Top 10 warm December
Official numbers from NCEI aren't in yet but preliminary analysis from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet (IEM) shows that December 2025 was the 7th warmest on record for the state of Nebraska. If that holds up, it will be fourth top 10 warm December for the state since 2021. Chadron had its warmest December on record. McCook and Scottsbluff were second warmest. North Platte and Valentine were top 5 warmest. Ridging was prominent in the western U.S. in the first half of the month and over the Southern Plains later in December (Figure 1). The northeast corner of Nebraska was cold in the first half of the month and was close enough to the main storm track to get more snow and cold temperatures. But outside a brief return to winter on the 28-29th, winter was mostly absent for the whole state in the last two weeks of the month.
Figure 1. 500-mb height anomalies for December 2025
Recent daily record highs
The warmest temperature in December occurred at the Thedford Mesonet site where it hit an astonishing 80°F on the 22nd. Both North Platte and Valentine had their all-time record highs for the month of December on the 22nd. Here are the record highs set at the long-term sites since December 1:
Scottsbluff: 7 records- 12/16 (67°F), 12/19 (°F), 12/22 (71°F), 12/23 (71°F), 12/24 (71°F), 12/25 (68°F), 12/26 (68°F), 1/3 (62°F)
North Platte: 6 records - 12/11 (71°F), 12/19 (71°F), 12/22 (78°F*), 12/24 (72°F), 12/26 (68°F), 1/4 (71°F)
Valentine: 6 records - 12/15 (65°F), 12/22 (76°F*), 12/24 (74°F), 12/25 (66°F), 12/26 (68°F), 1/4 (67°F)
Hastings: 5 records- 12/26 (70°F), 12/27 (66°F), 12/31 (61°F), 1/4 (63°F), 1/6 (60°F),
McCook: 4 records- 12/11 (72°F), 12/22 (78°F), 12/31 (65°F), 1/4 (76°F)
Grand Island: 3 records- 12/26 (70°F), 12/27 (65°F), 1/4 (62°F)
Norfolk: 3 records- 12/24 (61°F), 12/27 (62°F), 1/6 (58°F)
Lincoln: 3 records- 1/4 (60°F), 1/6 (61°F), 1/7 (66°F**)
Omaha: 1 record- 1/7 (67°F)
Falls City: 1 record- 1/7 (67°F)
*- denotes an all-time record high for the month of December
**- East Campus Mesonet was 68°F on 1/7
