If you love snow, this has not been the winter to be in Lincoln. “We’re sitting at 3.7 inches of snow since last fall,” says retired UNL Climatologist Dr. Ken Dewey. “That’s the second lowest amount we’ve ever had.”
Dewey tells KLIN News “the snowfall from year to year can vary a lot, but if you work in a drought at the same time there will be a lack of not only precipitation in general, but a lack of snowfall. That is what we have seen this winter.”
Dewey says there have been no prolonged periods of cold weather that have hung around for several days. “This winter has been a back and forth between cold and warm.”
He says there are no signs of this pattern breaking anytime soon. “Will this be an early spring, don’t know, but I do know that we don’t have any signs of last year, and that should make everyone feel good.” He says we had three feet of snow at this point last year and temperatures went to 31 degrees below zero in the middle of February.
Dewey is hoping the lack of precipitation this winter doesn’t turn into a spring and summer drought.