Heavy rain saturates central, western Nebraska

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By The Associated Press

Heavy rain fell for a third straight day Friday in parts of Nebraska, further easing drought conditions but causing lowland flooding.

Parts of Custer County in central Nebraska had more than 3 inches of rain by early Friday, and some areas of state Highway 40 between Callaway and Arnold were washed out, said Kenny Raberg, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in North Platte.

"We just have water everywhere," said Kim Mowrey, a dispatcher with the Custer County sheriff's office in Broken Bow.

Area creeks were overflowing and the golf course in Broken Bow was covered with water after 2.40 inches of rain fell Thursday night, Mowrey said.

A heavy thunderstorm Friday straddled Red Willow and Hitchcock counties, prompting a flash flood warning for an area that included the cities of Trenton, McCook, Indianola, Culbertson and Bartley.

A flash flood warning also was issued for Dawson and Gosper counties in south-central Nebraska. Lexington, Cozad, Elwood, Sumner and Johnson Lake were in the warned area, the National Weather Service said.

Rainfall totals from Wednesday through early Friday included Berwyn with 3.44 inches; Ansley with 3.07; Eddyville with 2.68; Pleasanton with 2.53; Arapahoe, 2.52; Litchfield, 2.47; Rockville, 2.42; Loup City 2.40; Miller, 2.34; Naponee, 2.29, Wilcox 2.28; Elm Creek, 2.25 and Hildreth 2.14.

Omaha in the east and Sidney in the west each received more than half an inch of rain Thursday night.

Grand Island and Hastings each received more than 1 inch of rain Thursday night, and they were part of a flash flood watch area Friday. Heavy rain, hail and high winds hit that same area hard May 11 and May 12 and Gov. Dave Heineman has requested federal disaster aid for cleanup from those storms.

Drought and dry conditions have plagued parts of Nebraska for six years, particularly in the west, but spring rains have helped ease those problems.

Southwest and western Nebraska remained in severe to moderate drought or abnormally dry conditions as of Tuesday, according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor map prepared by the University of Nebraska. The rest of the state had largely recovered from the drought.

Drought conditions have eased across much of the West for the first time this century, but water reservoirs in many areas remain low.

The Drought Monitor shows California and all but a small sliver of Nevada drought-free for the first time in at least three years. Most of the Southwest ranges from abnormally dry to moderate drought. The Pacific Northwest, the Northern Rockies, and parts of the High Plains still show severe and extreme drought in many areas.