NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
908 AM CST SUN JAN 1 2006
...2005 YEARLY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR OMAHA...
ON THE WHOLE...2005 WAS A WARM AND DRY YEAR. TEMPERATURES WERE WELL
ABOVE NORMAL IN SIX MONTHS. ONLY THREE MONTHS WERE BELOW
NORMAL...AND NOT BY MUCH. ONLY THREE MONTHS HAD ABOVE NORMAL
PRECIPITATION.
THE YEAR BEGAN WITH A MAJOR WINTER STORM ON THE 3RD AND 4TH. AFTER
A PERIOD OF FREEZING RAIN...14.1 INCHES OF SNOW FELL. LIGHT WINDS
RESULTED IN LITTLE DRIFTING...BUT THIS WAS THE MOST SNOW IN ANY ONE
STORM SINCE THE SAME AMOUNT FELL ON MARCH 28TH TO 29TH 1987. THERE
WERE 8 DAYS WITH FREEZING DRIZZLE OR FREEZING RAIN DURING JANUARY.
THE COLDEST PERIOD OF THE WINTER CAME ON JANUARY 14TH THROUGH 16TH
WITH LOWS OF 10 OR 11 BELOW ZERO. MILD WEATHER RETURNED LATER IN
THE MONTH...AND THE MONTHLY AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 20.9 DEGREES WAS
ONLY 0.8 DEGREE BELOW NORMAL. MILD WEATHER CONTINUED FOR MUCH OF
FEBRUARY...ALTHOUGH THERE WAS A BRIEF COLD SPELL IN THE SECOND WEEK.
ALL OF THE MONTHLY SNOWFALL OF 4.4 INCHES FELL DURING THAT
PERIOD...AND THE LAST SUBZERO READING. IN FACT...THE LOW OF 1 BELOW
ON FEBRUARY 12TH WAS ALSO THE LAST READING BELOW 10. THE MONTHLY
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 32.9 DEGREES WAS 4.9 DEGREES ABOVE
NORMAL...AND THE WARMEST SINCE 2000. DUE TO THE MILD WEATHER...MOST
OF THE PRECIPITATION CAME AS RAIN. THE MONTHLY PRECIPITATION
TOTALLED 1.90 INCHES...1.10 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL.
SPRING BEGAN MILD AND DRY. MARCH AVERAGED 40.6 DEGREES...1.3
DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THERE WAS NO MEASURABLE RAIN UNTIL THE
21ST...AND ONLY 0.98 INCH FOR THE MONTH...1.15 INCHES BELOW NORMAL.
A LIGHT SNOW ON THE 24TH WAS ENOUGH TO WHITEN THE GROUND IN PARTS OF
THE METROPOLITAN AREA...BUT EPPLEY AIRFIELD HAD ONLY A TRACE OF SNOW
IN MARCH. MARCH LIVED UP TO ITS WINDY REPUTATION WITH WIND GUSTS UP
TO 56 MPH ON THE 10TH. WELL ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES PREVAILED FOR
THE FIRST THREE WEEKS OF APRIL...BUT COLD DRY WEATHER SET IN AT THE
END OF THE MONTH. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 55.5 DEGREES WAS 4.1
DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. PERSISTENTLY WARM WEATHER COMBINED WITH
ADEQUATE RAINFALL TO CAUSE A RAPID ADVANCE IN SPRING VEGETATION
BEFORE THE ONSET OF COLDER WEATHER. MONTHLY RAINFALL WAS 2.63
INCHES...0.31 INCH BELOW NORMAL. MAY GOT OFF TO A COOL START WITH
SUBFREEZING MINIMUM TEMPERATURES ON THE 3RD AND 4TH. THE LOW OF 30
ON THE 4TH TIED A RECORD FOR THE DATE. TEMPERATURES SOON
REBOUNDED...AND THE HIGH OF 90 ON THE 10TH WAS THE FIRST OF MANY
THIS SUMMER. MAY AS A WHOLE WAS CLOSE TO NORMAL. THE AVERAGE
TEMPERATURE WAS 61.8 DEGREES...JUST 0.4 DEGREE BELOW NORMAL.
RAINFALL TOTALLED 4.60 INCHES...0.16 INCH ABOVE NORMAL.
JUNE BEGAN THE WAY MAY ENDED...MOIST WITH MODERATE TEMPERATURES.
HOWEVER...THE WEATHER TURNED HOT AND DRY LATER IN THE MONTH.
TEMPERATURES REACHED THE 90S MOST DAYS FROM THE 20TH TO THE 29TH.
THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 75.6 DEGREES WAS 3.4 DEGREEES ABOVE
NORMAL. RAINFALL TOTALLED 2.69 INCHES...1.26 INCHES BELOW NORMAL.
HOT AND DRY WEATHER INTENSIFIED THROUGH MOST OF JULY. THERE WERE 11
CONSECUTIVE DAYS REACHING 90 OR ABOVE FROM THE 7TH THROUGH THE 17TH.
THE HOTTEST WEATHER CAME ON THE 23RD THROUGH THE 25TH...WITH HIGHS
OF 102 TO 105. THE HIGH OF 105 ON THE 23RD EXCEEDED THE OLD DAILY
RECORD OF 103 SET IN 1934. IT WAS ALSO THE HOTTEST DAY SINCE JULY
13 1995. THREE CONSECUTIVE DAYS OVER 100 WAS ALSO THE MOST SINCE A
STRING OF FIVE DAYS IN 1995. THE HEAT WAVE CAME TO A DRAMATIC END
ON THE 25TH...AS AN UNSEASONABLY STRONG COLD FRONT BLASTED THROUGH
THE AREA. THE FRONT TRIGGERED SCATTERED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH
REPORTS OF DAMAGING WIND GUSTS UP TO 70 MPH IN OMAHA...ALONG WITH
HAIL UP TO AN INCH IN SIZE. A SUBSTANTIAL RAIN FOLLOWED THE
FRONT...BUT THIS WAS THE FIRST GOOD RAIN OF THE MONTH FOR DOWNTOWN
OMAHA. THE DAILY HIGH DROPPED 28 DEGREES FROM 102 ON THE 25TH TO 74
ON THE 26TH...AND THE LOW OF 53 ON THE MORNING OF THE 27TH ECLIPSED
THE OLD RECORD OF 56 SET IN 1994. THE MONTLY RAINFALL OF 1.93
INCHES AT EPPLEY AIRFIELD WAS ONLY HALF THE JULY NORMAL...AND 1.50
INCHES OF THAT CAME AFTER THE PASSAGE OF THE COLD FRONT ON THE
25TH. OTHER PORTIONS OF OMAHA RECORDED HEAVIER RAINFALL ON THE
25TH...AND ALSO ON THE 17TH. THE WEATHER OFFICE IN VALLEY HAD HEAVY
RAINS ON BOTH OCCASIONS...AND WAS ACTUALLY 1.51 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL
RAINFALL FOR JULY WITH 5.37 INCHES.
AUGUST WAS WARM AND WETTER. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 75.0
DEGREES...0.5 DEGREE ABOVE NORMAL. THERE WERE SEVERAL SHARP
TEMPERATURE SWINGS EARLY IN THE MONTH. THE HIGH DROPPED FROM 99 ON
THE 3RD TO 79 ON THE 4TH...AND THE LOW FROM 76 ON THE 3RD TO 52 ON
THE 6TH. THE HIGH WENT BACK UP TO 97 ON THE 9TH...THEN TO 73 ON THE
13TH. THUNDERSTORMS WERE FREQUENT IN AUGUST. A STRONG THUNDERSTORM
ON THE 10TH PRODUCED TORRENTIAL RAIN AND UNUSUALLY FREQUENT
LIGHTNING. THE 1.57 INCHES OF RAIN AT THE AIRPORT SET A DAILY
RECORD. OTHER STORMS DROPPED LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN ON THE 26TH...AND
RAIN AND HAIL ON THE 28TH. THE AUGUST RAINFALL TOTAL OF 4.66 INCHES
WAS 1.45 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL.
DRY WEATHER AND ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES LASTED THROUGH THE AUTUMN
MONTHS. THE SEPTEMBER AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 71.1 DEGREES...5.7
DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS WAS THE WARMEST SEPTEMBER SINCE
1998...AND THE 9TH WARMEST ON RECORD. THE TEMPERATURE EXCEEDED 90
ON TEN DAYS...THE MOST SINCE 1990. THE HIGH ON THE 21ST WAS A DAILY
RECORD OF 98...EXCEEDING THE OLD RECORD OF 95 SET IN 1937.
SEPTEMBER WAS ALSO VERY DRY. ONLY 0.92 INCH OF RAIN FELL...2.25
INCHES BELOW NORMAL. WARM AND DRY WEATHER PREDOMINATED IN
OCTOBER...BUT WITH MORE COOL SPELLS THAN SEPTEMBER. THE MONTHLY
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 55.0 DEGREES WAS 1.8 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL.
SEVERAL RECORDS WERE SET IN A WARM SPELL EARLY IN THE MONTH.
A HIGH OF 92 ON THE 4TH BROKE THE OLD DAILY RECORD OF 91 SET IN 1938.
THIS WAS THE LAST DAY TO REACH 90 FOR THE YEAR...MAKING A TOTAL OF
52. THE LAST YEAR WITH MORE DAYS OF 90 OR ABOVE WAS 1976...WITH 57.
NIGHTS WERE REMARKABLY WARM FOR SO LATE IN THE SEASON...WITH MINIMUM
TEMPERATURES OF 73 ON BOTH THE 3RD AND 4TH. THESE LOWS TIED WITH
OCTOBER 1 1971 AS THE WARMEST ON RECORD FOR OCTOBER. ANOTHER
DAILY RECORD WAS TIED LATER IN THE MONTH WHEN THE TEMPERATURE ROSE
TO 86 ON THE 18TH. THE RAINFALL TOTAL OF 0.75 INCH WAS 1.46 INCHES
BELOW NORMAL. NOVEMBER BEGAN MILD AND DRY...BUT WINTER WEATHER
ARRIVED BEFORE THE END OF THE MONTH. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 42.6
DEGREES WAS 4.6 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THE HIGH OF 82 ON THE 2ND SET
A DAILY RECORD...ECLIPSING THE OLD RECORD OF 80 SET IN 1964. THIS
WAS ONLY A DEGREE SHY OF THE MONTHLY RECORD OF 83. OTHER WARM DAILY
RECORDS WERE SET WITH HIGHS OF 74 ON THE 12TH AND 63 ON THE
23RD...AS WELL AS A MINIMUM OF 48 ON THE 27TH. THE FIRST TOUCH OF
WINTER WAS A BRIEF COLD SPELL BEGINNING WITH 1.2 INCHES OF SNOW ON
THE 15TH...A DAILY RECORD. WINDS GUSTED UP TO 47 MPH DURING THIS
STORM. ANOTHER STORM ON THE 27TH AND 28TH PRODUCED ONLY 0.3 INCH
OF SNOW FOR OMAHA...BUT ALSO WINDS UP TO 45 MPH AND SHARPLY FALLING
TEMPERATURES. THE LAST STORM OF THE MONTH CAME ON THE EVENING OF
THE 30TH...AND PRODUCED 2.6 INCHES OF SNOW. NOVEMBER PRECIPITATION
TOTALLED 1.04 INCHES...WHICH IS 0.78 INCH BELOW NORMAL. SNOWFALL
AMOUNTED TO 4.1 INCHES.
WINTER HELD A TIGHT GRIP DURING EARLY DECEMBER...WITH WELL BELOW
NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND FREQUENT...BUT SMALL...SNOWFALLS. THE
HIGHEST TEMPERATURE THROUGH THE 9TH WAS ONLY 24 DEGREES...WITH
SUBZERO READINGS ON FOUR DAYS. THE COLDEST WAS THE 6TH WITH A HIGH
OF 7 ABOVE AND A LOW OF 8 BELOW ZERO. 5.2 INCHES OF SNOW FELL
DURING THIS PERIOD. TEMPERATURES MODERATED LATER IN THE MONTH...AND
THERE WAS ONLY 0.2 INCH OF ADDITIONAL SNOW. FOR THE MONTH...THE
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 24.4 DEGREES WAS 1.2 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL.
PRECIPITATION TOTALLED 0.81 INCHES...0.11 INCH BELOW NORMAL.
2005 STATISTICS
Code: Select all
TEMPERATURE PRECIPITATION
MONTH AVG. DEPART. MAX MIN TOTAL DEPART. SNOW AND HAIL
JAN. 20.9 -0.8 53 -11 0.52 -0.25 14.6
FEB. 32.9 4.9 65 -1 1.90 1.10 4.4
MAR. 40.6 1.3 79 13 0.98 -1.15 T
APR. 55.5 4.1 82 25 2.63 -0.31 0
MAY 61.8 -0.4 90 30 4.60 0.16 T
JUNE 75.5 3.3 98 57 2.69 -1.26 T
JULY 79.7 3.0 105 53 1.93 -1.93 0
AUG. 75.0 0.5 99 52 4.66 1.45 T
SEP. 71.1 5.7 98 37 0.92 -2.25 T
OCT. 55.0 1.8 92 24 0.75 -1.46 0
NOV. 42.5 4.5 82 11 1.04 -0.78 4.1
DEC. 24.4 -1.2 54 -8 0.81 -0.11 5.4
YEAR 52.9 2.2 105 -11 23.43 -6.79 29.5Code: Select all
DEGREE DAYS
MONTH HEATING DEPART. COOLING DEPART.
JAN. 1359 10 0 0
FEB. 892 -160 0 0
MAR. 749 -56 1 0
APR. 297 -127 20 6
MAY 160 9 67 7
JUNE 0 -17 324 91
JULY 1 0 466 101
AUG. 0 -6 319 23
SEP. 30 -75 220 106
OCT. 357 -27 52 40
NOV. 666 -140 0 0
DEC. 1249 38 0 0
YEAR 1469 374