Warm and generally dry
November 2023 was well above average across the entire state, with a statewide average temperature of 40.9F. This is 5.0F above the 20th century average and good for 13th warmest since 1895. The month got off to a chilly start with near record lows in parts of the state on November 1st and there was a brief period of cold, including days with subfreezing high temperatures, right after Thanksgiving. But the majority of the month was warmer than average with the strongest warm anomalies found across the western and northern sections of the state.
It also was a bit on the dry side, with a statewide average of 0.59", which is 0.26" below the 20th century average. Seven of eight climate divisions reporting below average precipitation for the month, though most by less than a quarter of an inch. Only parts of North Central Nebraska had above average precipitation for the month. The deficits were strongest in the eastern sixth of Nebraska as that area was on the western periphery of the very dry conditions that encompassed much of the Midwest in November. Several locations in eastern Nebraska had no measurable moisture until the 19th or 20th when a slow moving storm delivered some needed moisture to central and eastern Nebraska. Later that week a storm brought moderate to heavy snow for the Panhandle and West Central Nebraska, with up to 10" in parts of Hooker and McPherson counties. A separate storm clipped the southeastern quadrant of the state the Saturday after Thanksgiving with some areas picking up 2-3".
October brought significant drought relief to much of the northern and central third of Nebraska but this not followed by much improvement in November. Only smaller pockets of South Central, Northeast, and West Central Nebraska had any improvements on the U.S. Drought Monitor during the month of November. Degradation was noted over the southeastern corner of the state, with parts of Richardson and Pawnee counties seeing a 2-category degradation. This was partly a reflection of the entire fall being dry as much as November though.
There were no severe storms reported in the state during the month.
Eric Hunt, University of Nebraska Extension