July of 2023 might best be remembered for its storminess, seasonally pleasant temperatures, untimely hailstorms, a slow wheat harvest, and the month where an historic drought in eastern Nebraska started improving.
In contrast to July of 2022, which was generally dry and warm statewide conditions that led to expansion and intensification of drought, July 2023 was generally wet and seasonally cool. This led to improvements in drought classification for many areas of the state, with parts of east-central Nebraska showing a two-category improvement during the month.
Unfortunately, with the increased precipitation came some unwelcome guests in the form of damaging hailstorms. Many areas of the state had hail at some point or another during the month of July, but the two worst storms occurred about 48 hours apart in vastly different parts of the state. The first occurred in Scotts Bluff County on July 8 and wiped out several fields of corn, sugarbeets and dry beans. Then, two days later, hail caused almost complete devastation of crops, particularly corn, in the area between Waco and Utica. For some farmers, this was two years in a row of being wiped out by hail.
While wetter and cooler temperatures were quite welcome in the eastern portion of the state, this was less welcome in western Nebraska, where wheat harvest progressed along at the slowest pace in many years.
Source: unl.edu
Photo Credit: science-photo-library-igor-stevanovic
Categories: Nebraska, Weather