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Summer Precipitation Rankings
Author: Natalie Umphlett - High Plains Regional Climate Center
Published: 2012-09-02 23:26:39
Updated: 2012-09-21 13:55:20
It was certainly a dry summer across the High Plains Region. Most of Wyoming, Nebraska, eastern Colorado, southern South Dakota, and the eastern and western sides of Kansas received at most 50 percent of normal precipitation. Only a few pockets of central North Dakota and western Colorado had above normal precipitation. One of the dry locations was Grand Island, Nebraska which had its driest summer on record with only 2.37 inches (60 mm) of precipitation. This amount was 8.45 inches (215 mm) below normal and only 22 percent of normal precipitation. The old record of 2.87 inches (73 mm) was set back in the summer of 1940 (period of record 1895-2012).
Check out the table below to see more rankings from across the High Plains Region. (Records refer to either smallest amount or largest amount of precipitation, depending on the ranking.)
| Location | Summer Precipitation (in) / Rank | Record or Previous Record (in) / Year | Period of Record |
| Alamosa, CO | 1.70 / 15th driest | 0.75 / 1980 | 1906-2012 |
| Colorado Springs, CO | 4.27 / 15th driest | 2.47 / 1939 | 1894-2012 |
| Denver, CO | 1.81 / 7th driest | 0.77 / 1917 | 1872-2012 |
| Grand Junction, CO | 1.18 / 23rd driest | 0.32 / 1900 | 1893-2012 |
| Pueblo, CO | 1.22 / 2nd driest | 0.86 / 1939 | 1888-2012 |
| Concordia, KS | 9.28 / 51st driest | 3.21 / 1913 | 1885-2012 |
| Dodge City, KS | 6.94 / 43rd driest | 1.58 / 2011 | 1874-2012 |
| Goodland, KS | 3.74 / 7th driest | 3.05 / 1981 | 1895-2012 |
| Salina, KS | 6.96 / 13th driest | 2.83 / 1983 | 1948-2012 |
| Topeka, KS | 7.75 / 18th driest | 2.60 / 1936 | 1887-2012 |
| Wichita, KS | 6.19 / 15th driest | 1.29 / 1936 | 1888-2012 |
| Grand Island, NE | 2.37 / driest | 2.87 / 1940 | 1895-2012 |
| Lincoln, NE | 4.20 / 4th driest | 2.84 / 1936 | 1887-2012 |
| Norfolk, NE | 1.88 / driest | 3.50 / 1936 | 1893-2012 |
| North Platte, NE | 2.65 / driest | 3.81 / 1886 | 1874-2012 |
| Omaha, NE | 5.97 / 10th driest | 2.73 / 1911 | 1871-2012 |
| Scottsbluff, NE | 2.67 / 10th driest | 1.19 / 1931 | 1893-2012 |
| Valentine, NE | 2.79 / driest | 2.92 / 1917 | 1889-2012 |
| Bismarck, ND | 7.13 / 69th driest | 1.19 / 1936 | 1874-2012 |
| Fargo, ND | 6.30 / 25th driest | 1.86 / 1936 | 1881-2012 |
| Grand Forks, ND | 7.74 / 46th driest | 2.17 / 1910 | 1893-2012 |
| Williston, ND | 5.35 / 45th driest | 2.37 / 1961 | 1894-2012 |
| Aberdeen, SD | 5.73 / 21st driest | 2.33 / 1894 | 1893-2012 |
| Huron, SD | 5.53 / 21st driest | 3.07 / 1894 | 1881-2012 |
| Rapid City, SD | 4.19 / 17th driest | 0.24 / 1942 | 1942-2012 |
| Sioux Falls, SD | 2.73 / driest | 3.55 / 1894 | 1893-2012 |
| Casper, WY | 1.49 / 6th driest | 0.39 / 1971 | 1939-2012 |
| Cheyenne, WY | 5.41 / 67th wettest | 12.22 / 1985 | 1871-2012 |
| Lander, WY | 0.15 / driest | 0.25 / 1924 | 1891-2012 |
| Sheridan, WY | 1.43 / 7th driest | 0.88 / 1988 | 1907-2012 |
*indicates multiple years, latest year listed