Superior, Nebraska

... Third coldest first half of December ever recorded at Grand
Island... Hastings... and Kearney...

If you thought it has been an abnormally cold start to
December... you would be right. The first 15 days of December rank as
the third coldest on record at Grand Island... Hastings... and
Kearney. It was the coldest start to December since 1972. Many of
the plains and midwestern states became stuck in a cold pattern as a
rather persistent upper ridge developed across the West Coast and
often extend clear up to Alaska. This helped to frequently dislodge
cold air from northern Canada... which then spilled into the plains
and upper Midwest. This general pattern is expected to persist
through at least Christmas... which will likely result in continued
below normal temperatures for most of the upcoming week.

... Grand Island (central Nebraska regional airport)...
average temperature Dec 1-15 2009: 14.3 (13.2 below normal)
average Max temperature Dec 1-15 2009: 24.1
average min temperature Dec 1-15 2009: 4.5

All-time rank based on records for Grand Island area dating to 1895:

Top 5 coldest December 1-15 periods at Grand Island (average temp):

1) 9.0 in 1919
2) 10.2 in 1972
3) 14.3 in 2009
4) 16.0 in 1909
5) 16.5 in 1917


... Hastings (municipal airport)...
average temperature Dec 1-15 2009: 14.8 (13.8 below normal)
average Max temperature Dec 1-15 2009: 23.9
average min temperature Dec 1-15 2009: 5.7

All-time rank based on records for Hastings area dating to 1907:

Top 5 coldest December 1-15 periods at Hastings (average temp):

1) 12.5 in 1972
2) 13.1 in 1917
3) 14.8 in 2009
4) 16.4 in 1985
5) 17.6 in 2005


... Kearney (4 ne)...
average temperature Dec 1-15 2009: 13.1 (14.7 below normal)
average Max temperature Dec 1-15 2009: 23.5
average min temperature Dec 1-15 2009: 2.6

All-time rank based on records for Kearney area dating to 1902:

Top 5 coldest December 1-15 periods at Kearney (average temp):

1) 7.0 in 1919
2) 9.7 in 1972
3) 13.1 in 2009
4) 15.5 in 1917
5) 16.0 in 1909