If you thought July was unusually cool, you were right. In fact, when you combine June and July, it turned out to be the coolest two month period since 2004, and one of the coolest on record. A persistent upper level wind pattern kept south central Nebraska and north central Kansas on the edge of the heat to the southwest, and able to share in some unseasonably cool air positioned around the Great Lakes and eastern Canada. The pattern resulted in several cool mornings, many pleasant evenings and some not-so-hot afternoons.

The Tri-Cities of Grand Island, Hastings and Kearney provide a reasonable dataset for examining climate records in the area. Grand Island's data goes back to October 1895, and is considered the most complete and climatologically reliable. The Hastings data dates back to 1907 for temperatures, while Kearney goes back to 1901 for temperatures.  Climatological data for Grand Island and Hastings are collected by an Automated Surface Observing System at the airport at each city. Climatological data for Kearney is also from the airport area, but is collected daily by a NWS Cooperative Observer.

*The data used for these calculations are considered preliminary until certified by the National Climatic Data Center.

• Grand Island: 8th coolest on record (out of 114 years) at 3.3 degrees below normal 
• Hastings: 6th coolest on record (out of 102 years) at 3.8 degrees below normal
• Kearney: 3rd coolest on record (out of 109 years) at 3.4 degrees below normal

 

	Average High 2009	Average Low 2009	Average Temperature 2009	Departure from Average	All-Time Rank	All-Time Coolest July
Grand Island	84.4	60.6	72.5	3.3 degrees below	8th Coolest (tied)	69.9 degrees in 1992
Hastings	83.6	60.9	72.3	3.8 degrees below	6th Coolest	70.6 degrees in 1915
Kearney	82.4	60.3	71.3	3.4 degrees below	3rd Coolest	69.2 degrees in 1992

 

Grand Island (July 2009):

• Only 4 days of 90+ degree temperatures. Normal is 13 days.
• No 100 degree temperatures. Normal is 2 days.
• Record low temperatures were set or tied this month on the 18th (50 degrees) and 22nd (53 degrees).

 Hastings (July 2009):

• Only 4 days of 90+ degree temperatures. Normal is 15 days.
• No 100 degree temperatures. Normal is 3 days.
• Record low temperatures were set or tied this month on the 18th (53 degrees) and 31st (53 degrees).

Kearney (July 2009):

• Only 2 days of 90+ degree temperatures. Normal is 13 days.  
• No 100 degree temperatures. Normal is 2 days.
• Record low temperature was set this month on the 18th (54 degrees). 
 

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 June and July 2009 (combined) - Some Highlights And Numbers

Here are some highlights for the two-month (June and July) period combined:

Grand Island

• Tied for the 14th-coolest on record at 2.5 degrees below normal
  
• Only 13 days of 90+ degree temperatures so far this year. Normal through July 31 is 23 days.
• No 100 degree temperatures so far this year. Normal through July 31 is 3 days.

Hastings

• 10th-coolest on record at 2.9 degrees below normal
• Only 10 days of 90+ degree temperatures so far this year. Normal through July 31 is 25 days.
• No 100 degree temperatures so far this year. Normal through July 31 is 4 days. 

Kearney

• 11th-coolest on record at 2.5 degrees below normal
• Only 6 days of 90+ degree temperatures so far this year. Normal through July 31 is 22 days.
• No 100 degree temperatures so far this year. Normal through July 31 is 3 days.
• Record low temperature was set this month on the 18th (54 degrees).

	Average High June and July 2009	Average Low June and July 2009	Average Temperature June and July 2009	Departure from Average	All-Time Rank	All-Time Coolest June and July
Grand Island	81.9	60.1	71.0	2.5 degrees below	14th Coolest (tied)	68.5 degrees in 1951
Hastings	81.5	60.6	71.0	2.9 degrees below	10th Coolest	67.9 degrees in 1915
Kearney	80.3	59.3	69.8	2.5 degrees below	11th Coolest	67.6 degrees in 1992

 

  For more climate related information, check out the following websites: