Flooding is still a concern in extreme Southeast Nebraska, near Falls City and Rulo. However, drier days lie ahead for most of Nebraska's farmers. The weather should clear as the weekend approaches, according
KENDRA WALTKE / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Monday, October 15, 2007 7:00 pm
Soaked corn and soybeans stand in muddy fields awaiting harvest.
But, for the rest of this week at least, the combines will stay silent.
Last weekend’s heavy rainfalls broke a century-old Omaha rainfall record and left fields soggy.
Less than an inch is expected today and another weather storm system will likely bring more rainfall through Wednesday night.
Flooding is still a concern in extreme Southeast Nebraska, near Falls City and Rulo.
However, drier days lie ahead for most of Nebraska’s farmers. The weather should clear as the weekend approaches, according to the National Weather Service in Valley.
“Usually October is a dry month so this is kind of unusual,” said Dave Fobert, a metereologist for the National Weather Service.
The forecast for Lincoln, from the National Weather Service:
Monday night: A 50 percent chance of showers is . Cloudy, with a low around 45. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Tuesday: A 20 percent chance of showers before 1 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 63.
Tuesday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 49.
Wednesday: Showers and thunderstorms likely. Cloudy, with a high near 68. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Wednesday Night: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 55. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
Thursday: A slight chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 70. Chance of precipitation is 20 percent.
Waterlogged
The heaviest showers fell in a narrow slice of Southeast Nebraska.
Nearly 5 inches of rain fell Sunday in Nebraska City, and flooding was reported on the Little Nemaha River east of Auburn and along the Missouri River near Brownville and Rulo. The water is expected to rise about 2 feet by Tuesday morning.
The prospect of more rain prompted the weather service to put out a flood warning for the area on Monday.
“The ground is already saturated as far as Southeast Nebraska,” Fobert said. “We’ll have to keep an eye on it.”
No flooding was reported elsewhere in Southeast Nebraska as of Monday, Forbert said, “The heavier rain fell to the east of the Big Blue Basin,” Fobert said.
Record rains
Sunday’s rain did wash away both a daily and monthly record in Omaha. About 1.71 inches fell there Sunday, breaking Omaha’s record of .95 inches set in 1905.
Even more dramatic — 5.9 inches of rain have fallen on Omaha since Oct. 1, breaking a monthly record of 5.86 inches set in 1877. More rain this week could make the record rainfall rise more.
“2007 has obliterated Omaha’s last record,” said Christy Carlson, a regional climatologist for the High Plains Regional Climate Center.
She noted Omaha’s most recent high precipitation for October— 5.25 inches in 1997, was part of an early snowstorm that caused much damage. “We’re lucky it’s coming down as rain,” Carlson said.
In Lincoln, about 3.8 inches of rain have fallen since Oct. 1. The year’s precipation in Lincoln is 32.47 inches, 7.53 above normal.
This is Lincoln’s third wettest October in 42 years, Carlson said.
Muddy fields
This week’s forecast means farmers will have to wait a few days before heading back into the fields.
“I think harvest will probably be fine if we don’t get much rain from here on,” said Craig Wallman of the Southeast Nebraska Cooperative in Beatrice.
A few farmers have had corn lie on the ground from Sunday’s rain, he said. Also, with too much rain, soybeans will swell and if they dry out too fast, the pods will burst and be ruined, he said.
Local farmers are a bit worried, he said, “A guy told me this morning, I guess it’s not the right time to be married to a farmer.”
But about 40 percent of the corn and beans around Beatrice are in, Wallman said, “It’s been a pretty good harvest so far. Yields have been good.”
Around Elmwood, weekend rain “Pretty much brought harvest to a standstill,” said Gayln Boesiger, grain merchandiser for the Midwest Farmers Co-op. “There’s a lot of dollars out there to protect.”
Both he and Wallman agreed that farmers will have to hustle. “You’re going to see lights in the field late at night,” Wallman said.
Statewide, the rain did limit last week’s harvest, but numbers are mostly on target compared with past Octobers, according to the weekly report by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service.
Corn conditions are better than last year. Statewide, corn harvest is 37 percent complete, ahead of both last year and the average.
About 52 percent of soybeans are in the bin, lagging a little compared with last year’s harvest.
But that’s no surprise, as the state has seen average or above average rainfall through all but the Panhandle.
Precipitation at Scottsbluff for Oct. 1-14 was .44 inches, half of which fell Sunday, climatologist Carlson said. “It’s 88 percent of normal, but it’s more than they’ve had for a long time,” she said.
“It’s too bad they can’t get the rain that Omaha had.”
Reach Kendra Waltke at (402) 473-7303 or kwaltke@journalstar.com.