Record Dry
NCEI numbers are officially in for September 2024 and confirmed what I had suspected was the case: September 2024 was the driest September on record in the state of Nebraska. The statewide average of 0.31" was over a tenth of an inch less than the previous record dry September in 1899. All climate divisions were well below average for precipitation and the East Central, Central, North Central, and Northeast climate divisions were driest on record.
Record warm Panhandle
The average temperatures in the Panhandle were the warmest on record for September and it was the fourth warmest September on record for the state. Maximum temperatures averaged record warm in the Panhandle and parts of the Sand Hills. Everyone else except for some of the southern border had average maximum temperatures in the warmest 10 percent. Minimum temperatures were less exceptional, especially in eastern Nebraska. The dryness of the landscape by late September led to more optimal radiational cooling at night, which led to minimum temperatures being closer to average. Otherwise we likely are discussing September 2024 as simultaneously being the warmest and the driest September on record.
