Weather Summary: Week ending August 2, 2025

Heat then cooler weather

The week began with temperatures in the 90's statewide, with heat advisories in central Nebraska and excessive heat warnings in eastern Nebraska. The combination of heat and dewpoints in the 70's (central NE) and upper 70's to lower 80's (eastern NE) led to very high heat index values early in the week during the afternoon and early evening hours (Figure 1). Air temperatures peaked in western and northern sections of the state on Monday with temperatures getting into the lower 100's in southwest Nebraska. Dewpoints in the 20's to 50's helped keep heat index values below heat advisory criteria in western Nebraska. 

Figure 1. Maximum heat index values at Mesonet sites across the state last Sunday

The ridge anchored over the southern U.S. began to break down and a trough moving through eastern Canada helped drive a cold front into the region early in the week (Figure 2). 

Figure 2. 500-mb heights last week. 

Temperatures were sharply cooler in western Nebraska behind the front and it managed to cleared the state by early Wednesday. The front was a focal point for showers and storms across the state with many areas receiving over an inch of moisture. Pockets of central and northeast Nebraska received over 2" and there were isolated reports of wind damage in eastern Nebraska from Tuesday night's storms. Additional showers and storms developed later Wednesday night in extreme eastern Nebraska, with over 4" falling in west Omaha. Flash flooding was reported. Precipitation totals from last week are shown in Figure 3. 

Figure 3. Precipitation totals last week across the state. Figure courtesy of the Southern Regional Climate Center. 

Seasonally cool temperatures were the rule the remainder of the week after the frontal passage, especially in central and eastern Nebraska where cloud cover and smoke/haze helped keep afternoon temperatures in the 70's. Many locations in the eastern half of the state had their first sub-60°F low temperature in almost three weeks- welcomed after a long stretch of warm nights. 

The table below shows maximum temperature, minimum temperature, average temperature, the number of days with maximum temperatures ≥95°F, minimum temperatures ≥70°F, total precipitation, growing/heating/cooling degree days, and average daily potential ET for the Nebraska Mesonet stations. Here are the temperature and precipitation extremes from last week:

Maximum High Temperature: 105°F, Imperial Municipal Airport

Minimum High Temperature: 70°F, Elgin

Minimum Low Temperature: 47°F, Harrison 20 SSE

Maximum Low Temperature: 77°F, Nebraska City 2 NW

Maximum Precipitation: 5.19", Elkhorn 5.7 S