LINCOLN YEARLY CLIMATE SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
1100 PM CST THU JAN 1 2009

...2008 YEARLY SUMMARY FOR LINCOLN...

ON THE WHOLE...2008 WAS A COOL YEAR WITH A WET SPRING AND FALL.
THERE WERE NOT MANY TEMPERATURE EXTREMES.

JANUARY WAS A FAIRLY NORMAL WINTER MONTH.  THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE
WAS 22.6 DEGREES...0.2 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL.  A MILD HIGH OF 60 ON
THE 28TH WAS FOLLOWED BY A VERY STRONG ARCTIC FRONT...WITH WIND
GUSTS UP TO 44 MPH.  TEMPERATURES THE NEXT AFTERNOON WERE ABOUT 45
DEGREES COLDER.  PRECIPITATION WAS MOSTLY IN THE FORM OF SNOW...WITH
4.9 INCHES DURING THE MONTH.  THERE WAS ENOUGH COLD WEATHER TO KEEP
THE GROUND WHITE MOST OF THE MONTH.

FEBRUARY STAYED COLD AND WINTRY FOR MUCH OF THE MONTH...BUT THERE
WAS SOME MILDER WEATHER AT THE END.  THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 25.6
DEGREES WAS 2.7 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL.  THE 20TH WAS THE COLDEST DAY
WITH A LOW OF -3 AND A STIFF NORTH WIND.  THERE WERE MANY WINDY DAYS
THIS MONTH...WITH GUSTS AS HIGH AS 53 MPH ON THE 17TH.  SNOWFALL AND
PRECIPITATION WERE NEAR NORMAL.  MOST OF THE 5.1 INCH MONTHLY
SNOWFALL CAME ON THE 5TH AND 6TH WHEN 4.5 INCHES FELL.

MARCH WAS COOL AND DRY OVERALL.  THE MONTHLY AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS
38.3 DEGREES...1.1 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL.  TEMPERATURES DIPPED TO 1
ABOVE ON THE 7TH...THEN ROSE TO 71 ON THE 11TH.  THE MARCH
PRECIPITATION TOTAL WAS 1.13 INCHES...1.08 INCHES BELOW NORMAL.
MOST OF THAT CAME ON THE 31ST WHEN 0.82 INCH OF RAIN FELL.  JUST 1.1
INCHES OF SNOW FELL DURING MARCH.

APRIL CONTINUED COOLER THAN NORMAL...BUT WAS ALSO WETTER.  THE
MONTHLY AVERAGE OF 47.3 DEGREES WAS 3.9 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL.  THE
FIRST HALF OF APRIL WAS ESPECIALLY COOL...BUT THE ONLY DAILY RECORD
WAS A LOW OF 30 ON THE 28TH...WHICH TIED 1979 AND 1961.  THE FIRST
MID 70 DEGREE READING OF THE YEAR CAME ON APRIL 15TH...ALONG WITH
SOUTH WINDS GUSTING TO 55 MPH.  MONTHLY PRECIPITATION TOTALLED 3.80
INCHES...0.90 INCH ABOVE NORMAL.  THIS CAME IN FOUR SEPARATE STORM
SYSTEMS SPREAD THROUGH THE MONTH.  DESPITE THE COOL WEATHER...THERE
WAS JUST A TRACE OF SNOW.

MAY CONTINUED COOL WITH NEAR NORMAL RAINFALL.  THE AVERAGE
TEMPERATURE WAS 60.4 DEGREES...1.6 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL.  THERE WAS
A LOT OF WET WEATHER LATE IN THE MONTH.  THERE WERE 9 CONSECUTIVE
DAYS WITH MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION STARTING ON THE 22ND.  THIS WAS
THE LONGEST STRING OF WET DAYS SINCE 1993...WHEN A 10 DAY STRING
STARTED ON SEPTEMBER 17TH.  THERE WERE MANY DAYS WITH STRONG WINDS
DURING MAY...MOST ASSOCIATED WITH THUNDERSTORMS.  WINDS GUSTED TO 67
MPH ON THE 29TH...63 MPH ON THE 25TH...56 MPH ON THE 10TH...AND 54
MPH ON THE 23RD.

THE WET AND STORMY WEATHER OF LATE MAY CARRIED OVER INTO JUNE.
MONTHLY RAINFALL TOTALLED 8.59 INCHES...5.08 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL
...AND THE 8TH WETTEST JUNE ON RECORD.  RAINFALL WAS FREQUENT
EARLY IN THE MONTH.  ON THE 11TH...3.03 INCHES FELL.  THIS WAS THE
8TH WETTEST JUNE DAY ON RECORD...AND THE WETTEST SINCE JUNE 23
1985.  THE STORM ALSO PRODUCED A WIND GUST TO 67 MPH.  ANOTHER STORM
ON THE 5TH HAD A 58 MPH GUST.  JUNE TEMPERATURES AVERAGED CLOSE TO NORMAL
...AND THERE WERE NO RECORDS.  JUNE 7TH WAS THE FIRST DAY THIS
YEAR TO REACH THE 90S...THE LATEST SINCE 1995.

JULY AND AUGUST WERE DRIER WITH NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES.  LATE JULY
AND EARLY AUGUST WAS THE HOTTEST PERIOD OF THE YEAR...BUT THE HEAT
WAS NOT EXCESSIVE.  A HIGH OF 102 ON AUGUST 3RD WAS THE ONLY TRIPLE
DIGIT TEMPERATURE OF THE SUMMER.  JULY RAINFALL WAS CLOSE TO NORMAL
...BUT MOST OF THE RAIN CAME IN THE FIRST HALF...BEFORE A HOT
DRY PERIOD.  A STRONG THUNDERSTORM ON JULY 11TH PRODUCED A WIND GUST
TO 68 MPH.  AUGUST RAINFALL WAS SPARSE...AND CONDITIONS WERE FAIRLY
DRY BY THE END OF THE MONTH.  THE RAINFALL TOTAL WAS 1.78 INCHES...
1.57 INCHES BELOW NORMAL.

AUTUMN WEATHER WAS WETTER...BUT FAIRLY PLACID.  TEMPERATURES
REMAINED NEAR NORMAL WITH NO UNUSUAL EXTREMES.

THE LAST DAY TO HIT 90 THIS YEAR WAS LABOR DAY...SEPTEMBER 1...WITH
A HIGH OF 93.  THIS WAS THE EARLIEST FINISH TO 90 DEGREE
TEMPERATURES SINCE 1996.  ONLY 85 DAYS ELAPSED BETWEEN THE FIRST AND
LAST 90...THE LEAST SINCE 1986.  TWO WEEKS OF COOLER AND WET WEATHER
FOLLOWED LABOR DAY...GIVING RELIEF TO THE DRY CONDITIONS...FOLLOWED
BY TWO DRIER WEEKS.  SEPTEMBER RAINFALL WAS 4.10 INCHES...1.18
INCHES ABOVE NORMAL.  RELATIVELY WARM WEATHER CONTINUED THROUGH
EARLY OCTOBER...FOLLOWED BY COOLER CONDITIONS LASTING UNTIL A FINAL
WARM SPELL AT THE END OF THE MONTH.  RAINFALL WAS ABUNDANT...BUT
THERE WERE FAIR DAYS BETWEEN THE RAINY ONES.  THE MONTHLY RAINFALL
TOTAL OF 4.79 INCHES WAS 2.85 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL.  THIS WAS THE 7TH
WETTEST OCTOBER ON RECORD...AND THE WETTEST SINCE 1902.  A RAINFALL
TOTAL OF 2.01 INCHES ON THE 22ND SET A DAILY RECORD.  IT WAS THE 8TH
WETTEST CALENDAR DAY IN OCTOBER...AND THE WETTEST SINCE 1986.  A
COLD FRONT ON THE 26TH PRODUCED STRAIGHT LINE WINDS GUSTING UP TO 53
MPH.

NOVEMBER WAS A LITTLE WARMER AND DRIER THAN NORMAL.  THE AVERAGE
NOVEMBER TEMPERATURE WAS 39.7 DEGREES...1.6 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL.
THE MONTH BEGAN WARM WITH HIGHS IN THE 70S THROUGH THE 5TH.  A HIGH
OF 79 ON THE 3RD BROKE A DAILY RECOD OF 78 SET IN 1916.  RECORD WARM
MINIMUM TEMPERATURES OF 57 AND 58 WERE ALSO SET ON THE 3RD AND 4TH.

DECEMBER WAS A COLD MONTH WITH NEAR NORMAL PRECIPITATION.
THE AVERAGE DECEMBER TEMPERATURE WAS 23.1 DEGREES...3.4 DEGREES
BELOW NORMAL.  TEMPERATURES WERE NEAR OR ABOVE NORMAL FOR THE FIRST
TWO WEEKS...BUT BITTER WINTER WEATHER ARRIVED WITH A POWERFUL ARCTIC
FRONT ON THE 14TH.  THE TEMPERATURE ON THE 14TH DROPPED FROM 51 AT 4
AM TO 10 AT 10 AM...AND NORTH WINDS INCREASED TO AROUND 25 MPH WITH
GUSTS ABOVE 35 MPH.  BY NEXT MORNING...THE TEMPERATURE WAS 4 BELOW
AND THE WIND CHILL WAS -25.  COLD WEATHER CONTINUED FOR THE NEXT 10
DAYS.  ALL OF THE MONTHLY 5.5 INCHES OF SNOW FELL DURING THIS
PERIOD...INCLUDING 3.3 INCHES ON THE 16TH.  ANOTHER STORM ON THE
19TH AND 20TH CREATED AN ICY MIX OF FREEZING RAIN AND
SNOW...FOLLOWED BY BLOWING SNOW AS ANOTHER ARCTIC BLAST HIT.  THE
21ST WAS COLD AND WINDY FOR MUCH OF THE DAY WITH A HIGH OF JUST 5
ABOVE.  A LOW OF 12 BELOW ON THE 22ND WAS THE COLDEST DECEMBER
READING SINCE 2000...BUT FAR FROM A RECORD.  MILD WEATHER RETURNED
LATE IN THE MONTH...MELTING THE SNOW AND ICE.