YEAR WITH  SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION.   Full description follows the table of statistics.

High Plains Regional Climate Center 2002 STATISTICS

          TEMPERATURE                   PRECIPITATION
MONTH  AVG.  DEPART.  MAX  MIN      TOTAL  NORMAL DEPART.  SNOW 
JAN.   29.9   +7.5     68    2       0.64   0.67  -0.03    11.1 
FEB.   31.0   +2.7     70   -6       0.36   0.66  -0.30     1.7
MAR.   32.8   -6.6     66   -2       1.35   2.21  -0.86    14.8 
APR.   52.7   +1.5     93   13       2.42   2.90  -0.48       T
MAY    59.5   -2.5     95   34       5.20   4.23  +0.97       0 
JUNE   77.7   +5.0     98   51       0.17   3.51  -3.34       0
JULY   80.6   +2.8    104   57       1.57   3.54  -1.97       0
AUG.   76.3   +0.9    102   53       8.29   3.35  +4.94       0
SEP.   67.6   +1.6     95   44       1.47   2.92  -1.45       0
OCT.   46.7   -6.8     93   24       4.90   1.94  +2.96     2.5
NOV.   37.6   -0.5     72    8       0.24   1.58  -1.34     1.0 
DEC.   32.0   +5.5     64    5       0.01   0.86  -0.85     0.1 
YEAR   52.0   +0.9    104   -6      26.62  28.37  -1.74    31.2
 

           DEGREE DAYS
MONTH  HEATING  NORMAL  DEPART.  COOLING NORMAL  DEPART.
JAN.    1084     1328   -244          0     0      0
FEB.     945     1043    -99          0     0      0
MAR.     992      799   +193          0     1     -1
APR.     390      425    -35         27    13    +14
MAY      222      154    +68         59    56     -3
JUNE       0       16    -16        388   244   +144
JULY       0        1     -1        489   390    +99 
AUG.       0        5     -5        357   315    +42
SEP.      63      100    -37        145   123    +22
OCT.     572      377   +195         11    12     -1
NOV.     815      806     +9          0     0      0
DEC.    1016     1188   -172          0     0      0
YEAR    6099     6242   -143       1476  1154   +322

 YEARLY CLIMATOLOGICAL REPORT 
 NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
 235 PM CST WED JAN 1 2003

             LINCOLN NEBRASKA IN 2002

 OVERALL...2002 WAS A DRY YEAR WITH ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES.  SOME 
 HIGHLIGHTS WERE A MILD WINTER UNTIL MARCH...A HOT AND DRY EARLY 
 SUMMER...AND A DRY FINISH TO THE YEAR.

 JANUARY FEATURED MUCH ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES.  THE MONTHLY 
 AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 29.9 DEGREES...7.5 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. 
 DAILY RECORDS WERE SET WHEN THE MERCURY REACHED 62 DEGREES ON THE 
 8TH...AND 68 ON THE 26TH.  MOST OF THE MONTH WAS DRY...BUT A STORM 
 BROUGHT 9.4 INCHES OF SNOW ON THE 30TH AND 31ST. 

 MILD WEATHER ALSO PREVAILED FOR MUCH OF FEBRUARY...SANDWICHED 
 BETWEEN COLD SPELLS AT BOTH ENDS OF THE MONTH.  THE AVERAGE 
 TEMPERATURE WAS 31.0 DEGREES...2.7 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL.  A LOW OF 6 
 BELOW ON THE 1ST WAS THE COLDEST OF THE WINTER.  THE ONLY MEASURABLE 
 PRECIPITATION CAME ON THE 9TH...WITH 0.36 INCH OF LIQUID AND 1.7 
 INCHES OF SNOW.

 MARCH WAS NEARLY AS COLD AS THE REST OF THE WINTER...AND WITH MORE 
 SNOW.  THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 32.8 DEGREES...6.6 DEGREES BELOW 
 NORMAL...AND LESS THAN 2 DEGREES ABOVE THE FEBRUARY AVERAGE.  THERE 
 WERE MANY RAPID TEMPERATURE CHANGES DURING MARCH.  THE MOST DRAMATIC 
 CAME WHEN THE MERCURY ROSE FROM 2 BELOW ON THE MORNING OF THE 3RD TO 
 66 ON THE AFTERNOON OF THE 5TH.  DESPITE ALL THE CHANGES...THE ONLY 
 TEMPERATURE RECORD CAME WITH A LOW OF 6 ABOVE ON THE 22ND. 
 PRECIPITATION TOTALED 1.35 INCHES...0.86 INCH BELOW NORMAL.  MOST OF 
 WHAT FELL CAME IN THE FORM OF SNOW.  A STORM DROPPED 6.3 INCHES ON 
 THE 1ST AND 2ND...AND ANOTHER DROPPED 7.6 INCHES ON THE 24TH AND 
 25TH.  THIS WAS THE 10TH SNOWIEST MARCH ON RECORD WITH 14.8 INCHES.

 APRIL WEATHER CONTINUED TO PRODUCE MANY WEATHER CHANGES...BUT 
 AVERAGED OUT FAIRLY CLOSE TO NORMAL.  THE MONTH STARTED COLD...AND A 
 RECORD LOW OF 13 WAS SET ON THE 4TH.  THE WARMEST CAME IN MID 
 MONTH...WITH TEMPERATURES IN THE 80S FROM THE 14TH THROUGH THE 18TH. 
 RECORDS WERE SET ON THE 15TH WITH A HIGH OF 93 AND A LOW OF 64.

 MAY WAS WET...WITH COOL TEMPERATURES UNTIL THE END OF THE MONTH. 
 THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 59.4 DEGREES...2.6 DEGREES BELOW 
 NORMAL.  A LOW OF 34 ON THE 18TH WAS A NEW DAILY RECORD.  A HIGH OF 
 50 ON THE 24TH WAS ALSO THE COOLEST FOR THE DAY.  RAINFALL TOTALED 
 5.20 INCHES...0.97 INCH ABOVE NORMAL...AND WAS WELL DISTRIBUTED 
 THROUGH THE MONTH. 

 THE WARM WEATHER AT THE END OF MAY MARKED THE BEGINNING OF SUMMER 
 HEAT.  JUNE AND JULY WERE HOTTER THAN NORMAL WITH WELL BELOW NORMAL 
 RAINFALL.  JUNE AVERAGED 77.7 DEGREES...5.0 DEGREES ABOVE 
 NORMAL...AND THE 8TH WARMEST JUNE ON RECORD.  HIGHS REACHED 90 OR 
 ABOVE ON 13 CONSECUTIVE DAYS FROM THE 18TH THROUGH THE END OF THE 
 MONTH...THEN CONTINUED THROUGH JULY 2.  THIS WAS THE DRIEST JUNE ON 
 RECORD BY A WIDE MARGIN WITH ONLY 0.17 INCH OF RAIN...3.34 INCHES 
 BELOW NORMAL.  JULY AVERAGED 80.6 DEGREES...2.8 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL.
 TEMPERATURES EXCEEDED 100 FROM THE 19TH THROUGH THE 21ST AND ALSO 
 THE 31ST.  JULY WAS NOT AS DRY AS JUNE...BUT THE RAINFALL TOTAL OF 
 1.57 INCHES WAS STILL 1.97 INCHES BELOW NORMAL.

 AFTER 3 MORE DAYS OF TRIPLE DIGIT TEMPERATURES FROM THE 3RD TO THE 
 5TH...THE HOT AND DRY WEATHER PATTERN ENDED ON AUGUST 12.  FREQUENT 
 AND ABUNDANT RAINFALL PUT A DENT IN THE DROUGHT FOR THE REST OF THE 
 MONTH.  RAINFALL TOTALED 8.29 INCHES...4.94 INCHES ABOVE 
 NORMAL...MAKING THIS THE 4TH WETTEST AUGUST ON RECORD.  TEMPERATURES 
 AVERAGED 76.3 DEGREES...0.9 DEGREE ABOVE NORMAL FOR THE MONTH. 

 SEPTEMBER MARKED A RETURN TO DRY CONDITIONS AND ABOVE NORMAL 
 TEMPERATURES.  THE MONTH AS A WHOLE AVERAGED 67.6 DEGREES...1.6 
 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL.  A NEW RECORD HIGH OF 94 WAS SET ON THE 29TH. 
 THE ONLY SIGNIFICANT RAIN OF THE MONTH WAS 1.41 INCHES ON THE 13TH. 
 THE SEPTEMBER TOTAL OF 1.47 INCHES WAS 1.45 BELOW NORMAL. 

 OCTOBER BROUGHT A RAPID SHIFT TO COOL AND WET WEATHER.  THE AVERAGE 
 TEMPERATURE WAS 46.7 DEGREES...6.8 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL...MAKING 
 THIS THE 3RD COLDEST OCTOBER ON RECORD...AND THE COLDEST SINCE 
 1925.  RECORD COLD MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES WERE SET ON THE 16TH...AND 
 THE 22ND THROUGH THE 24TH.  THE HIGH OF 32 ON THE 24TH WAS THE 
 EARLIEST ON RECORD THAT THE MERCURY FAILED TO RISE ABOVE FREEZING. 
 PRECIPITATION TOTALED 4.90 INCHES...WHICH IS 2.96 INCHES ABOVE 
 NORMAL...AND THE 4TH WETTEST OCTOBER ON RECORD.  THE LAST 10 DAYS OF 
 THE MONTH FEATURED OCCASIONAL LIGHT SNOW AS WELL AS COLD WEATHER. 
 THE 2.5 INCH TOTAL WAS NOT A RECORD...BUT WAS UNUSUAL FOR OCTOBER.
 THIS WAS ALSO MORE SNOW THAN FELL IN NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER COMBINED. 

 NOVEMBER WAS QUITE DRY WITH NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES.  MONTHLY 
 PRECIPITATION WAS 0.24 INCH...1.34 INCHES BELOW NORMAL.  SNOWFALL 
 TOTALED 1.0 INCH.

 DECEMBER WAS MILD AND EXTREMELY DRY.  THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 
 32.0 DEGREES WAS 5.5 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL.  THE WARMEST WEATHER CAME 
 IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MONTH...WHEN A HIGH OF 64 ON THE 15TH TIED A 
 DAILY RECORD.  DECEMBER PRECIPITATION WAS A SCANT 0.01 INCH...0.85 
 INCH BELOW NORMAL.  THIS CAME AS 0.1 INCH OF SNOW FELL ON THE 4TH. 
 THIS WAS THE DRIEST DECEMBER IN OVER 100 YEARS...AND THE 3RD DRIEST 
 ON RECORD.