Could Lincoln have its wettest year on record?

by Eric Hunt, University of Nebraska Extension

October 19, 2026

U.S. map showing precipitation percentiles from January to September 2026, with varying color-coded ranges. — January-September precipitation percentiles

Summary

Many areas of central and eastern Nebraska have had average or above average precipitation so far in 2026. That has generally been driven by rainfall since mid-May as many places were near-record dry through May 15th. Since then parts of eastern Nebraska have had over 30", with a few spots southwest of Omaha closing in on the 40" mark. Table 1 (below) shows the temperature and summary for 2026 through this past Saturday (October 17th).

Station	Avg Max Temp	Avg Min Temp	Avg Temp	Max Temp	Min Temp	GDD base 50	HDD base 65	CDD base 65	Days Max > 90F	Days Min > 70F	Days Max < 32F	Days Min < 0F	Total Precip	Since May 15
ALLIANCE MUNICIPAL AIRPORT ASOS	72.0	38.4	55.2	108	-26	3054	3686	867	45	1	8	11	13.39	12.08
BROKEN BOW MUNICIPAL AP	70.7	42.2	56.4	102	-15	3316	3413	926	17	2	12	8	22.73	20.94
CHADRON MUNICIPAL AP	73.1	40.2	56.7	109	-21	3420	3555	1134	62	8	10	12	11.03	9.30
COLUMBUS	68.9	44.6	56.7	99	-11	3520	3478	1126	22	17	17	7	24.17	21.14
FALLS CITY BRENNER FIELD	72.2	49.0	60.6	100	-8	4330	2814	1549	36	35	15	5	34.74	28.40
GRAND ISLAND CENTRAL NE REGIONAL AP	71.1	46.1	58.6	103	-10	3849	3136	1281	27	19	14	6	27.79	25.04
HASTINGS MUNICIPAL AIRPORT	71.1	46.8	59.0	102	-11	3915	3084	1342	35	24	14	6	28.87	24.80
HOLDREGE BREWSTER FIELD AP	73.3	48.3	60.8	99	-5	4079	2588	1383	33	11	8	5	N/A	N/A
IMPERIAL MUNICIPAL AP	75.0	44.0	59.5	108	-6	3793	2844	1253	58	3	7	5	11.66	9.88
LINCOLN AIRPORT	71.7	47.1	59.4	101	-12	4134	3132	1501	38	36	17	7	36.58	32.50
MCCOOK MUNICIPAL AP	75.2	45.2	60.2	111	-10	3696	2670	1394	64	12	5	5	15.50	14.47
NORFOLK KARL STEFAN MEMORIAL AP	69.4	43.8	56.6	105	-13	3592	3614	1170	36	14	17	10	22.59	18.63
NORTH PLATTE REGIONAL AP	73.3	41.7	57.5	108	-16	3512	3287	1124	47	3	7	5	14.86	12.84
OMAHA EPPLEY AIRFIELD	70.8	48.0	59.4	104	-8	4180	3186	1564	44	39	19	6	33.11	27.37
ORD EVELYN SHARP FIELD	70.1	42.3	56.2	104	-13	3399	3589	1035	19	8	15	10	23.01	21.21
SCOTTSBLUFF W B HEILIG FIELD AP	73.9	41.9	57.9	108	-20	3512	3129	1062	57	1	7	6	10.07	8.39
SIDNEY MUNICIPAL AP	73.0	41.3	57.1	106	-16	3304	3244	1026	50	2	7	6	10.82	9.33
TEKAMAH MUNICIPAL AP	69.6	44.6	57.1	101	-10	3697	3513	1210	34	18	23	8	24.53	20.26
VALENTINE MILLER FIELD AP	70.3	41.8	56.0	109	-12	3346	3638	1038	44	5	14	12	20.09	17.40

Table 1. Summary table for 2026

Records possible?

Lincoln officially is at 36.58" for the year and is less than 2 inches away from being a top-10 wet year all-time. A wet finish could make 2026 the wettest ever in Lincoln. For context, the period from January 1-May 15th was the 14th driest start on record for Lincoln. So it would be an amazing turnaround from this spring if 2026 ended up being the wettest ever. The current record for a calendar year is 42.17" set back in 1951. The record for a 365-day period is 52.38" from the early 20th century. That 365-day record would be an even more impressive record to break. With a record strong El Nino and historic precedent for wetter than average through next spring, it would not be inconceivable.

Omaha is 7 inches shy of a top-10 wet year. That is also possible if the next two months are abnormally wet. The all-time record for a calendar year in Omaha is 48.92" from way back in 1883. The 365-day record for Omaha is 55.37". Even with the record strong El Nino in an era of more extremes from climate change, I feel confident that Omaha's official record for 365-day precipitation is safe. But perhaps is not impossible if next spring brings record rain. If those records for Omaha and Lincoln are approached by next May 15th, there would probably be flooding issues near rivers/streams and major planting delays would be likely.

Summer heat

This summer delivered very warm overnight temperatures compared to historical averages. But the intense afternoon heat was generally short-lived and most of the state only had a few days in the triple digits and some spots saw none. The southwest part of the state, typically the hot spot in summer, and the northern Panhandle had more than 10 days over 100°F. For the latter, this was well above average and a reflection of the extreme drought conditions. The worst of the heat by far was down in Texas. Ella Langley chose Texas and hit #1 for weeks on the charts. But unfortunately for Texas, an upper level ridge also chose Texas in the last part of summer and drove extreme heat and rapid intensification of drought.

Heat map of the U.S. Midwest showing projected days above 100°F in 2026, with darker red in southern areas.

Figure 1. Number of days with maximum temperatures over 100°F

Irrigation impacts on temperatures

Note that the number of days over 100°F drops off sharply in Texas to the east of Lubbbock. Some of this is likely a reflection of higher elevation in the Llano Estacado region but it also shows the impact of irrigation. Corn and cotton are still grown under irrigation in the South Plains (Figure 2). Hard to say how much water was actually used on those farms but it was enough to make a noticeable difference in the number of days over 100°F. A moist surface with healthy vegetation is going to heat up less slowly than areas that are water stressed or desiccated. This is why we tend to have cooler maximum temperatures in the summer in Plattsmouth compared to McCook.

But large areas of irrigated crops amongst an otherwise semi-arid landscape does affect the energy balance at scale. This means more of the sun's energy is going into heating moisture instead of dry ground and helps keep temperatures a bit cooler. Note that Holdrege (heavily irrigated area in south central NE) had no days at or over 100°F even though it was broadly surrounded by places that did.