Weather event diary, station news and Opinion Blog here , :

09/27/2021 Here is a list of first and last freeze dates with average at the bottom, different from frost which can occur on surfaces with radiational cooling where objects can become colder than the surrounding air temperature. (windshield is a good example).. The years are broken down in 20-year increments which is how it's normally done to develop a trend. Here is the airport 2020-2000 ... 2000-1980 ... 1980-1960 . What this station is seeing is Oct.4th for first freeze since 2014 so we are trending later for sure. Another trend is February has become the average coldest month since 2014. With a couple of them being well below historical normals approaching top 10 coldest ever and that's saying something with records going back to the late 19th century. That ice storm and cold (teens common) in south Texas was a direct result last winter and something Houston had never experienced before.

7:08 am: 90's are back we reached 91° yesterday at both NE Valentine stations. Forecast has 94° for today. Currently a cool 44-45° across NE Valentine. We are losing 2 min. 54 sec. of sunlight daily, 20 min. 30 seconds every 7 days.

09/25/2021 Good radiational cooling and completely calm, 0-mph wind. The first time this fall we have been below 40° at the NE Valentine location. Even cooler at the remote station 3/4 mile east currently (37°). Dewpoint temp is running 36-37 degrees so could potentially cool a little more before sunrise.

09/24/2021 7:35 am: Getting a sprinkle in NE Valentine currently.

09/23/2021 Update 7:35 am: It did dip to 39° at the remote station just east of here. Linked on the menu bar also. 7:20 am: Unlike yesterday morning the breeze calmed down enough allowing the temperature to drop across NE Valentine, currently 41° at both weather stations and could potentially peel off a couple more just after sunrise (7:32 am).

09/22/2021 Today had the opportunity to pre-order a (dual lens 150°) viewing angle camera so will have a complete NW through SW view using dual lenses. More about the camera HERE . Hopefully it will work with the software I use for posting images to the website. The plan is replace the west view camera with the 150° camera.

09/19/2021 6:25 pm: High temp today 89° here in NE Valentine and 90° at the remote station just east of here. Chance of rainfall tonight with the forecast focusing on the early morning hours (4-5 am) as best odds. Say goodby to 90°, temps look much more normal over the extended, and we are losing around 3 minutes of sunlight each day. Noticed trees are also starting to turn. No sign of our first freeze yet but it will be coming soon. Oct. 4th has been the average date since 2014. Visit the station freeze data HERE .

09/18/2021 5:15 pm: Humidity moved in today with the dew point temperature rising from 50° early this morning to above 60° starting around 10:30 am this morning. We've peaked at 87° and (88° remote station) so far here in NE valentine. It's a different story in western Nebraska where it's much drier and hot, the Gordon airport ASOS is 92° with the dew point temp down to 38° and 15% RH. Eastern Cherry county leans toward a more humid climate usually. It's also wetter now with a yearly average of around 26" . Officially it's 20" 1991-2020 but recently 2015-2021 it's been 26". All this is likely connected to our climate changing and it does look like we are warming somewhat just not at the airport KVTN ASOS rate.

09/17/2021 Snow Stake camera is running with 5 minute updates currently. Found under camera images. Camera is mounted on the weather station mounting post, the camera wireless signal isn't great being (55' from house) so will be testing as we go into the winter months.

7:25 am: (.47") rainfall at both NE weather stations, this puts NE Valentine at 3.20" on the month. 6 days in a row, starting on the 11th we've had measurable rainfall. It did make (90.4°) yesterday here in NE Valentine and just may end up being our last actual 90° day this year. The forecast for Sunday has 90° but we could fall just short with most models below with the exception GFS which errors on the warm side much of the time. This is the real temperature, not the fake globally warmed thermometer at the airport ASOS I'm talking about.

If wondering about different areas of rainfall last night (select last 12 hours accumulation), here is the Doppler radar rainfall estimates link. Some of the heavier amounts last night include 1.10" at St. Francis. From experience these estimates are usually on the high side of actual, example radar estimates .59" here in NE Valentine and actual was .47". This Doppler radar estimate link will get added to the menu-bar external links lower left so to stop linking on blog. It comes in handy for ranchers/farmers wondering about acreage outside of the rain gauge.

09/16/2021 8:20 pm: Pretty good line of T-storms to the west. This development is further west than most models had it.

09/15/2021 6:20 am: The T-storm to the west looks to be weakening but still could bring brief rain as it moves through. I'll zoom the radar in as it moves through. 6:00 am: Thunderstorm to the west of Valentine is building and heading east.

09/14/2021 9 am: (.17") rainfall so far today. (Manual 8" diameter gauge), (.18") tipping bucket at the remote station to the east. Looks like on radar we may get another shower.

6:15 am: Had a light shower (.01") here in NE Valentine, radar shows more showers heading this way. We are above normal for September with the early on (2 1/3") rainfall so any additional rainfall is bonus. Our yearly rainfall average is 20", so above on the year also at 21". We dry out during the fall months Sept. Oct. Nov. and become much drier during the winter months where precip falls mainly as snow so may not seem drier but is because of the low moisture content snow we usually get. I've measured as dry as (26:1) but (12-14:1) is more common here. The standard (10:1) ratio during the winter months is less common because many of our snowfalls have an arctic air origin. Snowfalls can start out at 10:1 and end up at 16:1. Snowfall moisture content ratio if unfamiliar, example of the standard average (10:1) is 10" of snowfall for ever 1" of moisture.

09/13/2021 11:am: (.15") rain fell in a short period here in NE Valentine. (.25") fell at the east side remote station.

10:am: Starting to hear thunder. Lots of development to the west.

7:am: Dense fog this morning.

09/12/2021 Looks like only (.08)" total in NE Valentine, south side is reporting much more (.35") airport.

09/11/2021 6:25 pm: It cleared off around 10:45 am and was mostly sunny for the majority of the day, our highs reached 83° in NE Valentine at both stations. One little thunderstorm showing in far western Nebraska currently.

9:40 am: I think what we are seeing is clouds and not all smoke overhead hopefully. It's gotten thicker since this morning.

A horrible nightmarish day 20 years ago on 9/11 (2001), was living in Arizona and about ready to head home after working a 12 hour night shift while listening to the radio news broke saying an airplane had just hit one of the twin towers. After getting home turned on CNN, this was back when it was actually a respected news organization before the DNC takeover, anyway watched live as the second passenger jet hit the other tower. The place of my career was the largest western power plant non-hydro and joint government (USBR) owned so we went on full lockdown with barriers to stop vehicles even had snipers surrounding the area for weeks afterward. It sure doesn't feel like its been 20 years. (Alan Jackson) Where were you when the world stopped turning?

6:48 am: Added the east view camera back for primarily nighttime viewing ability. It also shows the the weather station instruments with anemometer the exception.

09/10/2021 6:30 pm: Our high temps here in NE Valentine, 89 and 90° at remote east station, the smoke wasn't as thick as yesterday but still moderated the forecasted heat (97°) substantially. Some of the smoke has worked down to the surface, our AQI is 125 and into the orange.

8:35 am: The smoke haze is continuing today, not showing currently on satellite but it's here. How thick the smoke is during the max heating period this afternoon will determine just how hot it gets. We may also get a few clouds moving through this afternoon. The air is very warm but blocking the powerful sun's rays will make a difference. We are starting to see a little smoke mixing to the surface this morning with the AQI in the orange at 88 and climbing.

09/09/2021 6:35 pm: The Goes satellite loop shows just how thick the smoke is. It still hasn't worked down to the surface with AQI staying okay. This may be a good thing if it stays this thick tomorrow for prep football acting like cloud cover we may not reach the upper 90's or even come close. Not sure if the ECM anticipated this smoke but that model has been cooler all along with low 90's for tomorrow. Nothing was mentioned in todays forecast about smoke so doubt it.

3:25 pm: After looking at the satellite loop it does look like smoke coming from the same areas as the fires out west. 81° is the high so far at the NE station location today so really doubt we come close to the 90° mark being this late in the day. Even the rogue airport thermometer may not.

Another cool morning down to 45° almost the same as Wednesdays 44°. The forecast of upper 90's Friday and prep football games don't mix well, especially those afternoon day games.

09/07/2021 3:50 pm: Air quality really cleaned up with the moderate north wind 16-25 mph we are down to 9 on the AQI scale. Beautiful day with a high temp so far 77.5°, the DP temp is near 45°, and the breeze making it perfect outside, Chamber of commerce weather. The late afternoon DP temperature can sometimes indicate what to expect for the morning low temperature provided there is no air mass change.

7:45 am: With the north wind, it's bringing in a little smoke with the airport visibility sensor below 10 miles. Also, the purple Air monitor is in the orange at 118 AQI. This north wind is drier with the dew point in the 40's this morning. Tomorrow morning will be on the cool side with temperatures down into the 40's so light jacket weather. More 90's forecast for Friday.

09/05/2021 7:25 am: A little fog has developed along the hills to the west and NW, the west view camera picks some of it up. It's not widespread and with the sun up should burn off rapidly.

09/04/2021 Haven't updated info on the NE wx station lately, image of the automatic tipping bucket and temp/humidity shields. This website uses the FARS (fan aspirated radiation shield) with a higher-powered 110 volt AC fan, the static shield is naturally aspirated Meteoshield and is the station backup should the power go out on the aspiration fan of main shield. The FARS inlet is 4'10" above the ground (grass), the static shield 6'6" at the sensor height. In the image the 6' high fence is (18') and 11' tall building (41') away from sensors, they may look close but really aren't. Everything is within siting guidelines and then some with 3 to 4X the required distance. Siting Guideline Quote: "Sensor height between 4’ 1” and 6’ 7” above ground (1.25 – 2.0 m)• Place sensors at a horizontal distance of 2 times the height of the nearest object (tree,structure, etc.) [Example: 40 feet away from a 20-foot tall tree]."

No rain last night, and looks like nothing for the upcoming week. Fall months generally are drier with well under 2" rainfall on average and why we are already above normal.

09/03/2021 Think they found the issue with the remote east side wx station internet service. The buried power line feeding the tower has a short underground somewhere so when it rains it goes to ground. They ran a temporary line above ground and have electricians coming to replace the buried cable. Previous: The remote Wx station and camera east side has been down since 1:20 am. The problem is the tower that provides the area internet keeps going down. I'm going to stop mentioning it since it's become an ongoing problem almost daily now.

Looks like a cloud deck of stratus has moved in the cameras show the light reflecting off the low-hanging clouds, the forecast has it degrading later in the day and becoming sunny. A good chance of more moisture tonight with medium-range model amounts (.10 - .50"). We have already reached our September precip normal plus some so any additional is a bonus. Too bad a lot of this rain is coming after the growing season but it still helps maintain ground moisture for the next season and is good for both wildlife and erosion prevention with native plants thriving. Across the road here in NE Valentine there is an area undisturbed and the native plants are thriving with growth. The most I've seen since relocating here in 2019. A lot of fuel for fire too once it dries out.

09/02/2021 11:40am: Picked up an additional (.24") as the cold front boundary moved through making the daily total (2.29"). Remote east side wx station picked up (.20") additional making for (2.57") daily total, unofficial at this location with no manual gauge for reference. NW wind behind the front but the atmosphere is still wet with mid 60's dewpoint. Most medium range models underestimated rainfall amounts the ECM was on the right track early on but then backed off.

7:40 am: Rainfall amount with 8" dia. manual gauge is (2.05") here in NE Valentine. Pretty common number 2.10" at downtown Co-op, On West 3rd St. 2.07". Airport reports 2.08" Rainfall map agrees 2" plus except the St. Francis report of 3" only shows .98" fell in that area. The area from Crookston to about Brown county line 25 miles SE of Valentine received the heaviest amounts on this side of the state, with the south side of Y area, between HW 20 and 83 the sweet spot. The remote gauge to the east of here is coming in at 2.36".

This tipping bucket rain gauge can be right on at times, others not. This time +.09". It's all metal so made to last but I've noticed calibration changes with temperature and have notified the manufacture Texas Electronics about the issue.

5:45 am: Heaviest rainfall so far 3.8" per /hr rate and the radar just doesn't reflect it for some reason. Unsafe to get the 6 am manual gauge reading with lightning strikes nearby. Will get as soon as possible, I can see areas of standing water on the lawn so the ground is saturated.

5:15 am: The remote east side station is back online and showing 1.46" currently. Linked at bottom of menu bar. It's raining a lot harder than the radar shows here in NE Valentine currently.

4:am: Rain with rumbles of thunder continue. The automatic tipping bucket gauge is currently at (.84") in NE Valentine. Manual rainfall reading from 8" diameter rain gauge will come around 6 am and make website adjustment if necessary. Then a Cocorahs gauge reading just before 7 am. Once again the remote east side wx station went offline around 9 pm last night. This station should collect rainfall amounts even being offline.

01:20 am: T-storm and moderate rain started.

09/01/2021 8:25 pm: The latest HRRR for what it's worth this model runs once an hour and linked under menu bar, with the NE station location. Purplish starts 1", red 2", whitish red 3", yellow 4". A lot more rainfall being suggested here than other models so not sure about it with a good chunk of Cherry county getting 3-4" according to this. I was okay with an inch or so.

3:48 pm: Getting a little sun breakthrough finally. What some of the models have for precip totals coming up. Looks like well after midnight for the start. Image

Here in NE Valentine, this was our second warmest August since this station started in 2014 coming in at (+ .4°) under the new skewed high temperature numbers (NCDC 1991-2020), rainfall (3.24") was also on the plus side at (+1.20"). We are still on track for starting September out with decent moisture chances Wednesday/Thursday. Models have backed off on amounts as they usually do as events near coming in at around an inch of moisture now, initially the ECM was around 2.5".

For some like the Russians who use the meteorological seasons today is the first day of fall. Makes more sense to use meteorological vs astronomical seasons. Calling the summer and winter solstice occurrence as the beginning of a season never made any, especially winter. The solstice are not just the shortest or longest but a turning point for day lengths so not the beginning but the beginning of the end as Churchill would say. I can remember the first week of December even as a pup with knee-deep drifts after 14" of snow and people were saying, "And we haven't even reached winter yet" which was true if using the astronomical seasons but meteorologically December is winter. Calling Dec. 20th a fall day because it has a couple extra seconds of sunlight over Dec. 21th (shortest day) didn't make sense back then and still doesn't. Like with the Russki's the fall season begins today with this website where seasonal graphs are broke down meteorologically. March, April, May (spring): June, July, August (Summer), September, October, November (Fall), December, January, February (Winter).

08/31/2021 We picked an additional (.22") since midnight. This was the radar image of the T-storm at its peak as it started turning SE. Image

08/30/2021 11:26 pm: The cell stalled and then turned SE taking the main hail ball just south and west of town it looks like on radar. Was sent an image of hail from Crookston just over quarter size fell. Rainfall (.56") fell from this storm in NE Valentine and looks like (.52") at the airport, (.38") at the remote station .67 mi to the east was result of stalling out then abruptly pivoted and headed SE leaving areas straight east dry.

10:45 pm: Starting to get a few pea-size hail NE Valentine, but not much so far.

10:34: Z3 cell is at 50,800 feet now so strengthening and slow movement.

10:20 pm: image of radar cell Z3 as rain is starting here in NE Valentine.

9:56 pm: Severe T-storm warning is out: Movement is straight west now we may get hail especially on northern side of town.

9:35 pm: Movement has started NE showing a little pink hail now and may skirt by just north with the heaviest precip. Crookston likely got drenched the top has grown to 41,100 feet.

9:10 pm: T-Storm is developing just west of Valentine and not showing much movement yet but is increasing rapidly in size.

08/29/2021 6:30 am: Remote east side wx station and camera image are back up. (Ctrl + F5) may be needed on some browsers to clear cache for updated images to start working. One time should be enough.

08/28/2021 7:52 am: The T-storm cell aimed at Valentine was at 31,100 foot top and is currently down to 25,000 so weakened.

Severe thunderstorm warning was issued prior to 4 am by the NWS and allowed to expire. We did pick up a 62 and 59 mph gust here on NE side and a 63 mph was reported at the airport as the storm approached. Rain amounts .18" and .14". Something unusual in front of the T-storm our temperature rose to 87° and will likely end up being the daily high temperature 2:31 am. For those that were asleep this is what it looked like on radar.

08/27/2021 The "Feels Like" along with heat index is working correctly, still not sure why "apparent" was showing the other day. Days like today with the dew point mid 60's to 70's the heat index will start showing at 78.9° ambient temperature. It could even be set lower with high humidity even 70° feels different at 70° DP vs 50° DP but will leave it to kick the heat index on just below 80°.

08/26/2021 2:16 pm: The dew point just crashed went from 70° to 61° in 15 minutes. So a much drier air mass just moved in.

08/25/2021 5:00 pm: Image of the hail pad that was out. The largest hail was 7/16" so just shy of 1/2" hail. Waited all summer for hail and forgot it was out until emptying the rain gauge and looked down.

Storm sequence First , second , third , Forth , fifth, sixth

1:00 pm: Storm total (.83") and matches the 8" manual gauge. We did get a bunch of small pea size and a few just under dime size hail mixed in. It was by far the most hail I've seen on this side of town since (6-2019). Rainfall rate peaked at 8.8" per/hr with a wind gust of 53 MPH. The storm actually peaked just as it reached Valentine with a pink radar hail ball over on the north side of town and weakened as it moved east with a wind gust of only 38 mph on the far east side of town Wx station, also less rainfall (.73"). Downtown Co-op reported in their 8" gauge (.70"). The airport is only reporting (.41").

Showing some pink, going to get some small hail...... Saving some of these images they are really good if you like T-storms.

08/17/2021 Stevenson Screen has been taken out and summer projects complete so football can't get here fast enough. A long summer without baseball or the Olympics means a lot of DIY. Really glad the Stevenson-type she Hail padlters weren't available for purchase anymore after testing the homemade unit. Focus now is on the chance of rainfall coming up. Valentine has been known for not getting anything when pop chances are high. Fingers crossed this ends because we are way below normal on the month. The one caveat I see for Thursday is the ECM isn't as bullish as other models. Seen that before and it never ends well for our chances so hopefully it changes on the next model run.

5 pm: Finished testing the Stevenson screen it appears to be similar to the COOP downtown static shield judging from the radio reports during the day. So the temperature varies by the type of radiation shield being used for measuring. A lot of people would be amazed if they watched these tests and observed how changing a solar radiation shield out with another can make a difference of 2-4 degrees. It actually brings a problem up when you run the best equipment it causes temperature readings to look too cool. Catch-22 I guess, but it's as close to the actual air temperature as possible with the least amount of solar error.

Running log below comparison fan aspirated radiation shield (fars) vs Stevenson vs airport (ASOS) every so often today for anyone interested.

7:55am: steve-68.0, fars-68.0, ASOS-69.8° ....And the magic number (+1.8°) prevents full DP saturation and 94% max RH.

8:55am: steve-74.9, fars-72.1, ASOS-75.2°

10:20am: steve-82.9, fars-79.9, ASOS-82.4°

10:52am: steve-84.4, fars-82.0, ASOS-86.0°

11:30am: steve-88.5, fars-85.5, ASOS-89.6°

12:15pm: steve-91.6, fars-89.0, ASOS-93.2°

12:45 pm: steve-93.1, fars-91.1, ASOS-96.8°

2:25 pm: steve-95.5, fars-93.5, ASOS-98.6°

2:52 pm: steve-96.0, fars-93.8, ASOS-99.0°

3:15 pm: steve-96.4, fars-94.6, ASOS-98.6°

3:30 pm: steve-96.5, fars-94.6, ASOS-98.6°

4:15 pm: steve-96.5, fars-94.4, ASOS-100.4° the ASOS feeding

Glaring issue with Stevenson shelter and "sprinklers", something I don't have with the aspirated shield where you can't tell when sprinklers run. UGH! Well, this may be a one-time test the way it's looking. This is a real problem I didn't anticipate with a major disruption and these boxes are big and can't just get tucked behind something to avoid sprinklers. In the wx station siting guidelines they say to avoid sprinklers, this is why. Everything has recovered and the same as the aspirated shield now. DP 60° and the Stevenson temperature -.3 tenths lower is where it's been running all night.

High temp yesterday was a cool 97° here in NE Valentine and really wasn't bad, spent the day outside on the Stevenson screen build mostly in the shade. Downtown Coop station reported a 98°. The east remote station reached 99° with wind speeds much lighter than the previous day with a max gust of 29 mph. The 99° was identical again with the Neb. Mesonet station (AKA Sparks) 18 miles to the NE.

08/16/2021 The weather station is on the Stevenson screen shelter this evening so left a message on the front page above the images. The message will stay up as long as it is in testing. I was going to side test but decided to share for everyone to see how these older style shields may have performed especially with the forecast at 100° tomorrow. Being a first-time build and untested this may end up getting aborted should heat build excessively inside tomorrow, I should be able to tell well before the max heating period if the screened shelter is working or a complete dud by comparing it with the fan aspirated shield. All radiation shields without fan aspiration heat up inside some worse than others and why fan aspiration is popular. The east wide-view camera shows the Stevenson Screen shelter.

08/15/2021 High temps today downtown NWS Coop (95°) here in NE Valentine over grass (94.7°) and (95.9°) at the east side remote station with almost identical airport siting conditions where the peak wind gust was 43 mph, here in town our peak gust was 37 mph. Those peak winds came early on when I was out at the remote station. The Nebraska Mesonet station called AKA Sparks 18 mi NE agrees with the east side station the high temp was 96° and not the 99° as reported by the hot running ASOS. The airport ASOS as usual is in its own special temperature bubble. Besides the heat and a little more wind today our dew point was lower 50's vs 60's yesterday. I'm liking the 100% packet throughput now on the east remote station, catching wind gust is no longer hit and miss like it was.

Made a visit to the east side remote station, wanted to watch how the pole (mast) was handling the wind, at the time it was steady around 23 and gusting to 42 mph. It's much windier out there than the far north side of town with the south wind. I was a little concerned about going up that high (21') without guy wires and there was a little flex but looked okay. Dyacon makes a nice weather station tripod I've been thinking of getting due to horses and not wanting guy wires sticking out. Waiting to see how this existing pole setup works before making the move to upgrade.

6:50 am: You can see another thunderhead building near Kilgore on the west view camera. Also streaming live.

08/14/2021 Airport ASOS (KVTN) had Valentine the warmest in the state at 91° yesterday. We only reached 87° at both NE stations the Coop downtown surrounded by buildings using NWS instruments was 86°. Valentine isn't unique anymore it's spreading with certain ASOS stations all with the same symptoms running warm and can't get above 94% RH even in dense fog unless manually inserted.

08/13/2021 CWOP east side station new location got updated and shows correctly at the bottom on the Menu bar under (Area Observations). However real-time WU link still shows the old location and will continue because they don't allow moves even on the same property without starting a new station.

7:pm: Test complete it was a very light wind day, the wraparound bug prevention screen caused no issues with the remote station radiation shield. High temps today (87.1°) at both stations NE and remote .67 miles to the east. For more on this check the post below 08/12/2021 with images of screen wrap.

We dropped to 50° here and 48.5° at the remote station east of here this morning. I don't want to discourage anyone from visiting this website for cameras and in-town conditions but the remote station being located outside of town with drier conditions gives a little different perspective especially during the summer months when it gets so green in town with lawns and trees. Once winter sets in the conditions get more similar. Most do reside inside the city so this NE station does represent conditions being experienced. So visit both is my suggestion the remote station is also live with real-time conditions and linked below the menu bar. Both stations are loaded on separate tabs here but being the station owner I don't see annoying Weather Underground ads.

08/12/2021 7:20 pm: A perfect evening for the Cherry County rodeo parade. Just under 80° at the start with a slight breeze. No problem with the screen material wrapped around the remote weather station shield today, tomorrow is a better test with much lighter wind. Here in NE Valentine highs (83.3°) and at the remote station east of here (83.5°) so even the in town station over grass didn't make much difference with the cooler air and good mix. It was even kind of fallish early on. Our air quality is excellent with the wind direction dropping to 5 AQI today so can't get much better.

10:40 am: Decided to try the screen material to help block wasp from making it their home, it's made of reflective aluminum. Purchased locally $6, brand name. It might just work, so far it looks great running cooler than in town but with a stiff NE wind it's expected. The airport ASOS is running +5° currently at 81° and you almost need a jacket outside with the wind. You still there Houston?

Ended up replacing the far east side Wx station radiation shield this morning with a naturally aspirated Meteoshield for some reason the current shield solar fan wasn't running even after replacing both fan and batteries pre-sunrise today. I like the Meteoshield a lot and have tested extensively for JAN BARANI the problem is so do critters especially our paper wasp. I noticed some of the Coop radiation shields are screen-wrapped, I may give that a try but waiting for some advice good or bad idea. Not sure if it will restrict airflow too much the Meteoshield works based on an airfoil wrap-around design carrying heat away so the screen may interfere too much. The Meteoshields almost work too well if that's possible they run on the cool side compared to others with any wind. The downside when testing started without airflow (calm) they were prone to heat up especially with a low-angle setting sun. Jan addressed this with a black interior to reduce reflective energy which did help and took it further changing the louver design slightly to block the low-angle sun and snow reflection. The shield I installed has a black interior, and not the redesigned louvers. I use the fully redesigned Meteoshield as my field test shield along with a super accurate (.05c) thermometer, certified within a tenth of a degree F.

Our air really cleaned up with the NE wind switch this morning. Crashed down to 28 AQI on the two local sensors.

08/11/2021 6:30 pm: The far East side remote weather station move is complete. It recorded a high temp today of 95.7°, here at the NE station over grass 94.6°. (-1.1) difference. The anemometer total height is about 21'. In the image you see a double anemometer setup the top is mounted for birds to perch, this area has limited good trees so it's a magnet for birds. The bottom anemometer is the working unit. The data packets getting received from the station went from 63% to 100% dropping only 3 packets out of 899, so all wind gust will get recorded correctly now. I'll need to fine-tune the wind direction over the next day or so. The station is back at the original location in 2016 : HERE . Added link to External Links menu bar it's now a live feed. The actual location is off by .17 mi on the WU map because they don't allow station owners to edit the location without creating a new station. The CWOP location will be adjusted but may take a few days before the "area observations" link (bottom of the Menu bar) shows the adjusted location.

Must Watch expert Dr. addresses school board about vaccines and Covid: Video . The 75% fully vaccinated in Mass now infected is very concerning and it's disturbing the CDC hasn't learned anything from all the mistakes they keep making like ignoring the real science even doubling down.

Noticed our air quality has got worse now 163 AQI the highest since installation this morning with AP vis is the 6-7 mi range. Not sure if we have a fire in South Dakota Black Hills they are also 160 range with the surface wind coming from that direction but very light at 3-8 mph currently. NW wind prior has cleaned us up. The Colorado stations were in the red now lower in the orange this morning because the wild fires will lay down overnight with higher RH.

08/10/2021 Our high today reached 90° here over grass, 1/2 mile east 92°.

4:pm: Some news about the station 1/2 mile east of here, spoke with the landowner, and was given permission to move station closer so the repeater wasn't needed. So that project will come sometime down the road when it's a little cooler. I'll announce here when the station is back online and add a link back. BTW about the thunderstorm and the 62 mph gust he confirmed it was howling even blowing a neighbor's large metal stock tank some distance and lodging against a fence. The weather station only showed around 45 mph on peak gust and why I took it offline. Way too many data packets are being lost it's okay with temperature but wind needs a good connection because gust don't register long.

News on the Stevenson screen build I had 1 louver panel show up yesterday but 3 were missing and this was UPS, not FedEx. Called the company they said when shipped all 4 panels were strapped together with heavy-duty banding material so between here and Texas the banding and 3 panels disappeared. The only panel to show was the one with the shipping label attached. Anyway, the other 3 will be reshipped, I wonder how many times this will happen before all 4 get here?

The high temperature peaked at 89° yesterday. A brisk NW wind in the 10-24 mph range brought in some cooler air. The airport ASOS was (+4°) at 93°. in identical conditions to the airport ASOS and just outside of town in large open area 1/2 mile east of here the station high temp was 90° yesterday. ASOS (+3°). Global warming right at the airport showing itself. Speaking of global warming we were down to 56° at this station about -4° below normal this morning. I think those 200 scientists on special interest payroll deciding the urgency of man caused global warming must look at the KVTN ASOS on a daily basis. I'd be scared to death too if I didn't know better. This is how far above normal this year it is in Valentine +(.9°), not even a full degree. I'm not saying we aren't warming, I even suspect we are leaving a recent ice-age not long ago in earth time it's what happens it gets cold it gets warm it's been cycling for eons. I just want honesty if we are and the actual rate.

08/09/2021 7:00 am: AP visibility is down to 5 mi currently. AQI is 137 here currently so worth keeping an eye on with the smoke forecast later on.

Yesterday reached 98° here at the station. So NE Valentine has still only experienced (3) counting the 99.7° this month 100° or higher days this year, pretty sure the Coop station is the same. One day in each month June, July and August compared with the airport ASOS, 9 total. Houston I believe we have a problem.

08/07/2021 4 pm: The PurpleAir monitor is installed and running at this location. To compare with the other PurpleAir across town it's linked under external links.

Guess what showed up this afternoon at 3 pm, the Purple Air monitor. Turns out it was delivered to the wrong street, house numbers were correct and the street started with the same letter guess that's close enough. A nice lady that lives at the wrong address brought it over after discovering it. Explains why the street camera said no FedEx truck came by but doesn't help explain all the FedEx Express (not ground) issues here in town.

This morning during a conversation with the Valentine official Coop observer we were discussing the ASOS computer situation at the airport on how much warmer it goes above other thermometers in the area including someone that lives on the street right next to the airport as it gets hotter the larger the spread becomes from other thermometers. So it feeds upon itself with higher temperatures meaning only one thing, I believe they have inserted some type of + multiplier in the calibration. This is possibly an attempt to simulate the cotton region shelter of old or the obvious about the climate warming. I don't dismiss any possibility anymore for obvious reasons so what's really behind this? Any guess is as good as the next all we really know is the station runs warm compared to every other thermometer in the region heck state even multiple states sometimes, but it's all bunk.

Many mathematical ways to actually do it but the outcome is the same the higher the temperatures the bigger the spread and the lower the temperatures the smaller the spread. Almost all software has some type of calibration so inserting some multiplier should be no big deal for a software coder.

Normally the multiplier is 1 so 100 x 1= 100. Now I'll use an imaginary multiplier of (1.04) for this example... Remember this day a few years back? 108 x 1.04 = 112.32 (+4.23)... This is exactly what we see going on, every thermometer was 108° or less but the airport 112°. Let's now check freezing 1.04 x 32= 33.28 (+1.28) above actual, icing events above freezing common with ASOS, and now zero, 1.04 x 0 = +0 and why we don't see the same errors at lower temperatures.

It actually started in early 2017, here was a post on 11/29/2019 where I mentioned an extended freezing rain event where the ASOS temperature stayed above freezing. This influenced my decision to stop broadcasting the NOAA weather radio over the internet..... POST: 11/29/2019 BLIZZARD WARNING has been issued by NWS. From midnight CST /11 PM MST/ tonight to noon CST /11AM MST/ Sunday. This afternoon freezing (31°) rain (.46") north Valentine fell. Image of the rain gauge froze over HERE. Noticed trees have icicles now. The airport ASOS KVTN reported an above-freezing temperature of 34° throughout the entire extended freezing rain event. (11/29/2019) Due to this fact, along with this continuing issue and not just a onetime event the NOAA Weather Radio broadcast will end from this website. I cannot with a clear conscience continue to propagate false information knowingly when conditions are actually hazardous for driving and flying. I hope those that used the broadcast understand my concern and obligation to safety. The winter storm is projected to dig a little further south giving Valentine a higher snowfall potential.

7:00 am: The rain last night really cleaned out the atmosphere. (49 AQI) at the Niobrara visitor center.... Rainfall (.29") on West 3rd St. and Thatcher, (.21") at the radio station downtown, (.22") here in NE Valentine and the AP ASOS only reported (.11") on far south side.

08/06/2021 Announcement: One thunderstorm and you learn a lot. I'll be shutting the streaming camera down on Oct. 1st where it was prepaid through, there is just not enough interest to justify the monthly cost. More news the weather station east of here is closed down starting tonight it went offline. There has been an ongoing issue with the wind and long transmission distance losing currently 34% of the packets so many wind gusts don't get picked up and being all about accuracy I can't continue broadcasting. Not wanting to invest more I've decided to go ahead and take the station offline. The landowner who has asked not to be identified has been gracious all these years for allowing the station and cameras will continue to have access to the station.

10 pm: 62 mph gust recorded with thunderstorm. (.22") rain, better than nothing but could have used more, it was really being driven with the wind.

6:pm: Pretty much a ho-hum day with clouds beyond 2 pm so only made 92.4°.

Got a report last night (thanks coz) over by Springview there was a video showing a bunch of power poles snapped like toothpicks. The thunderstorm was at its strongest just east of Springview yesterday with a large white reflection I mentioned at 5:20 pm yesterday.

For those that may watch the cameras the west view image from town can be pieced together with the WSW image camera east of Valentine. example so a continuation of the sky.

08/05/2021 Update 6:30 pm: We picked up .02" on both manual gauges. Previous: As you can tell from the cameras smoke increased this afternoon and between it and the heat helped develop the unexpected thunderstorms. We hit (95.1°) here in NE Valentine over grass...

5:20 pm: Some bigger hail when it reflects back as white in that cell east of Springview. 39,000 feet top with a MESO rotation signature. All this is moving away from Valentine.

Unfortunately, it looks like more smoke may move in, quote from forecaster discussion: "Near surface smoke will return to the area. HRRR shows a plume of smoke moving in from the west, especially increasing during the afternoon and evening." Valentine AQI dropped below 100 yesterday with the NW wind and is still at 96 AQI pre-sunrise with AP visibility 8-9 miles.

08/04/2021 4:55 pm: Getting a very light sprinkle.

A little different look for the website front page, more cameras with the exception of the east view available under camera images. The east view camera is the go-to camera for streaming nighttime due to better lighting during weather events. High temps yesterday 88° here in town over grass. We have a little more smoke this morning with 6 mi. AP visibility and 125 AQI.

08/03/2021 I'll be installing a Purple Air monitor at the weather station here in NE Valentine in a few days so Valentine will have two sensors in the area.

After consulting with fellow weather enthusiasts about the Stevenson Screen build the consensus being naturally aspirated the Stevenson Screen will result in warmer temperatures on calm days for sure and similar numbers to any static shield. (Basically without aspiration you will always get heat buildup so they all suck when calm.) I can remember some airports would have a high-powered exhaust fan inside their Cotton Region shelter you could hear from some distance. I would almost bet the farm this is what's going on at the airport ASOS, if not the alternative is really bad so the benefit of the doubt is a poor attempt to replicate the cotton region shelters of old and why the +1.8° daytime error was consistently being measured with field testing so one of the negative consequences besides icing when ambient is showing above freezing is full dew point / temperature saturation is a thing of the past. Say goodbye to 100% RH and hello 94%. Much more on this after testing starts.

A little history here in Valentine the Weather Bureau took air temperature measurements from the rooftop of a downtown building on Main Street for years, this was before the NWS was established and the move to Miller Field. Measuring air temperature on a rooftop isn't ideal this was before siting standards were in place. What I'm getting at when you look at how our historical data was gathered it does raise questions. I know from experience measuring temps at 20' level will provide much cooler 2-4° daytime highs. Overnight lows were the same to several degrees warmer depending on mixing.

5:20 am: Finally can see just a few stars in the west view camera, this is progress with the haze. Still not normal with the Purple Air at 111 QAI and airport visibility 9 mi. but getting better every day. Hopefully, it gets much better for the star party at Merritt reservoir. I heard it's big with over 300 gazers expected this year with a few fellow weather enthusiast also coming.

08/02/2021 7:30 pm: Made image adjustments on the cameras east of Valentine they were too dark with the setting sun angle. Looking much better now. Also increased the resolution to full camera capability so images will be crisper.

Decided to build a Stevenson Screen instrument shelter. Wasn't able to find a larger version 4 sided louver (just small mount on wall units) so building one. I'm doing this for two reasons so I can have a shaded place for checking dew point temperature and for a temperature comparison between the Stevenson Screen and aspirated shield now in use. I've always wanted to do this test but was unable without having an actual Stevenson Screen. It may be several weeks before the shelter is ready, waiting on supplies needed for the build, expected delivery Friday, August 13. I'll have more to say about this once the testing starts and I see some comparison results.

08/01/2021 Turns out we do have an air quality sensor monitor nearby, looks like it's located at the Niobrara Visitor Center here in Valentine. We peaked at 449 (really bad) AQI on Friday (30th July 2021), and good for them at having a monitor, too bad few know about it. I'll add a link to Purple AIR on external links and add a widget below the forecast while we are having air quality issues so maybe the word will get out. It was actually hazardous Friday once it got above 300 not just unhealthy.

07/31/2021 By request, someone asked about getting the cameras east of town back up so they are under the camera images tab. For reference you can see the same blue water tank over Valentine, the distance from camera is 1.4 mi. Makes a good visibility marker. Hilltop tank . The exact distance . It's amazing they have kept running after about 6 years exposed to the elements.

7:05 am: Fog has developed this morning along with the smoke haze, visibility estimate is under 1/4 mile here in NE Valentine. Our RH is rising now at 96%, dp is 61° and ambient temp 62°.

Davis Instruments does have an AQ monitor available but from what I can tell it won't be able to automatically broadcast live with the software being used. It's designed to work with the Davis Weatherlink software or phone app that doesn't broadcast live and even requires their cloud service with Weatherlink and is very limited unlike having this website broadcasting live conditions, so it's not happening. I can still use the equipment and report the AQI locally on the blog during bad episodes like we are having now it just won't be a real-time look with graphs. Unfortunately, the software being used here (Cumulus) is no longer supported or updated because the developer stopped several years ago mainly because of a computer crash and critical lost code he was never able to recover or replicate. They do have a simi supported attempted rebuild of original sotware version called Cumulus MX but when I tested wasn't impressed at all.

07/30/2021 5:20 pm: A tornado watch has been issued by the NWS, in regard to the development of severe storms tonight the discussion suggest there is some uncertainty. If anything does develop it will be later beyond 7:30 pm. The dew point is 69-70° currently so plenty of moisture around if there is a trigger to set storms off. This smoke will drop south tonight and keep moving into Kansas on Saturday.

7:20 am: Update now the AP visibility shows 1/2 mile and more like the NE side of town. This is bad for those with health issues I wouldn't mess around with it and just leave town for a few days or until it clears out.

The smoke is still heavy this morning. The airport sensor has visibility at 1.25 miles currently, you be the judge I know it's lower here in NE Valentine the water tanks on the hill at (.65) miles are just a shadow.

07/29/2021 The smoke is as bad as I've seen in Valentine. The camera lens is unable to pick the smaller particles up so cleans much of it out the same way it does with mist and fog. Airport shows .75 miles visibility currently. It may actually be a little less my estimate is 1/4 of a mile. The tanks on the hill are .65 miles .

Being our high heat index we just experienced this is worth a mention, I was asked about the difference between Dew Point (DP) vs Relative Humidity (RH) because of the heavy term use here on the weather blog. RH is only relative to the outside temperature and is a very poor indicator of how it actually feels or even available moisture in the atmosphere. We could be dry as a bone and still show high RH as it does all the time in the winter months or on cool mornings. Full saturation 100% RH causing dew is very misleading it happens every morning when it's calm in the high mountain meadows where temps commonly drop into the low 40's summer and most mornings have heavy dew but the drought continues. Directly from NWS about DP vs RH here . Many have stopped mentioning RH completely it's really that unimportant and so old school and misleading. Humidity and (RH) have very different meanings. As a firefighter (36 years) we carried a pocket psychrometer for testing RH so it does have some use for testing fuel temperature, another use it gives an indication of how close to full saturation it is but still is a poor indicator of anything other than how cool or cold it is. 98% RH at 20° isn't sticky at all or even uncomfortable unless you don't have your jacket on.

Dew point is really easy to remember below 50° it's dry at 55° evaporative cooling becomes inefficient so sweating becomes more noticeable. 62° the heat index starts rising above the ambient temp and at 70°+ it's getting very muggy with a very high heat index possible. While RH is much more confusing. Example say it's 33% RH at 105° = 70° dew point so very muggy. But 33% RH at 85° = 53° dew point not bad at all. I don't have a calculator in my head so 33% RH doesn't mean anything but when I hear the DP is 70° or 53° I know what to expect and unlike RH that swings with the temperature sometimes 80% points while the dew point temperature may only move 2-5° all day. Of course it can move around more as fronts and boundaries move through especially across the Central and Northern Plains where the weather never stays the same. Anyway, hopefully, this explanation wasn't too long or as clear as mud.

07/28/2021 8:00 PM Update: High temps today 104° at this station came in late and tied the yearly high. This station did see a high heat index reading of 109° but it was more of a spike and never stayed there for any significant time. Heat index of 104°-107° was more common and where we stayed most of the time during the peak heating period. We had a wind gust of 39 mph that came from nowhere almost like a nighttime heat burst, at the time scattered clouds were in the area but no thunderstorms and now it's almost calm after the gust.

11:30 am: Well, the good news is the dew point is running lower 68° vs 70° at same time yesterday the bad news is the temperature is running 2-3 degrees warmer and the barometer isn't dropping like I expected (tight isobars) so our wind hasn't picked up much maybe even lower vs yesterday so far. It may pick up more in the afternoon and the DP drop a little more but right now our heat index is running higher already 100° at 11:30 am, and with the light wind uncomfortable if outside.

Focus after the heat today turns to chances of rain and a week of below normal temps (80's) ahead. Normal high for this date is (91°).

07/27/2021 6:00 pm: Our high temp at the NE station today was 99.7°, so very close to the century mark and that's over grass...... The station heat index peaked at 104° today which ties the yearly high. Tomorrow we should break 100° easily with a little less humidity and an approaching cold front (tight isobars) it always heats up. Wind should be a little brisk too. Today was close enough to call it 100° in NE Valentine so twice this year we've made the century mark and tomorrow will be our third time so hoping that's where it ends.

11:20 am: Currently 90 and 91° in NE valentine and our dew point is way up there hovering around 70° (Ouch), it should peel off a little as the afternoon heats up hopefully. Our temperature is running +5° over yesterday at this same time so now it's looking like 100° this afternoon is very possible. Oh and I checked the dew point with my new psychrometer it really is 70°.

07/26/2021 6:10 pm: We did reach 100° heat index value at 4:04 pm today. On the year so far the max 104° heat Index is in danger of getting broken Tuesday and Wednesday. You can look at all details nicely packaged here including other station records this year. Todays high reached 95° at both NE Valentine stations. 2 more hot days and then a big cool down with 80's maybe even 70's come Friday according to the ECM model which has been performing pretty well forecasting highs.

The NWS has issued a Heat Advisory starting tomorrow at noon. What comes into play is our humidity, this morning our dew point temperature is lower, currently (59°) vs yesterday so it's something to watch going into tomorrow. As far as just how high the thermometer goes the higher the air moisture the more energy it takes to heat up and the less moisture the easier it is to heat up but either way, it's going to feel uncomfortable whether a drier heat with higher temps or moist heat with lower temperatures.

07/25/2021 2 pm: This is mow day so keep waiting on the dew point to peel off but it's being stubborn hanging around 70° so far making for an uncomfortable heat index. The one saving thing we do have a moderate breeze today that doesn't get calculated into the heat index so it's not as bad as it looks with our "apparent temperature" index low to mid 90's as seen on the generated station graphs . We are running about a degree cooler in town with grass and trees over the station 1/2 mile east and just outside of town.

07/24/2021 Tge tipping bucket tipped this morning from the heavy dew. I removed the .01" from the daily total since it wasn't actual rainfall, what happens the tipper was likely close to tipping and with the heavy dew overnight it tips over. Something of interest with all the talk of 100's we have only reached or exceeded 100° once this year on June 23rd (104 here).

07/23/2021 Updated : (1.25") is our total as of 10:25 pm. Airport (1.37"), the far west side of town (1.25") in Cocorahs gauge matching the east side.

Starting to see more thunderstorm development so our cap is apparently gone. Will be interesting with all the available moisture who gets rain tonight. The 71° dp is real even 1° lower than the Psychro-Dyne.

Well, the Psychro-Dyne arrived unexpectedly. Started testing with the unit this afternoon what I'm finding the actual dew point temperature is higher by only + 1° over the Sensirion. I was told by a tech that actually works on airport instruments including the ASOS as a subcontractor did his own testing of the SHT31 in a humidity chamber and it ran very close to actual within the (+/-) 2 % humidity spec the company Sensirion claims. I'm going to keep testing the wet and dry bulb temperatures for several days to make sure. I'm pleased knowing the station sensor is accurate on both humidity and temperature side.

Some station news ordered a Belfort fan aspirated Psychro-Dyne with wet/dry bulb matching thermometers with an accuracy (+/-) 1/3°. I got this WX instrument to check and see how accurate or not the station dew point humidity sensors are.

Yesterday every thermometer around town fell short of 100° even the store front "time & temperature" signs with the exception of ol' reliable airport ASOS came in right at 100°. That airport location is special, specially warm. Our heat index did reach above 100° spiking to 104° here in NE Valentine yesterday. The forecast has us staying below the century mark today but look out next week with 105° and 106° being mentioned for highs. We do have a slight chance of a thunderstorm today in the forecast with our dew point starting out at 64°, which is plus 4° over yesterday morning with scattered clouds holding our temps up this morning making it one of the warmer mornings you will see in Valentine.

07/22/2021 We have been undercutting the expected highs lately but this may be ending. Our dew point is starting out a couple of degrees higher this morning and without the strong breeze, we experienced yesterday it's going to feel more uncomfortable today. Tomorrow our heat index may approach 100°+ with more moisture moving in and a slight chance of a nighttime thunderstorm. No sign of much of a cool down in the 7-day, it may even get hotter next week.

07/21/2021 Added east view camera under "Camera images" with the ability to also "Live Stream" this camera. Today I'll be testing the stream just click "Live Camera Stream" under the menu bar.

07/20/2021

07/18/2021 The haze is from forest fires out West and Canada. It shows very well on the late afternoon Goes16 satellite.

07/17/2021 1:30 pm: Updated rainfall reports: Far west Valentine 3rd St.(.39") Cocorahs gauge. The ranch (.95"), 39 miles SSE as the crow flies with Cocorahs gauge. Even with hay down no complaints that area needs the moisture, they missed out on much of the May rainfall Valentine was getting.

Welcome rainfall and not totally unexpected our dew point was hovering mid to upper 60's even 70° at times with the station instruments yesterday so the atmosphere was ripe and waiting for something to set it off. (.52") fell overnight, 1/2 mile east (.63") was recorded with the auto rain gauge. We are now above 2" of rainfall at this location making it slightly above the mid July average.

07/15/2021 6:10 am: A little ground fog is trying to develop along the Mill pond area AKA: "The Plunge". Camera lens cleans a lot of the mist away but the humidity sensor picks it up 98-99%.

07/14/2021 A couple of additional rainfall reports (1.08") at the old W. 3rd St. location and (.74") 40 miles south, both use Cocorahs 4" diameter gauges.

Here is a general look at rainfall map, the area across Rosebud was the heaviest with 3+ inches. FYI from experience, the doppler radar may over estimate amounts.

am: The rain gauge total at this location was (1.14") and includes the .04" that fell yesterday morning. This station heaviest rainfall rate peaked just over the 4" per/hr rate. Station graphs also show this.

Some areas have picked up very heavy rain with these storms like Ainsworth AP at last check was 2.82". The St. Francis area got hammered with over 3" according to doppler estimate.

07/13/2021 7:00 pm: Getting smoke haze currently, the NWS forecast has upped the precip chance to 100% for Valentine which coincides with what the HRRR model was advertising. This might get interesting tonight with high wind gusts due to high base thunderstorms and steep lapse rates mentioned in the forecast discussion. The backyard snowstake camera will run tonight for better nighttime visibility should we get a storm. No watch has been issued yet so maybe it wouldn't be that bad.

12:20 pm: Looking at Doppler rainfall estimates around the area the heaviest yellow is 1/2", Valentine estimate was under a tenth which was true. St. Francis picked up 1/3". Closeup image .... If anyone lives in St. Francis and wants to report rainfall amounts and become a Cocorahs observer (do the online courses), I have an accurate 4" diameter Cocorahs gauge (still in the box) available just shoot me an email.

7:31 am: Thunderstorm is near with rain starting here in NE Valentine. Don't forget vistors from out of area use the live stream, that's what it's for to give a flavor of being in Valentine.

07/12/2021 5:15 pm: Wind direction shift to the WNW, HRRR model did forecast the wind shift occurring this early. The dew point has also crashed -8° with the shift. We have peaked at 95° and 94° at the NE Valentine Wx stations so far this afternoon. Looking at the HRRR tomorrow morning around the 7-8 am hour we may have something rolling in, as always subject to change with each hourly run.

07/10/2021 10:05 am: Rain and little thunder is starting on the north side of town. Valentine has been missing out on most of the better chances with lighter amounts coming after the fact over the past month putting the immediate area behind on growing season rainfall. Reports I'm hearing going south 40 miles it's worse because they missed out on much of the springtime May rainfall Valentine was getting so the area is going on 2 months below normal moisture now.

07/09/2021 7:45 am: Dew point has bounced off full saturation several times (100% humidity) so the new humidity sensor is working well. The heavy fog continues. The airport visibility sensor has reached zero several times but with the air temperature sensor +2° makes it impossible for the dew point and air temps to meet for full saturation as I've stated many times before.

6:15am: Heavy Fog this morning.

07/08/2021 1:00 pm: Update added west side amount. A nice rain in NE Valentine (.16") with West 3rd St. reported (.20"). Looks like only (.07") at the airport. The majority of rainfall fell on north side according to rainfall estimate . HRRR model doesn't have a good handle on this mornings areas of rainfall.

07/06/2021 8 pm: Received our first July rainfall, (.11") manual gauge, west Valentine received the most with a report of (.30") at the old station location. Airport (.13").

am: Not everyone is staying as dry as Valentine. Was looking at the Cocorahs map (linked ) just north of Valentine: 2.30" image

07/05/2021 3:20pm: Not much for the weather diary but heat and chances of thunderstorms, we have reached the forecast of 97° at this station at around 3:15 pm today and looks like the 99° mark is possible if it doesn't cloud up with the TS activity in SD going on. The 100° heat index was reached several times with the dew point temp around 65° again.

07/03/2021 9:35: Starting to see a little strengthening again just after it was looking like the convection was weakening it got a second wind. However it looks to be slipping south of Valentine.

8:05 pm: The latest HRRR does think the T-storms to our west will hold together arriving around 9:30-10 pm for some natural fireworks. image

2:30 pm: Our dew point temperature is running (mid 60's) and above what the HRRR model was forecasting just 6 hours ago. This is good news for increasing moisture chances but the feels-like temperature is running 2-3° warmer than actual air temperature this afternoon.

06/26/2021 Yesterday (.45") here in NE Valentine going south and east amounts were higher. Far west side of town at the old station location (.43") was reported. We are still running substantially low on the month needing (1.7 - 2") to reach our June normal with 4 days left, so unless we get a gully washer we'll likely fall short.

06/24/2021 Now the focus is how much rain may fall, it doesn't look like a whole lot unfortunately but models are in agreement of some rain occurring. The ECM has rainfall occurring daily through Tuesday with about 1.2" total. The problem with thunderstorms, amounts can vary widely so what actually transpires is kind of an unknown. Last night the Ainsworth airport picked up a couple tenths but in town itself 2.4" was reported. Was hoping for a couple inches to get us back on track for the month but anything is better than nothing.

06/23/2021 We did finally reach the 100° mark and then some with 104°.

8 pm: The auto rain gauge was plugged with bird droppings, fixed. (.08") is the correct amount at this location so far today. Got a report from the neighbor at the old W.3rd St. station location, their Cocorahs gauge had (.08"), Airport reports (.20"). We just missed some heavy rainfall.

5:35 pm: Drove to the south side of town watching the thunderstorm moving SE of Valentine it looks very strong with bad intentions. TS is over Arabia area now, Wood Lake better buckle down, the storm has turned into a mesocyclone , or supercell.

4:30 pm: Isolated thunderstorms are building near Valentine. Atmosphere instability combined with the heat we may see some action.

MesoWest has updated the satellite image over Valentine. (Google Maps still hasn't) Here is the exact location of the east side station inside the loop . As you can see the original coordinates are off slightly. Real-time data from this station is linked on menu bar.

06/22/2021 Update 3:30 pm: Now the (Euro) ECM is at 1.63" the one fly in the ointment is the (American) model GFS is staying pretty dry so what actually happens has some uncertainty.

Looks like we have a chance of reaching 100° tomorrow. We've fallen short this meteorological summer so far topping out at 99° here in NE Valentine. Something I'm watching the ECM model is suggesting around 2" of rainfall could fall mainly Friday, fingers crossed. Another model had even more moisture so haven't discounted this totally yet. It does look like we are in for some needed rain.

06/16/2021 2:00pm: The cold front pushed through with a NW wind now. The high so far 99.0° and likely our max here in NE Valentine where we have dropped to 97° currently. If the 99° stands we came up short of the 100° record at this station. The heat index did spike to 104° for a short period with 100° being more common. That 104 is this year's max heat index so far. The yearly highs/lows data is available on the weather trends page under "Records and Stats" here.

The Valentine record high of (100°) is in jeopardy, however, a cold (cool) front is approaching so when this afternoon wind shift (NW) occurs could come into play. The ECM model has Valentine peaking early 12-1 pm at 101° (breaking record) then cooling back down 100° at 2 pm and 95° by 5 pm. HRRR is similar having Valentine 98° at the noon hour and cooling to 95° by 2 pm. Going south gets hotter this same model (HRRR) has North Platte peaking at 105° with the cold front not reaching that far south until 7 pm.

06/15/2021 Updated link to the new 511 Nebraska website under the menu bar, it now opens showing cameras at HW 83 and HW 20 intersection.

06/13/2021 9 pm: 3 mesocyclone cells to the west. Added storm attributes panel to this image . Areas of pink are likely hail.

06/10/2021 8:45 am: The latest run of HRRR model is showing only about 1/3" for Valentine moving in around 3 am. Most of the heavier rain amounts are developing over Eastern Nebraska early tomorrow morning. Severe weather potential is still there without much rain ( enhanced risk) especially in the early on development stage with Valentine appearing to be on the eastern fringe. Here is what it may look like about 2 am as a rather strong cluster approaches. This model will evolve throughout the day so could change for better or worse.

06/09/2021 Rainfall total in SRG (.94"). The automatic gauge was real close (.95") adjusted website to correct amount. Airport reports (1.19") 24-hr total on MesoWest but sometimes not the final official amount. Thursday night late we may be in for another good soaking, this one has been expected for some time and could include supercell development. For moisture this has turned into the best-case scenario with some areas getting a one-two punch. From experience expected storms that look potent a week in advance don't always produce well while flying under the radar types sometimes surprise like last night.

4:45 am: As advertised and then some by the HRRR. Looks like we received near an inch of rain. Will get the manual gauge reading once it stops.

06/08/2021 8:25 pm: HRRR is advertising some thunderstorm activity early morning hours if awaken by thunder. 5 am Image . Not a lot of confidence all models don't agree and only 30% chance in the forecast.

06/07/2021 1:25 pm: More uncomfortable today even with the south breeze our current 91° feels hotter than the other day at 95° with the dewpoint temps nudging toward the mid 60's.

The forecast besides hot 90+ degree high temperatures has a few chances of moisture scattered throughout the upcoming week. Some of the models are pointing at late Thursday evening for a possible line of thunderstorms developing and moving through. Hopefully, we can get something before then, once the ground dries out the heat will start feeding upon itself and becomes a pattern harder to break.

06/06/2021 1 pm: Since the wind shift to the NW and gusting into the 20's our temps have cooled 3°. The peak may have come early in the day around 11:47. The upstream temperatures in SD are in the upper 70's.

06/05/2021 We reached 95° today at both NE Valentine stations with a breeze making outside play and work manageable.

Another near 100° degree day forecast and we are starting out +5° warmer this morning. It's a dry heat with the dew point this morning 53°.

06/04/2021 The final high today was 97° breaking the old Valentine record of (96°). The field temperature check at upper range 37c against the certified thermometer came in -(.22) lower but still within the manufacturer's sensor spec of (+/-) .36°. Being during a field test the sensors aren't in a controlled chamber and considering the rapid response of the certified it wasn't a bad test at all.

5:40 am: Started the live camera stream with the field test thermometer check.

06/03/2021 7:25 pm: We did reach 90° here in NE Valentine today. Have the field temperature check set up for tomorrow. It will be streamed with the live camera feed for anyone interested. We need to make at least 95° for the certified zone of the test thermometer, looking at the forecast it shouldn't be an issue.

06/02/2021 Yesterday completed field test check of station thermometer at the 25c certified point and it passed with flying colors reading low (.01) f. The next opportunity to test upper range with certified comes this weekend. Must be within window for testing (+/-) 2°c of certified point, 37°c so anywhere in this range (95-102°) test will be valid. The certified unit used for field testing has an extreme accuracy of +/- (.05c) at 3 different temperature points 0, 25, 37C. The station thermometer gets tested yearly at these 3 points. Specs by sensor manufacturer (Sensirion) on the weather station thermometer has an accuracy of +/- (.36°) between (-40 to +200°F), SHT31 graph .

In comparison, the specs of the ASOS at the airport are horrible, found inside the literature has an accuracy of +/- (1.8°f) . This was pointed out by someone hearing my complaints about the airport ASOS running warm so looked it up and sure enough. Also the same 1.8° error I've experienced while testing near the airport KVTN ASOS. Now (1.8°) is a huge error when normally we talk about tenths of a degree, this is like playing hand grenades and horseshoes with science. One of the unintended consequences sticking out like a sore thumb is the dewpoint temperature can never fully saturate even with hours of dense fog. Now that's a top-notch weather station worthy of being called the official station. I could write a short story of the issues and times we had icing while the ASOS was showing temps above freezing and it goes on and on like this. As stated before the historic ASOS records show the facts when this all started by looking when full dewpoint saturation ended, the answer is early (2017) as Obama was leaving and Trump coming in. Coincidence? Something else worth mentioning there was never any complaints from this blog or from others including across the airwaves about the airport ASOS or as some call it, airport computer until 2017 when it became obvious to those that track the weather locally something was wrong. I get no satisfaction complaining in fact just the opposite but feel like it needs attention because it's science and our history is getting trampled upon. Have zero plans moving foreward of ever returning back to the airport and checking the ASOS accuracy to see if it's really 5° or just 2° warmer, I'm done with testing it. Usually I punt and remove the negative post about the ASOS because I don't like being negative but may leave this one up so it's understood where I stand and what the issue is.

06/01/2021 Here are the latest available drought monitor maps of

06/09/2021& South Dakota . NE Valentine ended up with 3.88" of moisture for the normally wet month of May. Average at the airport is 3.52" and reported 3.50" over on the other side of town, 2 miles south from this location. This May wasn't near as wet as some coming in at the 2nd lowest amount recorded since 2015. Over 8" fell in 2015, here is a summary of recent station rainfall amounts. Summary . Those wet years were historical with water covering highways around the area caused by excessive groundwater leaching to the surface.

05/31/2021 5:50am: A little ground fog developing this morning & 44°. 1° difference between dewpoint 43° and ambient temperature with 96% humidity. The forecast looks dry with temps getting above normal toward the weekend. The immediate Valentine area is above normal in precip but other areas are not especially going north and east.

05/27/2021 7:30 pm: Light rain and mist isn't showing on radar.

Rainfall from last night here at the NE location, officially (.72"), the auto tipping bucket came in at .73". Chilly temperatures today we won't get out of the low 50's and as long as we don't clear off tonight we shouldn't be in danger of a freeze tomorrow morning.

05/26/2021 Storm Prediction Center has Valentine in the slight threat of severe weather tonight. Image

05/24/2021 Picked up (.32") with an organized line of thunderstorms yesterday evening between 9-10 pm, our next good chance of rain looks to be late Wednesday into early Thursday morning. The weekend 2-day total here in NE Valentine was (.58").

05/23/2021 7:45 am: We have a little light mist this morning 97-98% humidity. Rainfall recorded (.26") total since Saturday morning here in NE Valentine. More in the forecast tonight the models haven't really been great recently have anywhere from a tenth to 1/3" more so not that much but next Thursday is looking wetter. Our typical wettest period of the year occurs the last couple weeks of May into the early part of June.

05/22/2021 9:20am: Thunderstorm Doppler Image as it skirted east side. Our temperature has leveled off at 49° this morning a good 13° lower than expected. Our daily high occurred at midnight near 71° with temperatures not expected out of the (updated) 50's today.

5:35 am: Cold front passage with a NW wind early on this morning, the dewpoint and ambient temperatures have rapidly dropped into the 50's. Amazing how fast the weather changes in this part of the country. It doesn't happen like this everywhere we are unique being on the cusp of different air masses north to south, east to west and keeps the forecasters busy. Most models didn't have a good handle with a few exceptions on the cold front placement this morning.

05/21/2021 4 pm: The sun is breaking through occasionally our dewpoint is really high in the mid 60's. It's also why our overnight lows are running well above normal with the moist gulf air. The ambient air temperature can't drop below the dewpoint temperature. Whoever gets rain is gonna get a lot of it, areas to our west have the best chances tonight. Valentine chances increase to 50% Saturday and 70% Sunday evening.

8:34 am: .05" of light rain so far. Radar isn't picking it all up, sprinkles continue here on the NE side of town. This does interfere with lawn mowing plan if it doesn't dry out by late afternoon.

7:20 am: Light sprinkle NE side of town only a trace so far, it's showing on radar now.

05/19/2021 A change was made today until a solution for radar is figured out, I'll publish the latest GRLevel 3 Doppler image to the front page.

I've been testing different routers, 4 total with this gigabit service and the wifi webcams. Think I found a keeper it's an Asus RT-AX86U with many nice features, especially like the builtin easy configuration for free DDNS service so no longer any worries about changing ip addresses with camera host. And this router is fast with almost no bufferbloat with low latency (lag) receiving a A+ rating when tested on DSL Reports test server. Update found a second Asus RT-AX86U at BestBuy the plan is to have a wired backhaul between both routers using the 2.5 Gb ports and have AIMesh coverage for a stronger WiFi signal throughout the 2-level house including outside for the cameras which will equalize the load between the two routers. Multiple cameras streaming HD WiFi is demanding on routers so splitting the duties will help for smoother streams and free the routers to handle other task with ease.

Here is a look at the current weather station setup minus the wind measuring anemometer. image A few details the distance to the 6' wood fence looks closer from yard cam angle than actual. The temp/hum shield is 19 feet away from the 6' fence and the 8" diameter standard rain gauge is 12', twice the height so no rain shadow issue. The bottom air intake on the temp/hum shield is exactly 5' off the ground.

05/18/2021 6:00 pm: Quick shower skirted the east side of town moving south to north, dropping .07" in a few minutes. Radar had been down a good chunk of the afternoon so didn't see it coming, it's back up now. Removed the Ridge lite radar loop being 30+ minutes behind it does more harm than good. For radar use the external link radar product and check the auto-update box. Still waiting on the WU Radblast to come back online, when it does it will go back up on the front page.

Meanwhile, reinstalled GRlevel3 Doppler software lost with a computer crash. Won't do website viewers much good, however, with this desktop software I can upload still images like today's cell over Valentine. image

05/17/2021 Getting some light rain/drizzle with the fog this morning.

05/16/2021 1.93" is the 2-day storm total 1.81" fell since midnight for NE Valentine. Looking at the airport daily 24 hr. shows estimated (1.81") off the ASOS.

Added a Radar script put together using the ridge lite GIFs found under Satellite/Radar tab or use the alternate radar link "interactive radar" under external links. What I don't like about the Ridge lite Gifs they don't update very fast and can be 30 minutes old and unreliable going down often. For those reasons, I use the "interactive radar" link. Once the WU RadBlast returns the link will be added back.

7:45 am: These are not storm totals yet it's still raining. At 7:45 manual gauges Cocorahs 4" diameter which suffers from smaller diameter 1/2 the sample size and splash out (1.41"), 8" standard rain gauge (1.46"), 8" diameter website tipping bucket is (1.47") so close to actual. I've complained to Cocorahs about the splash-out issue (shallow funnel) even sent data of both gauges showing the difference but it landed on deaf ears, they are more about getting ballpark numbers and without any better cheap rain gauges under $40 for the thousands of Cocorahs participants it won't change.

Switched around streaming cameras to the backyard for nighttime viewing with rain and better lighting. Will go back to west view during the daytime. Looks like we will easily break an inch of total rainfall.

05/15/2021 8:40 pm: Ridge radar is currently down use the interactive radar under external links, check auto update and enable mouse wheel boxes. What I'm doing is open in a separate window and leave open.

1 pm: Update ECM not near as wet with only .20" Sunday others like MOS and GFS 1.50+". The ECM is usually right but not always, still have another run around 1 am.

Most of the models I watch have the NE corner of Cherry County receiving over an inch of rainfall mainly on Sunday. Still waiting on the latest ECMWF run, enough data should be out to confirm if onboard by 1 pm. Linked under external links look for the Sat 12z run.

05/14/2021 7 am: Picked up .04" in the manual .03" auto gauge yesterday from a thunderstorm passing south of town. Dense fog this morning now burning off.

05/13/2021 Switched the streaming camera to the west wide-view due to issues with the other camera. Streaming bandwidth looks good, apologies for the other camera being so erratic. Actually, this should work out best needing only the one camera provided it continues to stream well. This fixed lens camera also has a mic that needs to be activated each time. If the wind is blowing hard it can become more of a nuisance however. I may try a snow stake stream next winter which should be interesting.

05/12/2021 It did dip again below freezing across NE Valentine this morning with light frost on elevated surfaces. IE (back-deck had frost). Both NE stations recorded 31°. Today is likely the last freeze of the season unless something colder comes along later which isn't unheard of. The average last freeze for this station is May 14th, station freeze data is here.

(172) freeze days this year is the least since the station relocation from west Valentine where it froze less frequently likely due to the higher elevation +14' and heavier vegetation almost (forested) surrounded by trees can influence both low and high temperatures. Nothing about the old location was good for measuring weather due to the tree issue. The new location thermometer isn't influenced by trees, concrete, buildings, etc. It's not just about low temperatures but having the thermometer shaded for a portion of the day, example during the peak heating period causes artificial cooling (cloud cover affect) and why guidelines are set for thermometer placement distances from buildings, concrete, trees, etc., for both high and low temperature accuracy. These guidelines couldn't be met fully at the old location with the thermometer shield shaded in the late afternoon sun.

05/11/2021 Any frost mention was removed in the afternoon forecast for the Valentine area. Gardeners getting a jump start may want to cover those newly planted tenders at least one more night with a 35° forecast it can freeze at the ground level. After tonight normal lows return into the 40's.

The blue grass is covered in frost this morning. The freezing temperatures started at 2:35 am here in NE Valentine, slightly earlier at the airport 2:15 am. Another frost chance in the forecast tomorrow morning but cloud cover is uncertain. Temperatures are looking near normal 70° starting Thursday with mentions of showers scattered throughout the remainder of the 7-day forecast.

05/09/2021 Tomorrow morning may be our last freeze opportunity of the season looking at the extended forecast. There is some question as to cloud cover acting like a blanket and what kind of window of good radiational cooling there will be. If we do get any clearing it will likely be enough to reach freezing being it doesn't have far to drop.

Total precip here in NE Valentine for the 2 days was .14 + .05" =(.19"). The first day of rainfall was via thunderstorms in the area so varied by location. The airport reported .08 + .02" =(.10") over the same period.

05/08/2021 For radar click anywhere on front page camera image or for a better look use the interactive radar link under external links. Radar products keep going downhill the provided GIF loops run so fast without pause they are about useless and the WU radblast is still not working.

05/07/2021 6:00 am: We are getting closer to the last freeze of the season. May 10th has been a popular day with the last 2 years and maybe again this year making it (3) in a row with the current forecast of 33°. As far as upcoming moisture the models have backed off on precip amounts anywhere from .07" to .57" on the latest model runs through the end of the 7-day forecast period. Temperatures will stay below normal through most.

Currently sitting at 33.0° here in NE Valentine so the freezing mark is possible this morning with a clear sky and calm wind. We don't have the mist or humidity this morning so far only 90% so don't expect fog to develop again and the air is warmer (+10°) just a hundred feet or so above Valentine in the 40's with the HW 83 station at 44° so any breeze will mix that warmer air to the surface.

05/06/2021 6:20 am: A little ground mist and some dense patchy fog hovering over the city park and Mill Pond area visible on cameras with 95% humidity this morning. We did freeze (29°) here in NE Valentine.

05/05/2021 We picked up .16" overnight on both tipping bucket and manual gauge. Starting Friday night it looks to be active through the 11th with chances of moisture each day with our possible last freeze potential of the season coming on the morning of May 12th. Total moisture over the period between .50" and 1" with one outlier model 1.75".

05/04/2021 Final low this morning we bottomed out at 26°.

6:30 am: Extended freeze this morning as low as 25° across Valentine starting about 2 am.

05/02/2021 10:15am: Starting to get a sprinkle. Most on radar isn't reaching the ground yet but we do have some yellow on the radar working this way. The daily high temperature has already occured at midnight 74°.

05/01/2021 The high reached 88° at this location before high clouds moved in. Chance of precip tonight 40%, tomorrow brings another chance.

Summer like today forecast high near 90° with a 50% chance of precip tonight (Saturday) and 10% before 7 pm Sunday while the ECM stays dry Saturday and increases showers starting Sunday night.

04/29/2021 Mid to late spring-type temps with a little summer mixed in Friday and Saturday over the forecast period. Only slight chances of precip currently with the ECM is showing .01" over the 10-day which is dry for this time of year so could change. The weather looks perfect for doing all those outdoor projects even the highest wind doesn't exceed the low 20's which is rather calm for here. Not even a freeze in the 10-day right now another indicator of how benign the weather is. You can look at the station last freeze data here, for garden planting.

04/27/2021 Looking at the afternoon forecast it's more in line with the ECM model meaning most of the moisture stays south over the forecast period with better chances toward the end of 7-day around May 3rd. All subject to get tweaked as we go along but it's shaping into a rather nice week this far north.

7:55am: Fog this morning (1/4) mile visibility currently NE Valentine. Humidity is up to 96%.

04/20/2021 4:30pm: Blustery day, NW wind with snow flurries throughout with one heavy squall dropping .04" all at once. So far we received .05" with continued melting of the existing snowpack and periods of sunshine pushing the temperature above freezing between flurries.

10:50am: We have had a few snow flurries this morning with sunshine in between. The temperature is still below freezing at 31° currently. Our overnight low with the snow cover and clear sky dipped to 16°.

04/19/2021 8:45 am: Final NE Valentine total 6.7".

7:00 am: 6.5" new snow with (.52") snowmelt, the snow is still falling with a temperature of 24° and light wind. The streaming camera is working good again. Adjusted website to match snowmelt + .01" (.52") total. Image of back deck this morning. I was asked about the deck furniture being exposed to the weather its POLYWOOD designed for outdoors with Sunbrella fabrics.

6:00 am: 6" of new snow so we are getting 1" per hour currently. image 6" on snow board.

5:00 am: 5" new with moderate snow falling. Went ahead and reported a significant event to the NWS since we met the 5" snowfall criteria.

4:00 am" 4.5" of new snow measured on board and still coming down. Its a rather light fluff type. Added the backyard cam. Turned the IR light off on streaming. Hopefully with fiber hookup this week all streaming issues clear up. The HRRR was onto this much snow for Valentine last night. Enough snow has fallen to cover the warm concrete and roads by several inches. Updated the seasonal snow report, we are sitting at 57.6" at 4 am on the season (since Oct.) so may come close to 60" depending how much more falls today.

04/16/2021 We actually picked up a little more moisture today than I expected. Monday looks a little wetter about .19" in snow per the ECM run today. May need to put the snow measuring board back down if it looks promising Sunday. Monday the temperatures are plenty cold so should be all snow.

04/13/2021 6:50 am: Colder air filtering in this morning, sitting at 30° with the wind 18 mph making for a 18° feels like temperature, it's a bundle up type of morning. Beyond today the wind looks to be calming down some with precip rain/snow being mentioned but not seeing a whole lot for Valentine under 1/2" moisture with temperatures staying below normal until Sunday.

04/12/2021 Peak wind gust today was 53 mph out of the NW. 50 mph was reported at the airport on south side of town, and 55 mph at the HW 83 station north of town.

8:45am: Dropped into the 28-29° range this morning across Valentine with the wind picking up gusting to 45 mph. Not quite the 52 mph gust yesterday (airport 53 mph) but the forecast says 40 mph gust for today but higher across the SD border (50 MPH) so won't be surprised to see the higher range in Valentine too. Colder outside this morning at this hour 36° giving a feel temperature of 23°.

04/11/2021 9am: Strong NW wind gusting into the mid 40's on a regular basis with a peak so far of 52 mph at 8:33 am. The temperature is on the cool side this morning at 42° not counting windchill.

04/09/2021 After today's chance of rain tomorrow looks the best for any outdoor activity. The rest of the forecast period looks a little unsettled with either wind or showers sometimes both. We are already seeing 20 mph sustained wind gusting into the 30's early this morning. Someone mentioned they don't remember any year that had more wind than this year. It's the most since the station move in 2019 to the new location. Really hard to compare the old station location due to the abundance of trees. January 14, 2021, was incredibly windy with gust into the 70 mph range (80's at the HW 83 station) and a daily 24-hour sustained wind average of 33.7 mph.

Allo fiber is starting installations this month. They are striving to have all of Valentine available for fiber by the end of May. The streaming camera with static IP address (less down time) is scheduled for fiber hookup on April 22.

04/07/2021 10:57am: Adjusted website to actual precip total. (1.42") at 11 am. Camera stream is back up. Doesn't look like the rain/mix wants to stop. We have exceeded even the wettest model ECM projected total (1.33"). About the only way to avoid evaporation and get an accurate tipping bucket measurement with cold light rain is completely turn the snow heater off. So aggravating because then the snow won't melt.

7am: 1.33" is total precip measured in NE Valentine so far, most fell as rain. Website tipping bucket is behind .05" actual, the snow melt heater comes on below 37° causing evaporation inside collector funnel before reaching tipping bucket. Currently we have a mix falling.

6:22 am: The ECMWF was real close on Valentine's precip total, looking at model-hourly has the snow/mix/rain winding down about 11 am with a few sprinkles going into the afternoon. Most of what falls will melt due to the 33-34° temperature and warm ground.

5am: Snow this morning at 33.5°, had two manual 4" diameter rain gauges out both collected 1.11" at this 5 am hour. Website total is .03" behind actual precipitation including snow melt measured. I did get a snowboard down after the fact. About .5" on ground currently. This wet snow is difficult to keep camera lens clear.

04/06/2021 The 00z ECMWF run has the bulk of precip in SD but Valentine is still getting its share 1.3" falling in a variety of ways mix/rain/snow, and thunderstorms. Most other models have lesser amounts with the lowest being around .23". FYI, took the snow stake and camera down for the season but have turned the backyard cam back on for this upcoming storm to give another perspective view should it snow. Link found under cameras snow stake.

04/05/2021 6pm: Highs today 86° but not in the same zip-code as the airports 89.6°. All broke the old record of 85°. The Sparks Mesonet actually in a differnt zip-code 19 miles away (69220) also came in at 86°. The latest run of ECMWF shifted the bulk of moisture west and north of Valentine.

At the noon hour the airport ASOS has already broke the old record. Rest of Valentine is 4° cooler, to 5° if you include the radio station thermometer.

Another potential record high today (old 85°) then it looks like a few wet days ahead with 1-2" precipitation depending on the model. Current run on ECMWF has rain before midnight turning to wet snow or mix depending on how much dynamic cooling with (35°-34°) surface temperature early Wednesday morning, this is also the wettest model dropping nearly 2" of moisture on the area.

04/04/2021 Today's high temperature this station was 86° the old Valentine record high was 80°, 86° at the Sparks Mesonet station 19 miles NE.

Radblast radar may be down permanently (message says maintenance however), in the meantime replaced with the NWS GIF 30 minute loop. Another easy fast alternate source with a longer loop is the interactive radar link under "External links/Menu bar". Enable mouse wheel for zoom and auto updates if needed. You can also control loop speed and change from composite to base reflectivity.

12:50 pm: We have already broke the old record high of 80° today.

04/03/2021 Highs today in NE Valentine 82.4°, (82°) with the AKA Sparks Mesonet station 19 miles NE image, on the SD border. The Nebraska Mesonet stations have a separate network and their own website linked under "External links".

3:45 pm: Looks like reaching the record high today (85°) is doubtful, currently during the peak heating period sitting at 79-80° so still 5° off. We have had a brisk south wind currently 20 mph and a few high clouds today. Easter Sunday will be another chance of reaching or breaking a record.

We froze around most areas of immediate Valentine this morning with almost no wind. Looking at a record high potential of tying or breaking 85° this afternoon and another 50° plus temperature swing day.

04/02/2021 Some localized areas froze this morning, Near 80° expected for the high temperature today so a 50° swing.

03/31/2021 am: Down in the teens (15°) currently with a light breeze 5-9 mph so hasn't gone fully calm. Dewpoint remains in the basement at 4° so it's very dry. Looking forward to the warm forecast ahead, today's high will be the last near normal temperature for some time. Turned the IR light off on the streaming camera because it attracts spiderwebs but will continue to use for night precipitation especially harder to see rain.

Tidbit of information about how wind affects areas around Valentine differently, turns out it was windier yesterday in NE Valentine than the airport with an average wind speed of (18) mph while the airport was (15.9) mph. The day before with the High Wind Warning in place NE Valentine's average was (16.3) mph while the airport was (23.4) with a reported gust of (68) mph. Both days 29 and 30th NE Valentine peak gust was (49) mph. Yesterday the airport peak gust was (46) mph.

03/30/2021 12:59 pm: The NWS API server is back up so point forecast locally is also working. Looking at the low dewpoint temperature mid-day (7°) if the wind does calm overnight the temperature will crash under clear skies. The forecast has the wind gusting overnight and never completely decoupling however.

7:00 am: 30° with a stiff breeze this morning 20 mph gusting to 27 mph out of the NW. The NWS point forecast API server is down early this morning. Zone forecast are loading as backup.

03/29/2021 3:40 pm: Made a trip out to the airport and it's in a different zone with the wind speed so far today. The ASOS reported a 68 mph gust and can verify it was blowing harder than the NE side of town. The temperature as usual was running 2-3° warmer vs the certified thermometer combined with a portable radiation shield. Waited for 3 different 5-minute updates 14:20,14:25, & 14:30 off the ASOS all reported 80.6° vs 78°. So far 49 mph has been the peak gust at NE Valentine station, 44 mph 1/2 mi. east so the wind clearly isn't blowing as hard on this side of town.

High Wind Warning issued by the NWS goes into effect at 1 PM today, this won't be near as bad as the Jan 13-14 prolonged high wind event we hopefully never repeat, gust today look more like low to mid 50's with a possible 60 mph gust mixed in as the cold air starts filtering in and should settle back down later tonight but become blustery with the colder air (40's) and 40 mph gust before midnight.

03/27/2021 6:15am: Rainfall amounts overnight including prior to midnight (.32") this station both auto and manual gauges, airport ASOS has a 24 hr. amount (.30") .

03/26/2021 6:35pm: First round of rain started just before 6 pm, stopped currently. So far .14" both auto and manual gauges. More development to the south moving north so expecting more tonight. Reminder the interactive radar feed is also available under the external links menu for a wider view or closer.

03/25/2021 The streaming camera is working normal again. This will get even better once the fiber is installed the camera is capable of streaming 5 megapixel 2592 x 1944 @30fps, currently set at 3 meg 15fps.

03/24/2021 11am: The scheduled tornado siren is going off. NOAA radio weekly test did activate (flashing yellow light). For some reason, I was thinking this was going to be an actual activation and different from the weekly test. Maybe it was a big to-do because it was the first test of the season. Anyway, everything seemed to work no alert on cell phone which never has on the weekly test and no issues hearing the siren 1 mile away inside as long as not in the middle of driving rain or hail storm.

(.10 to .11") fell across Valentine yesterday in the form of light rain. Lawns are starting to green with all the moisture and warmer temperatures.

03/23/2021 Under external links added ECMWF total liquid precip loop. Also added model forecast 3-day and hourly which breaks down when precip starts and end time including how much could fall using rapid EURO (ECM) as default but can be changed. The "Weather US" site is best viewed using "ads killer plus" and preferred Brave browser. Chrome has gotten too restrictive and resource hungry while the Brave browser is fast and sleek and the new go-to favorite.

03/18/2021 5:10pm: We didn't do much melting today being overcast and mid 30's but tomorrow mid 50's with a stiff south breeze should eat away much of the snowpack.

03/17/2021 1pm: A few light flurries and sprinkles today but not enough to dump the .01" tipping bucket yet.

03/15/2021 5:45pm: Snowstake camera is back online, did find a spare power extension so running across the snow temporally. The heavy snow this morning snapped the suspended power supply. Need to rig up something more permanent this year. Thinking of moving the camera to the weather station mounting post for next winter. We melted down about 5" today, the snowstake camera was showing 11.5" early this morning. image

8:45 am: 12.4" new storm total with snow ending, measured off snowboard. Over 13" on the ground image , we melted around 3" during the 33-34° temps yesterday. So could be looking at 15 inches without the melting. Several of the models were right about the snow forecast like the ECMWF.

7:00 am: 10.6" new snow total, adjusted website to match melt .30", snowing currently. I'm measuring around 11" to 11.5" over the grass but snowboard measurement is 10.6". The anemometer is still frozen. Here is the back deck this morning image°. Snowstake camera is down unsure of the problem.

03/14/2021 10:35pm: Anemometers on both NE Valentine stations are froze up and not moving at 31°, meanwhile the airport ASOS is still reporting 34° lucky them, going 2 miles south is so much warmer. "No problem found" Tomorrow I'll break the anemometer loose with a 25' long extension pole but need to get up on a ladder to reach so need some daylight. It may look like the snowstake image

7:45 pm: Went ahead and did snowmelt to prevent gauge overflow should snow continue overnight and adjusted website to match, currently 1.20" since midnight is correct, (.98") fell as snow since 11:45 am when mix went all snow. Updated seasonal snow report page, we likely received closer to 8-9" but can't measure what melts prior. It wasn't a 10:1 ratio snowfall more like 8 or 9:1 during a good portion so 8-9" is a good estimate. Actual measured so far 6.1", the next update for snowfall measurement will be tomorrow.

4:14pm: Heaviest it's snowed all day big flakes and around 1/16 mile visibility or less at times. (.24") of moisture per/hr rate. We have dropped below 33° at 32.7°.

11:41am: Heavy snow visibility around 1/4 mile or less 33.5°.

11:11am: Getting some big wet flakes 35.2° dropping, change over to all snow soon.

7:am: (.27") in rain overnight. 38° currently is running warmer (+3°) over what some models suggested at this hour for snow starting around 9 am. It's possible now the turnover to snow may come later in the day.

03/13/2021 pm: NWS issued a Winter Storm Warning for eastern Cherry county. Timeline on rain change over to snow is after 9 am Sunday morning.

03/12/2021 pm: The noon model runs are holding their ground. ECMWF has rain changing to snow earlier in the day Sunday around 9 am with 1.8" moisture in the form of snowfall. GFS is still warmer and mostly a rain event. It will be interesting what unfolds.

am: And just like that the midnight ECMWF run is back to mostly snow event starting Sunday morning for Valentine. The model may flip again at noon but running out of days now. I would be prepared for rain Saturday turning to snow Sunday morning and hope for the best mostly rain. Looks like another shot of precip continues into the week with around 3" of snow later on. Looking at an array of models most do favor this rain to snow change over for Valentine Sunday morning before noon including another shorter range model I favor the German ICON. Sunday also looks like where the bulk of precip falls. Broken down by hours ECM changes over to all snow 11:am Sunday and drops 1.11" moisture in the form of snow through early Monday morning 7 to 8 am. So about 11" at 10:1. Lesser amounts on other models but some change to all snow earlier around 8 am, the ECMWF is the wettest model by far and sometimes overdoes the amounts.

03/11/2021 (pm) The noon ECMWF run is now on the same page as forecast (finally) with Valentine in the 1-2" (.18") range of snowfall, with 2" total of precipitation, so almost all rain or mix event locally except toward the end. So this event is spread over several days it looks, starting Saturday afternoon. All subject to change on the next model run. The one caveat it relies on a cold rain mix (34-38°) staying above freezing so should be interesting what happens.

am: This upcoming powerful spring storm is mostly a rain event for Valentine according to the forecast. Higher elevations to the west will pick up the bulk of snowfall. The snowfall potential map has been updated this morning and includes amounts through the 15th. Valentine likely amount is around 1" this morning, the amount of precipitation varies from .79" to over 2" with the different models. This will be a big jump start on greening up the area, we are already running ahead on precip this year. Spoke with the fiber construction workers yesterday they will be relieved not to have another delay.

03/10/2021 9:00pm: Snow has stopped, storm snowmelt (.35"), adjusted website total and seasonal snowfall page.

2:35pm: 31° 2.8" of snow so far today. Snowboard has 1.8" new since clearing off the 1" from last night. Updated the seasonal snowfall page.

7am: 1" of new snow (.13") melt. Light snow currently, updated seasonal snow report page.

PM: The afternoon ECMWF model run is still suggesting rain turns over to heavy snow starting early Sunday, model comparison here .

03/09/2021 PM: Latest ECMWF just finished and piled on with heavier snowfall amounts measured in feet starting Sunday and lasting though midnight Wednesday. I don't recall seeing 43" (image) model forecast in Nebraska, mother nature this is not a ski-resort. These totals do include what falls Wednesday. Good thing it's still 5 days out much can change as we get closer. Looking at temperatures they may be borderline freezing too similar to tomorrows storm. Today peaked out at 75° here in NE Valentine before noon. Cloudy now with a NW wind gusting to 25 mph. The streaming camera mic-wind noise was reduced, now using a dense material sponge over the mic.

AM: ECMWF continues to advertise a major snow event starting next Sunday. Stay tuned to the forecast which direction it goes. It also leans for Valentine picking up several wet inches this Wednesday where it depends on the freeze level rain or snow. You can look at the hourly conditions of models and how they differ here . ECM has the wet snow starting Wednesday morning, with the latest run it may be falling as slush.

03/07/2021 Another very warm (+26°) above normal day yesterday and the wind wasn't that bad but the humidity did dip low 13%. Starting Wednesday temperatures will be closer to normal and the chance of moisture returns. The big snow event 8 days out the ECMWF hinted at disappeared on the latest run.

03/01/2021 A look at the next 10-days from models. Not much time under the freeze line. image

02/28/2021 9:40am: Storm total, 1.4" of new powder snow. (.11:) snowmelt. Further north the more snowfall 4" (.25") reported by Cocorahs SD-TD-1, (14) miles directly north, this is an observer I watch frequently and seems to be consciousness and does a good job. Updated the seasonable snowfall page. Looking at extended a big warm up for the week ahead.

02/25/2021 Updated March-1: Something interesting looking at mean temperatures (Summary page) since June 2014 when the station started the month of February has been the coldest winter month. The 3 coldest months have all occurred in February starting in 2018 (17.9°), 2019 (12.5°), 2021 (16.4°). The only other winter month below 20° mean was Dec. 2016 (19.2°) which ranks 4th coldest month. Traditionally mid December through late January is the coldest period but our pattern seems to have shifted for a later period.

02/24/2021 NW wind got going last night, during the 9 o'clock hour gust reached 40-45 mph. It's calmed down this morning. The streaming camera issue with the host server has also cleared up. I have a new camera coming later this week. It's a Reolink wifi connected runs on 2.4 or 5 Ghz networks model RLC-511W and has 4X optical zoom. I've shied away from Reolinks before because they are only rated for 14° low temperatures but what I've read they work in Canada as low as -40f/c as long as camera is up and running before getting exposed to the cold.

02/22/2021 5:00pm: This wind was a snow-eater today with a high of 50°. Lots of standing water over the frozen ground so plenty of surface moisture. Snow-stake cam shows the standing water.

10:15am: Just had a 40 mph gust here in NE Valentine. You can quickly look at all 3-Valentine Wx stations including HW83 Wx station north of SD border and Ainsworth by linking to (Area Observations) located at the bottom of external links and use mouse wheel to zoom in or out. This shows all weather observations within 150 mile radius.

02/20/2021 We finally made it above freezing at 11:42 am since going below on Feb 4th at 6:30 pm, (15.5) days.

8:00am: Couldn't ask for a better start to the ice-fishing tournament. Very cold this morning lows, 1° at the station 1/2 mile east and 3° here at the NE station but outside of the Valentine cold air drainage area it's much warmer. A big warmup is coming mid to upper 30's this weekend with 50's by Monday and back to 40° Wednesday so it should melt and clear the roads around town. Chance of snow tonight 40% so maybe a dusting.

02/19/2021 5pm: We extended our days staying continuously below freezing to 15 only making (28°), with the light wind and not much mixing along with the 4-5" snowpack. Tomorrow we should get into mid 30's. The ECMWF has us dipping back down around 2° tomorrow morning.

We did get below zero this morning (-4°), Airport ASOS was (-6°) at 8:20am, (-5°) 1/2 mile east station. This was the 10th negative low temperature this month not counting the 3 high temperatures on Feb.12,13,14 all below zero.

Camera live video stream is now available with a timelapse video from previous day. Both linked under Camera Stream/images tab.

02/17/2021 Added live Valentine video stream with audio. Using BrownRice Internet as a camera host and I will say they are top notch with responsiveness and service so can highly recommend.

8:55am: We do have some light snow this morning. No power outage today so far, can't say the same for family members in the Houston area they are going 24 hours at a time.

02/16/2021 4:30pm: The power outage this morning damaged the computer hard-drive running the cameras. Added camera software on the weather station computer and it's handling both tasks well so far and now has a battery to help with shutdown should power go out. The camera computer was old (2013) ran 24/7 but had a solid state hard drive so thought it may keep going forever, nope should have known it wouldn't survive another hard crash. The UPS went bad so had no backup power. Should we get into another brownout the aspiration fan on the weather station is AC-powered so temperature readings will start to warm with the fan OOS. You can tell when the website is down, data updates stop and images will stop updating.

These "brownouts" are happening because green energy is unreliable during inclement conditions, PERIOD! The fake news can put on all the spin they want, but it doesn't change the TRUTH.

02/15/2021 8:00am: Set all-time station record low (-32.2°), old was (-31.2°) in December 2016. The airport ASOS also set a daily record (-33°) low. The old record was -28°. It's difficult to break a Valentine low temperature record so shows just how cold this air is. It's causing havoc down in south Texas along the Gulf with a ice and snow storm.

7:00am: Observed lows so far this morning (-32°) this station, (-31°) 1/2 mile east and airport ASOS reported (-33°) . I'll do final low temperatures around Valentine update if they change after sunrise. FYI the ECMWF really is the best model it had Valentine at -32° this morning, while the GFS -8°. This is why the ECMWF is linked on the website, it was also correct on our snowfall for the most part.

4:20am: Lost communication with the weather station due to the cold. Temperature is -30.8°. Never mind it just came back up.

02/14/2021 9:37pm: -20° at both Valentine NE stations. Getting some good radiational cooling early on this evening with the wind dead still at this station. The cold temperatures are actually showing on the IR satellite image as cloud tops.

8:35pm: Internet is back up at the GC station. Linked on external links. Another sub-zero high temperature day. Tomorrow the forecast high is 5°. Took the radar on the front page down for this evening only. You can still link to the interactive radar on external links.

-14° this morning with a full overcast blanket. The clouds didn't move out until after sunrise. Today will be our 3rd day in a row where the high temperature doesn't get above zero even with a clear sunny sky. Tonight will be our coldest night where we get into the negative 20's. Just how cold depends on the amount of cloud cover.

02/13/2021 The wind chill is running -18 to -22° currently. The clouds broke just before sunrise and the wind shifted to the north so the temperature made it down to -11° after hovering around -4° most of the night. We actually have sunshine something we haven't had for over a week, it sure is white outside and the wind has picked up just enough to drop our WC into the -20's.

6:30am: Currently, -7° the temperature has been dropping after a wind switch south to NE. Looks like snowfall accumulation is about over after a few flurries this morning. Updated the seasonal snowfall page. Website moisture totals are up to date with manual snowmelts. Measured ground depth of snow is 5.7" here in NE Valentine this morning. We may not climb above zero again today.

02/12/2021 5pm: The high temperature was (-3°) at the NE station today.

6:30am: -11° with windchill down to -22°. Doesn't take much wind when this cold to get in the WC -20's. Light snow again overnight we picked up another .3" of snow on measuring board. (.15") moisture content as of this morning is the correct 2 day total. Updated the seasonal snowfall page.

02/11/2021 4:15pm: Did afternoon snowmelt total and adjusted website .08" since 7 am, (.09") daily. 1.1" new snow including last night's, the new snow isn't the light fluffy flakes experienced overnight so not piling as before with a small fine flake falling now.

THE latest ECMWF run is suggesting -20's again for Sunday night Monday morning with the colder air centered back over Nebraska again after the previous few runs it was taking more of an easterly track. We are dealing not only with the cold but snowfall, check the snowfall potential map for amounts. We do have some light snow falling this morning .3" new (.01") 30:1 ratio and 2° currently in NE Valentine. FYI, I've noticed the station 1/2 mile east has been running slightly warmer +1° the only difference in stations is the aspiration fan is battery powered and may not be turning well with all the cloud cover and snow covering the solar cell. The fan here at this station is AC-powered so draws a lot of air across the temperature-humidity sensors as long as the power stays on. The fan here is also rated for cold temperatures down to -40c.

Spoke with ALLO fiber spokesman yesterday, they said this cold snap has delayed construction in laying the fiber down about a week but still expects by April they can start doing home installations. The TV channel guide is out for Valentine, local networks include 3-North Platte stations, NBC, FOX, CW, and keep CBS and ABC out of Sioux Falls along with 4 Nebraska News regional channels. If interested in crystal clear and blazing fast fiber optics TV and internet best to sign up now for the earliest installation times. Valentine is the priority area due to the loss of Three River. One thing of weather interest with fiber this website will be able to live-stream a weather web-camera 24/7.

02/09/2021 Several models are saying we may not get above 0° Friday and Saturday and forecasting a low -25 to -30° Sunday morning. Unusual for models to do this from my recollection when it did actually make -31 a few years back models were forecasting around -15 and it was the excellent radiational cooling that got us there so with this air being extremely cold we could be tinkering with an all-time record low if conditions aligned with another one of those excellent radiational cooling nights. Stuff starts to break and weird things happen when it gets that cold.

02/08/2021 Low so far has been -14° here in NE Valentine, occurring early 2 am before it clouded back up. With the fresh snow and arctic air this could have been one of those -30° nights with a prolonged clear sky.

02/07/2021 5:30pm: Snow has been moderate to heavy at times today, 2.6" (.13") since 6am, Daily total 4.7" (.18"), adjusted website to read liquid (.18") correctly. Below 5° throughout the snow is fluffy and dry so keeps compacting and settling under its own weight. Measuring 5.1" total on the ground currently. Updated the seasonal Snow Report page. FYI the snow to liquid ratio was 25:1 average during this event in NE Valentine.

6:10am: New snowfall 2.1" (.05") Extremely dry moisture content with the temperature this morning 2-3°F. 4" of snow on the ground, updated seasonal snow total page. Windchill this morning has been steady around -13°.

02/06/2021 6:10am New snowfall overnight total 1.8" only (.06:) moisture 30:1 ratio and a new dry snow record for station with temp of 5° currently.

02/05/2021 1:35pm: The latest run of ECMWF has actually gotten colder over the 10 day loop. Temperature loop here just push play. Also increased the snowfall during the next 10 days.

10:00am: 0.5" of new snow very fluffy. (.02") melt 25:1 liquid ratio. This is what happens with heated rain gauges it evaporates before filling tipper when this dry and liquid moisture won't record correctly on website without help.

The NWS has issued a Winter Weather Advisory for the area. This upcoming period will be our coldest outbreak, possibly in several winters. (Our reward for having an above-normal winter so far) The ECMWF model was the first yesterday to suggest the arctic air would reinforce with vigor again next week for a prolonged cold spell. ECMWF has Valentine's new snowfall around 3.9" using 10:1 melt ratio by Tuesday morning and hasn't varied more than a half-inch in 2 days. One thing the 10:1 ratio is unlikely with the cold air so snowfall amounts could be higher. FYI The heated rain gauge does poorly as much as -80% of actual with very cold temperatures and light snowfall so it's best to wait for a manual snow-melt measurement and website adjustment for actual liquid precip which I'll add to the blog.

02/03/2021 7:55pm: Picked up a quick .8" snow in about 20 minutes measured on snowboard (.08") 10:1 ratio melt. Updated seasonal Snow Report page.

An early peek at snow totals we might expect this afternoon the last couple runs of ECMWF put Valentine in the 4" range using the 10:1 ratio by next Tuesday evening. Still early but beginning to see consistency in the last couple of runs with a little heavier snowfall honing in across northern Nebraska. This will be our first major arctic event this winter if it plays out. The ECMWF model is linked lower-left updated twice daily around 0100 and 1300.

02/02/2021 We may experience some semblance of winter coming up after a spring like Wednesday even getting below zero. Models have been hinting at this for some time now. No heavy snow forecast at this time but wouldn't be surprised to see a few inches squeezed out with some of the colder arctic air.

01/27/2021 It's been down to 3° at the station 1/2 mile east and 4° so far at this station. Yesterday we managed to pick up another .2 tenths of fluff with the flurries (.01"). Snow depth here in NE Valentine is 3.2" this morning.

01/26/2021 5pm: We have gotten the flurries in the forecast, a little heavier now. High temps today 20° and 21° 1/2 mile east

6:15am : 11° and still snowing lightly picked up another .04 since midnight. 2.5" storm total, (.17") moisture. It's been snowing so long settling has occurred. Website moisture (.04) is correct and seasonal snowfall updated.

01/25/2021 10:50pm: update: Snowfall total today 2.1" on snow measuring board. Radar shows it's about to stop. FYI the snowstake is real close to what is measured on the snowboard with low wind events under 20 mph. We had 1" already on the ground so 3" currently.

10:05 pm: Did do a snowmelt check (.12") 16:1 ratio, adjusted website and updated seasonal snow report. Still light snow falling with 16° air temperature.

6:15pm: Radar has filled in across the local Valentine area about the time it looked like it was going to end finding a second gear spreading more west and north. I may do a snowboard measurement if it continues to snow and exceeds a couple inches later tonight. Looking at the snowstake we are close to a inch of new snow in NE Valentine now so the tipping bucket is likely behind actual unless it's really dry snow.

Linked the (HRRR) High Resolution Rapid Refresh snowfall loop. This model is short range runs hourly using the Meteorological Assimilation Data Ingest System (MADIS) from surface station observations including NOAA, RAWS and CWOP. The model is good for adjusting to changes as events approach or get underway because it receives continuous surface data.

01/23/2021 12:30am: We picked up an additional 1" of new snow since 6am. 1.5" to 2" on the ground currently. Updated seasonal snow total, 2-day snow total is 2.4" here in NE Valentine. (.17").

9:am: Moderate snow, visibility reduced. Radar is filling in to our south with movement toward the northeast in a favorable direction for accumulation.

6am: Snowfall has currently stopped, we picked up another .6" overnight (.04") melt. Temperatures should continue to stay near or below freezing until Thursday.

01/22/2021 11:40am: Light snowfall started this morning currently .8" accumulation on measuring snowboard, probably had some settling. I'll do a total moisture snowmelt when snow stops and adjust website total if necessary.

01/21/2021 Snowfall potential map has been updated by the NWS for tomorrows expected snowfall 70%. Updated Forecast now says 1" Friday and a second round Saturday with the likely potential amount of 2" through the 24th Sunday. As far as the models go anywhere from 1-5" depending on which one. The ECMWF picked up on this before other models is saying 2". The GDPS Canadian is the most bullish with 5".

Well now the ECMWF is back onboard for snow with other models following. We should have a active period of winter weather coming up over the next week.

01/20/2021 Euro model backed down and more in line with the other models for the weekend. The big snow for next week disappeared too. I've noticed recently the model just isn't as reliable as once was indicating potential winter storms well ahead of other models.

01/18/2021 12:28pm: Snow flurries heavy at times with areas of blue sky. Above freezing 34° so not expecting much accumulation. The .02" of snow overnight has melted. Looking at radar we'll likely receive more flurries this afternoon.

01/15/2021 9:44 am: We did set a record wind run for the station 809 miles in 24 hours yesterday. This indicates just how windy it was. 809 miles over 24 hours wind speed average 33.7 mph. Light snow continuing this morning, haven't done a snow melt check yet but .01" on the heated tipping bucket.

01/14/2021 4:15pm: Here in NE Valentine just had 71 mph gust also the all-time high. The Highway 83 weather station just a few miles north of border is consistently getting into the 70+ range with a max gust of 79.4 mph around 4:09 pm. You can link to that station lower left "area observation" tab. Click on it once open, in middle on bottom click on "additional tabular". You can do the same for all stations.

8:48 am: Just had a whole house creaking gust of 68 mph which is a station record of highest gust recorded. Looking at the station 1/2 mile east it didn't experience the same gust. Sustained wind isn't as strong either east of here even though they had a higher 70 mph gust yesterday associated with a rain squall. I thought something might be wrong with the transmission due to length but I don't think so it's just not as windy with a NW wind direction. Different story from other wind directions. This location is unprotected and near the canyon edge above the city park, hatchery and seems to receive the highest sustained NW wind in the area. Even more wind than the airport located behind the city when the NW wind is blowing. Lucky us...The windiest location however and not far away is the HW 83 station just north of the SD border with sustained 43 mph wind currently.

The wind is howling this morning here in NE Valentine we had a 64 mph gust at 5:20 am. Yesterday both the airport and the station 1/2 mile east recorded 70 mph gust as the rain squalls moved through. Actual rainfall in the 8" diameter gauge was .13" here at this location. The automatic recorded .12".

01/13/2021 9:50pm: 59 mph gust at this station, 70 mph at station 1/2 mile east is the highest gust that location has recorded. Airport also reported a 70 mph gust. Next update will likely be tomorrow.

High Wind Warning starting 9pm tonight. We have a 70% chance of rain mainly before 10pm tonight. We also will end our streak of consecutive days reaching freezing at 54, Jan 13th is a unlikely date to do that. Updated Opinion click link above.

01/03/2021 Switched cameras around with the porch cam looking SW, the street runs south to north. All cam images are found under camera images.

12/31/2020 Good riddance 2020...For the year this station was +1.5 above the normal mean temperature and -1.58" below normal on moisture. For details on 2020 here

This was by far the warmest December in the stations short history (Since 2014) over +7° above Valentine historical norms and no sub-zero temperatures in December. For a summary of station previous years visit here. Historically winter averages in the low 20's number of days reaching sub-zero and only 8 days in 2020 including last January and February. The coldest arctic (sub-zero) air is not reaching the area, and what does make it into the lower 48 is sliding east. We had a similar pattern last winter but it's even less frequent so far this winter season.

Single digits again this morning with the day & half old snow cover (2.8") left & still breathing cold air. Lows got down to (4.7°) 1/2 mile east and (7°) at this station. High clouds moved in a couple hours before sunrise stopping any further decline this morning.

12/30/2020 Was looking at the airport report from yesterday and can't make any sense of it. (.30") moisture and only 1.9" snowfall reported. 6:1 moisture ratio? Temps were in the mid 20's. Image . Wind on NE side of town has kept the temps up this morning where our low was (9°), but the wind is 14 gusting to 20 mph so burr on the windchill.

12/29/2020 6:50pm: Update picked up an additional .1" since 10am. Storm total 4.0" snowfall with (.36") liquid snowmelt 11:1 ratio. 3.6" ground depth currently. Snow has stopped but wind has picked up gusting to 41 mph early this evening so rearranging is occuring with front sidewalk filled back in.

12/28/2020 Winter Weather Advisory has been issued by NWS starting 9pm though Tuesday evening. Depending on weather model anywhere from 2-5" with wind gust only peaking around 25 mph which is nice so no big drifts. The NWS snowfall potential map has Valentine at 4".

12/23/2020 This blizzard was one of the more powerful if not the most since the station started with wind, also set a daily record for wind run 655 miles and avg. wind speed 27.3 mph. The one saving grace was lack of moisture with only a couple of inches of snowfall. Cocorahs snowfall total is 2". Snow Report for the season has been updated we stand at 14". Image of 23" snowdrift in front of the house with 2" of snowfall. drift

8am: Just had a 62 mph gust at this station which is also the highest recorded gust to date for the station location. Other peak gust 74 mph at the HW 83 station, 68 mph at the airport ASOS and 63 mph at station 1/2 mile east. I've never seen this many wide spread 60+ gust before. This is a full blown blizzard it meets all criteria and then some. Back on the 19th I mentioned a White Christmas couldn't be ruled out completely because of the 20% chance on Wednesday. Christmas morning may still be white even if we do make 50°.

6:05am: DOT is requesting NO travel this morning on area highways due to zero visibility at times. Roads are also very slippery with the warm surfaces the early snowfall melted and froze. I can confirm there is a layer of ice underneath the snow.

4:10am: Gale force winds at times early this morning currently 41 mph sustained. The cold air is filtering in with light snow continuing. We are still on schedule to pick up 1-2" new snow per the forecast with 80% chance of continuing light snow before noon. Peak gust so far 1/2 mile east recorded 63 mph here at this station location 56 mph. 71 mph at the HW83 station 6 miles north of the SD border and 68 mph at the airport ASOS.

12/22/2020 3:30pm update: NWS issued a High Wind Warning and WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY with 1 to 2" of snowfall possible. The main issue will likely be blowing snow with the expected wind and Christmas travel. The cold is short-lived followed by another warm-up on Christmas & Saturday also short-lived with models hinting at a wintry week ahead, most models have backed off of the heavy snow for the area next week but this far out things change rapidly from run to run. BTW we did make it below freezing yesterday across NE Valentine, the low occurred at 11:58 pm 30.2° at this station and got down to 28° 1/2 miles east. This station tracks freeze data here, so we are currently sitting at 33 consecutive days this season. We reached 66° at both NE Valentine stations. I have a backup thermometer in a radiation shield under the shaded east side deck it only reached 64° (-2°). This shows how shade acts like cloud cover and why it's important to follow distancing guidelines for full sun exposure.

12/21/2020 4pm updated: The Latest-model run of the Canadian GEM has us in the (-10) range around next Tuesday. Wouldn't be surprised at all if it happens we are past due. Regardless it looks like high temperatures near or below freezing starting early week. The ECM currently shows precip twice on the 28th .17" and 29th .14" so this would be all snow if it holds but still a week out the runs will change. Latest models Temps and Precip.

The first day of winter, shortest day of the year and we may not reach freezing unless it gets there this evening before midnight. 13 MPH WNW wind this morning approaching 20 mph gust across NE Valentine with temps upper 30's. Very unusual not to freeze with normal temperatures this time of year H-36, L-10°. The euro model is suggesting some snow Wednesday around 1". Linked on External links ECMWF snowfall.

12/19/2020 Added another interactive radar product link and airport roundup to external links. The old radar GIFs are no more they call it progress, I call it something else, with time it seems we go backward with product availability. I actually do like the new Operational Product Viewer linked, if you enable mouse you can scroll around. So far this morning our low temperatures have been in the 7 to 8° range across 1/2 mile area of NE Valentine. As far as a white Christmas goes we do have a chance of a dusting Wednesday so can't be completely ruled out. We picked up several inches just a month ago twice with just 20% chances of snow.

12/14/2020 We did get down into the single digits as the Canadian model correctly suggested several days ago. 7° at both NE Valentine stations. We were in single digits before midnight so another good icemaking day. The HRRR and WRF does have a chance of snow tonight as does the Official Forecast 40% chance. 40's again starting Wednesday, 50ish on Sunday.

12/11/2020 2pm: We are still at 28° and good for those waiting on ice buildup (keep getting asked about ice). The Canadian is the coldest predictor with single digits on one day coming up. Models . Still, no serious icemaking sub-zero sign yet, even another warmup just before Christmas (50°) but this far out things can change and it is that time of year.

12/09/2020 Tied the record high of 69° today also 69° at the station 1/2 mile east.

12/07/2020 Looks like normal temperatures ahead, possibly below. The Canadian model is the first to dip below zero. Models

12/03/2020 Added another camera for winter viewing. This is the east deck found under images. This camera will not be available outside of winter months or when deck is in use. It does give a good E to SE sky view and better detail on types of precipitation.

12/02/2020 10am: We have freezing rain or mist with the back deck covered in ice and rather treacherous so watch your step. Haven't recorded .01" on the auto gauge yet. The airport ASOS is above freezing but nothing new. Update 10:48: I see the ASOS freezing rain sensor is working so that's good.

12/01/2020 Peak wind gust so far 45 mph. Very chilly outside with the wind.

Here is a little tibbit of information about how to accurately measure air temperature some may be unfamiliar with. For accuracy, the thermometer's radiation shield can't be shaded. If you do have it in the shade it acts as clouds would do by cooling the surrounding air so full sun exposure is the preferred method and reason they put distancing guidelines for siting instruments to follow. A shaded thermometer during the warmest time of day from my observations can read 1-3° cooler vs a shielded thermometer with full sun exposure. Ideally keep as far from heat sources as possible, 40' from pavement and twice the height of a tree or building for full sun exposure is the proper way to measure air temperature with the shield mounting height of 4-6' over natural terrain or short cut grass if not available. By doing the tree removal this Wx station location was able to meet these guidelines and has full sun exposure except for the very first 35 minutes and last 5 minutes of daylight. So visitors you can be assured the temperature measurements from this Weather Station are accurate.

This was the main issue with the old station location on West 3rd St. the neighbor's forest of trees mostly evergreens cast shade toward sunset depending on time of year 1-3 hours. Also had shade in the morning 2 hrs. so had the cloud cooling effect during those periods. It was something I knew wasn't ideal but hands were tied. With the station move in June 2019 and tree removal all has worked out, the new location could only be better if located outside of town without any wind restriction at all.

11/30/2020 Final morning lows 5° at GC, 7° at this location in NE Valentine and highs reached 51° at both stations.

11/26/2020 10:15am: Happy Thanksgiving, these low-level stratus clouds hopefully burn off or move out soon. They look fairly stationary on the satellite covering NE Cherry county but seeing a few blue patches peeking through.

11/18/2020 1:20pm: Set a record high today, 79° NE Valentine and at the GC station. Currently back down to 77°. The warmest this station has recorded late in November was 82.0 Nov. 27th back in (2017).

11:40am: 22° warm-up in the last 60 minutes, the warm air moved across town traveling south to north with a 20 degree differential within a city block. Now looks like the record high 77° is in jeopardy with it already 75° at NE Valentine location. We really do get some interesting weather patterns here.

11/14/2020 4:00pm: The Wind is howling, with a 56 mph gust sustained at 38 mph. 37° but has been dropping radar shows rain or snow to the west.

Cherry county road cameras are back up, looks like a new camera 4.2 miles SE at the junction of HW83 and HW20 Here and Here . For multiple views visit Nebraska Dot roads linked on external links and turn on cameras. FYI looks like the time is behind 1 hour on the new camera images, they are updating with nice clear images.

11/13/2020 Overnight lows occurred early just after midnight, 15° NE and 12° at the GC station east of here. The 1.5" of fresh snow melted yesterday, we are standing at 2" of snow depth this morning. Surprised to see a Red Flag Warning issued with the snow cover but after looking it's for the Eastern Panhandle area and not around Valentine, Cherry County is a big area, too big when it comes to warnings, having the weather radio go off at 2 AM for a tornado 100 miles away is a problem. All the road cams are down inside Cherry county but info I've received you can drive just a few miles any direction out of Valentine and there is no snow on the ground including north.

11/12/2020 Picked up 1.5" of new snow, very dry and fluffy with only (.05") moisture content. 30:1 ratio. I thought something was wrong with the tipping bucket when compared to the amount 1.5" measured on snowboard but it was right on with the Cocorahs melt. Most fell before midnight. It doesn't seem to matter how low the chances are Valentine is getting it's share this November after such a long dry stretch. You can drive a few miles any direction out of Valentine and there is very little snow. Odd how the bullseye seems to be here with all the recent storms. So we have had a 3.5:1 ratio in mainly sleet to 30:1 ratio in powder this month. This puts us at 12" snowfall for the season, 6.1" for November (.88") melt at this location mid November.

11/10/2020 10:45am: We picked up another .6" snow since 7am (.05") melt making for a daily total of 2.2", (.16") moisture content. Snow has stopped.

7am: Cocorahs report 1.6" of new snow this morning and still snowing. (.11") moisture. The tipping bucket was .01" short of actual so adjusted website.

6:15am: 2020 the year where nothing is a surprise. More snow, this one is drier and colder so auto rain gauge may be under-counting with heater and evaporation. I'll do an Official Cocorahs measurement and melt around 7am. The snow stake is close but the measuring stick is incremented in tenths for Cocorahs.

11/09/2020 7am: Well this was unexpected and the largest precipitation amount in months (July 24th). Cocorahs measurement 1.8" frozen precip on ground due to settling from warm ground, (.67") moisture all in frozen precipitation, graupel, sleet and snow. Was up from the beginning of event due to thunder and didn't see any rain or freezing rain.

5:50am: Snow moderate, looks like around 1.7" accumulation on the snow stake. Of course the ground is warm from the week of 80 degree highs so melting from below. Currently 25° (.51") with tippping bucket. Will do an official Cocorahs measurement around 7am and adjust if needed.

4:50am: Looks like we have transitioned to all snow from sleet and graupel. (.40") moisture.

4:35am: Sleet continues to fall (.36") moisture so far. The HRRR model has around 4" of snow forecast now for the Valentine area. The Official forecast doesn't reflect that much however.

3:30am: Thunder lightning and sleet event all below freezing. Very unusual, (.23") in sleet so far has filled the rain gutter Image. There may be some freezing rain mixed in on further check everything has a layer of ice on it. Anemometer hasn't froze yet so not much, mainly sleet. (27°) currently.

11/08/2020 High Wind Warning issued by NWS today with a chance of moisture only 20% with a better chance 40% tonight. Radar is showing some light precip this morning scattered around.

11/06/2020 Made it to 82° both GC and NE Valentine today. The old record was 82°. The airport likely shattered the record with the ASOS.

Upper 70's through Saturday expected. Very unseasonably warm. Looking ahead next week is looking more seasonable maybe below but no sub-zero through the 10 day with models so far.

11/03/2020 Very warm day with a high of 81° both here and GC station.

Big temperature variance across town early this morning. Below freezing on far NE side 29° and much warmer 38° in the middle of town. Took a drive this morning with the vehicle thermometer also registering this. Beautiful 70's for high temps until the weekend.

10/29/2020 Noticed the snow stake cam was losing connection at times only at night when the IR was running. I believe the issue was the length of the power supply run so shorted today. The IR uses more power and being the run was 50' causing issues, now at 30' plugged into the FARS and snow melt heater power supply hopefully, this is the fix. I have a replacement camera coming if it doesn't.

10/27/2020 5:35am: We did dip below zero (-.5) earlier this morning in NE Valentine. Current temperature 4° with a WC ranging -3 to -8 below. We may dip back below zero around sunrise or just after if the wind calms. This was the first recorded below zero for October since this station started back in 2014.

10/26/2020 Tonight will be a far better radiational cooling night so record lows expected. Snow pack is still 2.5" here in NE Valentine and powdery most of the melting was from below. The old record of 1° should get broken. The one caveat is a blanket of clouds streaming through the first part of the evening. We did manage 22° in town, the GC station outside of town made 20.7° but spent most of the afternoon cooler in the teens.

8:55am: Very cold morning for October the wind has slowed 3-6 mph after sunrise the temperature has dropped to 5.9°. 5.5° at GC station.

10/25/2020 1:25pm: Snowfall has stopped exception occasional flurry. .9" (.06") melt new snow since 7 am making for a storm total of 4.8" overall (.41") melt with 12:1 liquid ratio average.

10/24/2020 6am: A slight southern shift in the heaviest snowfall occurred with models overnight. 6" is now expected on the snowfall potential map, timing for main snowfall event start looks like about 5 pm give or take an hour and ending around midday Sunday. There is some light snow showing already early this morning just across the border in southern SD. NAM has Valentine receiving 7" using the Kuchera snow: liguid ratio which adjust for air temperature.

10/23/2020 Looking at records that could fall on Oct 26 the old record low max is 26° in 1919, and the low minimum 9° in 1936 are both likely to fall along with any snowfall amounts in excess of 5" on 24th, 3" on 25th and 3.8" on 26th.

We have a cold windchill of 11° this morning with snow on the ground 23°. A Winter Storm Watch has been issued by the NWS with expected snowfall around 5" but we could get much more thus the Winter Storm watch with the uncertainty. FYI the snow stake looks good it's showing the same as snow board measurement.

10/22/2020 NWS has updated the Snowfall potential map. Looks like a more widespread event now with Valentine 5" currently. Check again tomorrow for any further updates.

2pm: We do have icicles hanging off rain gutters but hasn't been cold enough today to collect and form with the warmer mist falling, decided to test the new station SHT31 sensor against the NIST certified with an accuracy of +/- (.09f) at 32°. The station sensor read 32.0° vs 31.8° with certified. This was inside the sensor chamber so both sensors were being aspirated. The weather station sensor is within sensor spec .3F. image here .

8:05am: Likely Ice fog will develop in the area GC station has slipped below freezing and right at 32.0 here in NE Valentine.

7:30am: (.03") Overnight in mist/drizzle. The snowfall potential map has been updated by the NWS. 3" expected Valentine with possible 5". Keep an eye on it for future updates. For more details follow the link to NWS office website winter weather page. FYI snow stake cam image is now up, the link is under the Cameras/image tab. Just a reminder the snow stake is not the official Cocorahs measurement. With wind and drifting multiple measurements are used and averaged. Getting accurate snow measurements here is one of the biggest challenges when storms have high winds. Hopefully with the trees gone increasing measurement area will make snow measurements easier and more accurate. This location really gets buffed with high NW wind with no protection so will see.

10/21/2020 (.01") in rain overnight. This week the first arctic cold front sweeps in Thursday followed by a second much colder on Sunday with near-record cold arrival. A warm-front will develop Saturday night in front of the arctic cold bringing our best chance of accumulating snow in the 1-2" range. This will set up for near-record cold with the fresh snow and arctic air mass in place. Two different models have our low temperature Tuesday morning 2° so cover the petunias. From experience these models usually error on the warm side so no telling how cold it actually gets. A clue is how much fresh snow which seems to breathe cold air so the deeper the colder.

10/19/2020 Looking at models on just how cold it may get, next Monday looks like our coldest day, here is what current models are thinking this far out for next Monday on high temperatures. Creeping down to single digits on that one model Tuesday morning. Whether or not we have snow cover and how deep will influence how these temperatures actually go. Light rain .04" so far this afternoon.

10/18/2020 Our first day we didn't get out of the 30's this fall. 36° here in NE Valentine and only 35° 1/2 mile east at the GC station just off Dowden St.

Picked up .05" in snowfall moisture, just under 1/2" accumulation this morning on the snow measuring board the warm ground has less. The air mass is rather dry with a dew point of 20° currently and 27° ambient.

10/17/2020 6:35pm: Back to light snow. 33.3°

6:30: Snowing heavier than radar shows currently. Much is melting 33.5°

10/16/2020 Forecast is back to 60% chance for Sunday rain/snow, hope so conditions are really dry. We have been down to 28° this morning and since warmed to 31° with a 12-18 mph wind. We could get lower later this morning if wind decreases. Very cool day yesterday with a high of only 51° and actually only stayed there for a minute, most of the day was in the 40's with a stiff breeze. Airport as usual had it's own special climate going reporting 56°. You could have taken a thermometer and sit it in the open unshaded yesterday and may have not been able to record 56° with the breeze and clouds. It wasn't even close to 56° yesterday it struggled to reach 51°. It's just amazing what is going on but nothing really surprises me anymore.

FYI I've been tweaking the west view camera due to raising it for more sky and less ground since the snow stake cam is going. I did leave a little road asphalt for those interested if snow is sticking. Anyway, about done tweaking the extra sky has caused issues with color and lighting but think it's close now. The cedar tree next to the road is getting removed for utility right-away soon.

10/15/2020 6pm: 43 mph gust as this band of light rain arrived. Temperature has dropped to 40° rapidly. Looks to be another band about 20 minutes behind this one.

Any moisture in the upcoming forecast has a 40% (updated from 30%) chance or less currently. Even next week doesn't look promising with the latest runs so our drought continues. We are likely to stay on the cool side of normal next week with waves out of Canada but limited moisture. The NW wind is 10-15 mph this morning holding temperatures above freezing so far, expect a nosedive below freezing once wind speeds relax toward sunrise if they do. This NE side of town location wind tends to stay up longer and sometimes never does completely decouple.

10/14/2020 1:25pm: Updated NWS forecast has relaxed the wind some now, 40 mph gust possible. The high temperature of 64° at 2am may be as warm as it gets. Added the ECMWF (Euro) snowfall loop on external links. This model is advertising some snowfall Sunday and possible heavy snow later next week around (Thursday).

10/13/2020 With everything going on some may have missed this we have an 85% chance of La Niña lasting through the winter. Forecasters currently think this La Niña will be on the stronger side meaning the northern states will have increased odds for below-normal temperatures during the midwinter time frame. Precip forecast is neutral. Haven't seen a Nebraska forecast but would think this includes parts of the state.

10/12/2020 Snow stake cam is back online for the season. Use ctrl+F5 if image doesn't refresh first time, clears browser cache.

It did freeze (29°) at the GC station 1/2 mile east this morning. So areas around town likely froze also like at the radio station they reported freezing. Here in NE Valentine we did not freeze with the wind keeping a mix going.

6:25am: Picked up .03" NE, .04" at the old location on west 3rd. the neighbor is doing the Cocorahs. The GC station .04" just east of here according to the automatic rain gauge. Currently down to 34° NE Valentine, 34° also at GC station the WSW breeze may prevent a freeze this morning. Yesterday the high was 83° with a peak wind gust of 44 mph.

10/11/2020 3:30pm: Large fire going on over south of the Sale Barn with hay bale rolls, trying to spread into a trailer park. We made it to 83° today with very gusty NW wind as the cold front pushes through (40 mph) so far. Installed a new Temp/humidity sensor today. Nothing wrong with the old sensor just wanted a fresh unit going into the winter months.

Next Wednesday looks to be our last 60's day for a while so a good time to shut the sprinklers down and let the grass go dormant. I'll have the snow stake cam turned back on also.

10/07/2020 Sunday night with the ECMWF (Euro) is looking like a good chance of rainfall. The other models unfortunately are not as optimistic. With the above-normal temperatures, mid 80's have had to keep sprinklers going so the lawn goes into winter dormancy healthy. Looks like they can be shut off starting next week with temperatures more normal 60's or below. Once turned off the snow-stake cam will be back on.

10/04/2020 (32.3°) this morning at the GC station 1/2 mile east of this location. (33°) at this station in NE Valentine. We did have frost in NE Valentine on surfaces. The rest of the week expecting above normal temps as warmer air moves in. Replaced Temp/humidity sensor at the GC station yesterday the humidity side went bad during the rainfall yesterday. This was the same sensor covered in wasp droppings from paper wasp hive inside the radiation shield. A plus for the FARS shields (fan aspirated type) they are critter resistant.

10/03/2020 Areas of patchy fog developed this morning caused by the wet ground and cool temperatures, the fog should burn off soon after sunrise. Temperatures in the area stayed just above freezing.

10/02/2020 8:30am: Down to 27.4° here in NE Valentine and 26.8° at the GC station 1/2 mile east this morning. Plenty of frost as you can see on the snow stake cam under (Camera images). We reached 32.0° at 4:49am at this location so almost 4 hours of freezing temperatures and back above freezing (32.1° @8:36am)

10/01/2020 8pm: Freeze warning tonight not hard freeze. Clouds could moderate how cold it gets tonight looking at satellite image.

09/30/2020 Potentially 3 days of frost/freezes coming up, just how cold will depend on wind, clouds and location. A hard freeze of 28° or less is not currently in the forecast but those in lower-lying cold air drainage areas could see temperatures dip colder, some of those areas have already froze back on the 10th. Here in NE Valentine we briefly reached 32° and did have frost on exposed windshields.

09/25/2020 Two different weather patterns across Valentine this morning, the airport has a light WSW wind and 53° while north Valentine has NW wind 12-20 mph and temperature 61°, high gust of 33 mph.

09/21/2020 7:45am: The Fall equinox tomorrow, meteorologically we are already into fall, Sept. Oct. Nov. Lows this morning reported 48° Airport ASOS, GC, 47° this station in NE Valentine. Above normal temps expected this week reaching 80's cooling into the 70's by the weekend.

09/20/2020 7:11am: Hearing thunder even flashes of lightning, turned on Gr3 feed. One light cell just passing NW of Valentine showing on Doppler. 7:35am:Sprinkles here NE Valentine.

09/19/2020 Not much to blog about again. Dry and above normal temps expected with no mention of precip on the 7 day. Boring! Thankfully the dew point temperature is in the 50's today with the wind, but it's dry because of the long stretch without much moisture starting early August.

09/17/2020 Not much sun power this morning with the smoke.

09/16/2020 Smoke likely kept the temperatures from reaching the forecast high.

09/14/2020 7:30am: Still have some patchy ground fog and deer out the front window with a cool 44° temperature.

09/12/2020 Picked up another (.24") overnight, all but .03" fell before midnight making the 24 hr total .40". A year ago this time we had 2.87" over 4 day stretch between the 8-12th.

09/10/2020 We did make it down to freezing at the NE Valentine station. 32.0° while the passive shield recorded 32.1°... Here is the FARS (Fan aspirated radiation shield) vs Meteoshield PRO passive shield under calm conditions since 2 am, the graph time is off 2 hrs. This was the earliest freeze since the station started in 2014. Previous years here . (32.2°) was recorded at the GC station 1/2 mile east. Airport likely froze too or very close the 33.8° would be 32.0 when you remove the +1.8° error (Observed during multiple test) and added with a purpose, thermometers don't just accidentally get off 2° and stay off, anyway most areas around town likely came close if located away from trees, buildings and concrete. If you want the real temperature keep it here, a lot of effort goes into making sure data from this site is accurate and not just ballpark numbers.

5:50am: 33.7° NE Valentine don't think we will quite make freezing, the temperature has dropped 5° over the last 100 minutes but has slowed and rising. I'll put up a graph showing the FARS vs Passive Pro shield later after the morning low is recorded with conditions since midnight. You will see how the FARS reacts to smallest changes vs passive shield in calm conditions.

09/09/2020 NOAA API maintenance which includes METAR continues is why conditions icon from airport is missing. Website hangs and loads slowly if not turned off. I've left the UV index forecast off for sometime now due to hanging and slowing website load time so likely won't turn back on due to continues issues. Also the public access to NOAA Goes Geocolor satellite loops had loading issues I've turned off and using the accuweather image always reliable.

7am: Getting light snow 33.3° in NE Valentine, waiting for it to melt in the manual rain gauge collection funnel for total amount of moisture. Looks like at least .10" of precip. Snow is still falling currently. FYI from North Platte Forecast Office this was the second earliest snowfall on record. Earliest was September 6, 1929.

09/08/2020 5:30pm: A couple things I was able to check with the 37° afternoon temperature. Rain gauge snow melt heater is still working, and heat pump on the house is purring right along. Finally broke down when upstairs reached 65° and set the thermostat to 67°. I know the 2 tenths rain event was a disappointment being we are in need of some rain. We may see a little more before it's over, HRRR is suggesting more as the disturbance out west moves through. Look on external link HRRR total Precip and play.

5:30am: (.20") both NE and at the GC so far today.

09/07/2020 Big weather pattern shift today with a stratiform rain event 100% chance of rain tonight. NWS has backed off on widespread frost for Wednesday morning due to more clouds and wind expected but localized areas of frost anticipated in the colder regions which could include areas around Valentine (forecast currently 32°). We may even see a few flakes before it's over but the all snow accumulation is expected to stay mainly in the higher elevations like the Pine Ridge area. As far as models go the ECMWF and MKMET have Valentine in the 1.1 to 1.3" range for total precip, other models have less down to the lowest 1/3".

Moved Quercetin Phytosome and different absorption levels of Quercetin down to 8/3 when using as a prophylactic.

09/06/2020 5:15pm: We were able to stay just below the 90° mark today at the NE and GC stations with 88° and 89°. Can't say the same for Dante's inferno at the airport (93), and this was on a north wind today so wind direction makes no difference.

9am: Our last real rainfall goes back to August 18 (.17"). Looking at long-range models the ECMWF looks the wettest predicting an inch while most others under 1/2". One more day in the 90's before the big cooldown. With the NW wind this morning I'm hoping we don't exceed the upper 80's, some models support this idea also.

09/05/2020 Forecast was was dead on, final highs on hottest day of this year, NE Valentine 101.2 main station, Certified 101.6°, GC came in at 103.2°. I won't even guess at the airport, I'll let the scientist make that decision. Cousin down off Goose Creek road said it reached 98° also the hottest this year. I have visitors that follow interested in the Barani MeteoShield Pro. High temp was .1 warmer today vs the FARS, low temp was .4 warmer. This was using SHT-31 sensors. I've noticed the FARS usually cools down around .4 more vs passive shields when clear and calm. Larger air sample being drawn-in during calm conditions is the difference. I've seen the Barani run lower daytime multiple times vs FARS with a stiff wind but wasn't the case today.

3:28pm: So far 102° at GC station 1/2 mile east of here, 101° NE Valentine with high clouds blocking sun. Our hottest day this year occurring in early September just before a major cold snap due to arrive is so strange. Oh! and as I was saying about the airport 106° Image of 5 min updates here . It is hot, but not 106° hot. I would bet the GC station and the airport are near the same temperature 102°-103° range.

Did some testing yesterday at KVSH radio station studio downtown next to their MMT thermometer, using the certified thermometer and Metoshield Pro shield. The high temperature recorded was 87.3° ,not sure what the MMT high reported. Here in NE Valentine high temperature recorded at the weather station was 86.8° so 1/2 degree cooler .7 tenths of a mile separation distance. Another station 1/2 mile east of here near Fredericks Peak GC (linked under external links) also uses the Metoshield recorded 87.1°. So these 3 stations all within 1/2 degree of each other while the airport KVTN ASOS acts like it's in a different time-zone reporting 91°, or plus (4°) warmer than all others. Was gonna test at the airport once again but decided it's a waste of time, I can see it's still running hot, (+1.8°F) from prior test without going there so I'll setup the test unit here at the NE station today being we have 100° potential. You can see it on the snow stake cam.

09/04/2020 Updated forecast early freeze potential coming Tuesday night Wednesday morning. Showers likely Monday and Tuesday with even a skiff of snow possible. It doesn't get much weirder than this with a potential 100° degrees tomorrow in the forecast.

09/02/2020 Some station news, the project this week was to bring AC power to the NE Valentine weather station for the snowmelt heater. The relocation and tree removal has allowed for AC power and the ability to run a higher-powered FARS fan (Fan Aspirated Radiation Shield). Haven't had this ability since the move from W. 3rd Street.

08/31/2020 6:35am: After a high of 97° both NE and GC stations yesterday we are down to 42° at GC and 45° NE Valentine currently. Final low at NE station likely to come around sunrise 7-7:30am.

08/29/2020 8am: We got chilly this morning. NE Valentine 42°, GC station 43°, and airport also reported 43°.

08/27/2020 Forecast changed a little on temperature we have one more mid 90's and a good chance of rain tonight 60%. Low 70's by Monday will be nice change.

08/26/2020 9:30pm: Looks like a split one cell south the other north.

9:12pm: Great light show whether we get rain or not... Gr3 doppler feed is on. We could get clipped by a TS if they hold together or strengthen.

6:20pm Update: The official high reported at the airport yesterday was (105°) breaking the old record of 104. 100° here NE Valentine 101° downtown at the radio station.

08/25/2020 4:pm: I'll just put this out there the airport is reporting 106° at 15:50pm, if true it's a daily record. So far NE Valentine only 100.3, certified verified 100.27 ....

Another hot one today with expected high near 102°. Dew point is starting slightly lower today in the upper 50's so warm up will be easier with the drier air. Left the certified hooked up overnight it recorded 61° same as wx station, this was one of the cooler spots around the area image. ....RH will likely get low today with Red flag conditions marginal per forecast discussion. I think we are 7 days now without rain here in Valentine. If you have a lawn and haven't it's a good time to increase watering with the heat and now drier air.

08/24/2020 Final highs 100° at the GC station and 97° NE Valentine. Once again a 3° split. Heat index did hit 100° at this station with the dew point staying around 60-61° this afternoon, so didn't feel that bad in the shade with the breeze. Here is a look at the new certified unit used for cal. checks and extremely accurate, replaced older unit with expired certificate, (.05°)c, (.09°)f accuracy at 0c,25c,37c within +/- (2c) of these 3 points and the recorded high of 97.16° was right on with the NE WX station 97.2° today.

2:20pm: Currently 99° at the GC station and only 95° at this station so 4° split in 1/2 mile, this may come together more as the day progresses. It's mostly cloudy even though the ASOS is saying clear. This is very high based mixed with smoke. So far the dew point has stayed in the low 60's so heat index is around 100° at the GC station.

08/23/2020 Managed (96°) at the north Valentine station and 1/2 mile east (99°) at the golf course station which is all-natural terrain. The grass lawns and trees really do moderate the air temperature blowing out of the SE by the time it reaches the north side of town. This is a summer phenomenon I've noticed and mentioned before what I thought was happening has become clearer now and more frequent since the move to the north side from west Valentine. The temp difference of 3 degrees on daily highs is the largest I've seen with the GC station occurring when south to SE winds blow. The GC station east of this station is linked under external links or MesoWest here.

08/22/2020 High temps 94° north Valentine and 1/2 mile east just outside the city 95° at GC station. The geocolor Goes16 satellite was clearly showing the smoke yesterday from the wildfires along with our temperatures abnormally warm this week, all associated with the hot air and record high temperatures shattered out west. Many were highest temps ever recorded in August not just daily records. Our normal's this time of year H-86, L-58: Records H-105, L-39.

08/20/2020 4:30pm: Hot one even with the broken clouds. 97° 1/2 mile east at GC and 95° in town north side. Dew point stayed low 60's so heat index didn't take off.

08/18/2020 Rainfall total from TS: NE Valentine this morning (.17"), GC 1/2 mile east (.13"), far west Valentine at end of W.3rd St. (.27") reported by Cocorahs observer Bob. The Airport? Between .25"-.32"

08/15/2020 This morning we got down to 48° at the north Valentine station under a clear sky and calm wind. The new location is sited further away from heat-absorbing objects, roads, trees, buildings, and without nearby trees acting as cloud cover should be getting accurate data. Siting requirements for accurate air temperature measurement calls for full sun exposure on radiation shield (so not shaded) and at least 50' from any pavement, asphalt and twice the height from any building or tree. Sensor height above ground should be mounted 4-6' ideally 5'. The red circled camera is the snow stake camera. Got an email asking how I liked the yard without the trees? Love it, here is a panorama view of backyard without the trees showing wx station. This is a large image. pan. Updating images can be found under camera images tab. cam.

08/14/2020 9am: Cold front has been working its way through the area. Strong winds out of the NW with 45 mph gust this station, GC station 41 mph.

08/13/2020 Wx Station is at the new location. My neighbor mentioned the daily high temperature occurred near 11 pm on the 11th so started looking and sure enough, we had our 3rd heat burst this year. This is a graph from the golf course station. The wind peaked at 55 mph with a temperature of 93°. These are caused by decaying thunderstorms and supposedly rare atmospheric phenomenons but becoming a regular occurrence around here.

08/12/2020 From thunderstorm last night off Goose Creek Rd. Image I was told this doesn't do it justice of the actual size. Just enough rain fell to wet the streets north Valentine.

Final day and then there was ONE, Orange flag marks where the wx station is going.

08/08/2020 Rainfall (.14") north Valentine, (.15") golf course station. (.16") west valentine. Peak gust 57 mph and 59 mph at the golf course station. Airport reported 73.6 mph (22:14 CDT 08/08) gust and the rain gauge .07". Looking at the HW83 weather station SD546 just the other side of SD border recorded a Wind Gust of 78.7 mph. WOW!

10:06pm: Rocking with the wind. It's driving rain but gauge isn't moving much, likely the wind. Why I needed to move the station rain gauge fully exposed to wind. 59 mph at GC station recorded. 57 mph at this station. The upcoming station move next week will fix the rainfall issue of rain gauge exposed to high wind events coming from westerly directions.

9:50pm: Hearing lots of thunder and see a sizable pink hail ball looks to be going north of Valentine on doppler. It's very fast moving so should be short lived.

4:15pm: Trial run on the new snow stake camera here. Also added link under camera images.

8:25am: Starting to see pockets of fog develop north Valentine.

These high dew point and humidity mornings are messing up the deer watch with fogged up windows. Not full dew point saturation this morning but close within 1/2° and RH peaking at 98%. Normally takes an hour or so of fog to reach full saturation and 100% RH with the dew point temp sensor this station uses.

08/07/2020 6:00pm: North Valentine peak heat index came in at 5:15pm of 103°. Most of the late afternoon it was hovering around 100°. Actual air temperature highs today 95° north and 96° at GC station. Some tree removal news, it starts Monday. Bye bye cottonwoods, Chinese elm and all the cedars so current plan by Wednesday weather station is moved to its new permanent location, weather permitting.

08/06/2020 Looks like Cherry County may have its first case of Covid-19 by community spread. Someone under 29 yrs of age. I've been taking the EVMS cocktail of prophylaxis posted on external links. Hope the quercetin and zinc work as well as HCQ and zinc. Quercetin an OTC supplement is also a zinc Ionophore (gateway) 2014 study and like HCQ allows the zinc to enter preventing the virus from replication and spread. As with any supplements always check with your doctor for medication reactions and safety.

8:38am: Patchy fog is developing north Valentine. Visibility around 1/8 mile or less.

Around 5 AM a thunderstorm cell looking rather potent on radar skirted by just north of Valentine dropping (.06") west side (.04") north, (.05) at the golf course station and (.05) at Coop downtown. Airport ASOS reported T.

08/04/2020 9:40am: Final rain amounts. North Valentine Cocorahs gauge (.54") .55" 8" auto. Airport ASOS (.56"), West side coco (.52") and GC station (.46") both coco and auto gauge.

5:50am: Received heavy rain from thunderstorm (.52") still raining north Valentine. No report from west Valentine Cocorahs yet. Airport is reporting (.53"). I'll update on the blog as total amounts come later this morning. Looks like more rain may fall over next half hour or so.

08/01/2020 Added an external link to the new interactive Cocorahs National map. Very nice you can easily zoom in on the areas of interest with mouse scroll wheel. July Summary is ready for viewing Summary Close to normals with exception rainfall +1.1" at this location.

07/29/2020 6:25pm: Storm cells are developing but look a little confused with no strong steering direction some stationary others slowly drifting. Could end up with some heavy rain if under one of them. Gr3 radar feed is running, found under Radar/Sat tab.

07/27/2020 The atmosphere has really dried out behind the cold front yesterday with a dew point temperature in the low 50's allowing for our morning low temperature to drop along with it. Even with the RH in the 90% range it's only relative to the current air temperature, by afternoon it may be in the 30% range. Looks like good chances of moisture moving back in later this week on Wednesday and Thursday.

07/26/2020 7:40am: Had a little ground fog develop this morning, didn't last long before dissipating. (.02") in the manual gauge yesterday evening in a light shower. 95° high yesterday both this station and GC. Airport reported 96°. Wind speeds were much lighter yesterday and didn't get into the big temperature split between the airport.

07/24/2020 Picked up an additional .56" from thunderstorm making the daily north Cocorahs total (2.20").... West Cocorahs picked up .65" additional for a daily total (2.36")...GC station (2.34") manual coco gauge, 2.43" auto so made a -3% software calibration adjustment on the automatic gauge. These auto tipping bucket rain gauges that don't adjust for rainfall rate are like chasing your tail. I'll probably regret making the change on the next storm if the rain rate is higher. A link to the Cocorahs State map is under external links.

11:55pm: Here is the radar estimates of rainfall region image, and local image Pink 3" area 2-3 miles north of Valentine.

7:40pm: Thunderstorms are training over Valentine. Internet went out but back up.

6:pm: Cherry county is under a Severe Thunderstorm watch tonight. Gr3 doppler feed is on under Radar/Sat tab. Clouds played a role on how hot it got today. Only managed 94° at the north Valentine location with heat index of 103° while 1/2 mile east at GC 96°.

Heat index reached 101° yesterday. High temps came it at 96.4° North and 97.1° at the GC. Some other high temps Merritt and Sparks Nebraska Mesonet stations 94 and 93°. The Sparks station is only 13 miles NE direction.

07/23/2020 NWS has issued an Heat Advisory starting at 2 pm today with the heat index approaching 100°. Another day with lots of moisture in the air with the dew point temperature around 70° is keeping the overnight low on the warm side. Even with the moisture, only a slight chance 20% of thunderstorm activity expected with a better chance tomorrow evening. Sunday is looking like our next best chance of rainfall at this time.

A reminder for website visitors there is a couple of degrees difference across town from the airport location on south side where it does run warmer (2-3°) especially day time vs the north side where this station is located. It's enough you can even see it in vehicle thermometers as you drive. The exact cause I'm unsure of, it could be tree canopy and grass lawns moderate the air temperature as you travel north but it may have a more natural origin such as the physical geography of the area.

07/20/2020 6:10am: 24 hour totals .19" north and NE Valentine includes the shower yesterday morning. A mile or two east received much heavier amounts while just south of town received nothing very near the ASOS at the airport. image and image ... Blue under .50" the pink 3".

07/19/2020 Chance of thunderstorms increased with latest NWS forecast. Added the HRRR model to external links. It's suggesting a good chance for NE Cherry.

07/17/2020 Final highs today came in at 100.4° north and 100.5° NE station. Heat index did reach 105°. The certified thermometer max was 100.31°F. This was the first 100 degree day this season at the north Valentine location, coming on July 17.

2:48pm: Update 99.06° max on NIST certified therometer so far. The weather station 99.0°, will post the final high recorded by both later today. image

2:21pm: Heat index of 103° so far north Valentine. High temperature so far 98.1°. I have the NIST precision certified thermometer with a very fast reaction time plugged into the aspirated radiation shield so will report what the high temperature records from the NIST certified also. I like to test sensors a couple times a year. FYI NIST certificate is good for 3 points within 2c of each point with an accuracy of (+/-) .05c. The 3 points are 0c,25c,37c. Today we will be testing at the 37c (98.6f) point, range and +/- 2c of the point.

NWS has issued a Heat Advisory for today starting at 2pm through 8pm. Dew point temperature is near the 69-70° mark this morning which is also keeping our overnight low on the warm side just above dew point temperature. The heat index will reach 100°+ during the advisory period today. Today will be our hottest stickiest day of the summer so far but it's just a one or two day event. We really do have very nice summers with just an occasional sampling of heat & humidity.

07/12/2020 North Valentine picked up (.43"), GC station reported (.49") so further east the more rainfall, the airport ASOS updated report 24 hr. total (.37"). Storm total image around town, HERE. The yellow is 1/2" rainfall estimate.

Added a link to the Nebraska Cocorahs state map, external links just below the golf course station. Cocorahs reports are updated in the morning generally between 6-8am.

11:18am: Started Gr3 doppler feed.

07/11/2020 Yesterday's storm rainfall rate reached 15.5" per hour during a brief period. This is one of the higher rates recorded at this station likely reducing visibility near zero during that period. The golf course station recorded .78" in the Cocorahs gauge so very close to the automatic .76" yesterday. Goose Creek road report 40 miles south of Valentine during bad afternoon thunderstorm reported near zero visibility at one point and picking up 1.27" of rain with marble size hail, then last night picked up another .30" for a daily total (1.57").

07/10/2020 10:00pm: Thunderstorm, no hail, peak gust was 46 mph on north side. Official Cocorahs gauge (.82") with storm. (.84") daily total so far.

7:58pm: Tornado warning just issued, tornado is on the ground reported by trained spotter near Martin SD and moving toward the Nebraska border. The weather radio alert works. Looking at the supercell on the doppler it has a 51,000 foot top and can produce 3.5" hail.

6PM:All storm reports can be viewed here. There is a chance for more thunderstorm development tonight. I'll turn the GR3 doppler feed back on if we start getting more development.

11:48am: You can see the hail on the doppler pink and white refection in the thunderstorm just moving across the SD border NE of Valentine. A 97 mph gust of wind was recorded as it crossed HW 83. Sparks area is about to get pounded.

8:15am: Looks like a cell just west of Valentine has developed. Doppler is on under Gr3 Radar/Sat tab for a closer look.

07/08/2020 Storms pretty much missed Valentine again. .02" rain north side of town. 1.75" hail reported 40 miles south off Goose Creek Rd. Image and 1.05" rain reported. Also 1-tornado and 3-landspouts reported near Thedford with 2.5" hail same area. One of the reports had the tornado on the ground for 10 minutes. Image I saw was a long rope tornado. All storm reports can be viewed here .

Swapped weather station to its own computer today. This should fix the camera weather station com port issue. Today's high 95° occurred at 5:15pm not 2:15pm. The computer wasn't set to the correct timezone yet. I'll leave the Gr3 Doppler running tonight should we get more thunderstorm threats.

Heat burst at the GC station temperature spiked to 93F with wind gust of 44mph at 5:40 am. Image. Wiki: Heat bursts typically occur during night-time and are associated with decaying thunderstorms. Although this phenomenon is not fully understood, it is theorized that the event is caused when rain evaporates (virga) into a parcel of cold, dry air high in the atmosphere- making the air denser than its surroundings.

07/07/2020 6:05PM: Dew point was pushing 70° at times both north Valentine stations and has backed off slightly 68° currently. Highest heat index was at the GC station 1/2 mile east 102°. Generally hanging around 98-99° heat index this late afternoon with high temperatures of 94° north and 96° at the GC station. Winds have gusted near 40 MPH regularly at the GC station.

07/06/2020 7:32pm Thunderstorm skirted south. (.02") north side. Saw some 1.5" to 1.75" hail reports west of town. Golf Course station recorded a 54 mph gust.

6:25pm: Turned the Gr3 Doppler feed on, under Radar/Sat tab. Hearing some distant rumbles. We do have an isolated group of thunderstorms to our west near Kilgore.

07/05/2020 FYI been dealing with connection issue with weather station com port disconnecting, the issue appears to be cameras take over comp port so should clear up once cameras are separated later this week.

07/04/2020 Happy Independence day 2020. If you are staying home or have 5 hours this is the celebration at Mount Rushmore yesterday. Mt.Rushmore 2020 You can watch in 1080p go to settings. Beautiful image from last nights fireworks at Mt.Rushmore Image

07/02/2020 10:25pm: (.30") rainfall from thunderstorm at north Valentine location. Peak gust recorded was 38 mph. Airport ASOS is reporting .29" currently. High temperature reached 91° north side and 92° at the golf course station.

8am: SE wind kicked in yesterday evening bringing in more moisture and raising dew point back into the 50's. Yesterday we did reach 90° after a brisk morning low of 48° in north Valentine. Looking at forecast over 7 day we have chances of thunderstorms and high temps in the 90's throughout.

07/01/2020 North Valentine June 2020 ended +5.1° above normal and +.44" above normal in precip. Mean max 85°, min. 59° with 9 days exceeding 90° and 0-100° days. For details look at NOAA report under Reports/Daily. Yesterday afternoon a cold front pushed through drying out the atmosphere, lowering our dew point into the 50's and eventually 40's with all precipitation well east of the area. The result was a nice cool morning low of 48° north and 45° at the GC station.

06/30/2020 Added North Central District Health dashboard to external links.

Moist unstable atmosphere again today. Areas that have thunderstorms develop could receive heavy rain especially if they develop over the same areas multiple times and train like we've seen several times already this summer. Valentine is in the 40% chance of precip in the morning forecast with areas to the east more likely to receive severe weather if any.

Yesterday heat index reached 97° north Valentine with thermometer topping at 89°, 90° at the GC station 1/2 mile east. NE side of town the dew point temperature peaked at 75 degrees late afternoon with a strong moist SE breeze. The reason I mention dew point this shows the true amount of available moisture and stickiness we should focus on. Relative humidity is only relative to the ambient temperature and can be all over the place and is so irrelevant we could remove from current conditions and not miss it if we have the dew point temperature. 100% RH at 20° is still a very dry atmosphere when the dew point is 20°. When I check the weather out in areas like Houston Texas where much of family lives, I look at the temperature and dew point. It's common in the summer to see the temperature 92° and dp 82° reminding me why I don't live there among other things. Evaporative coolers (Swamp coolers) stop being efficient at 55° dew point so once the dew point gets between 55 F and 65 F the evaporation of (moisture) slows or stops from our skin, making it feel "sticky and muggy." Anything above 65 F means there's a lot of moisture in the air, and most people will start to feel uncomfortable when the ambient reaches above 80°. Once the dew point gets above 80° it's smothering. AKA Houston Gulf Coast.

06/26/2020 Only .09" north Valentine, .10" GC, .10" KVSH and .06" reported off the airport ASOS after a very promising wet forecast. Link for airport ASOS is HERE The atmosphere seemed really ripe for big thunderstorms but everything skirted around or just didn't develop as expected. Radar return to service is unknown at this time. Data feed seems to be the issue, and not the actual radar itself. Meanwhile will leave the Rapid City feed up. Here is the direct link to the KLNX radar HERE for returm.

06/25/2020 Radar KLNX is down with unknown return. Last scan was 5:10pm central time. The doppler feed for Gr3 is now on Rapid City and pieces together areas surrounding so works best. Also you can use radar found under radar/sat tab called "local and US" and select SD Rapid City. HERE

1pm: For any new visitors I try to have the Doppler feed from GR3 software running at Br .5° during thunderstorms. It gives a closer look at the cells in area. Link can be found under Radar/Satellite tab. The page should auto refresh put occasionally needs user to manual refresh browser. Images are updated between 3-9 minutes normally. Also camera images are a good source when thunderstorms are in the area. You can leave open multiple tabs. Camera images will refresh on their own.

Storm Prediction Center has Valentine with a slight chance of severe thunderstorm later today and evening, Image. After tomorrow high temperatures look to be mainly 90's cooling to the 80's in days 6 and 7.

06/24/2020 Something I noticed in the North Platte FSO region Valentine is the only station normal this June with well above normal precip 4.7" while North Platte comes in second at 1.6", Broken Bow 1.4" and Imperial only has .85" for the entire month of June. An area 40 miles south off Goose Creek rd. is also wet 4.38" .

06/22/2020 Picked up .15" additional rain today from afternoon thunderstorm, north Valentine. (.24") daily total. Airport ASOS updated now reporting (.88") new with (.94") last 24 hrs. total. Golf course station only picked up additional .05" in auto gauge .07" manual so heavy rainfall was concentrated leaving far north and NE side with much lighter amounts. Parts of Valentine had street flooding with pea size hail. Here is doppler estimated rainfall around town with southside receiving the heaviest. image

.20" at golf course (GC) station overnight. This was the Cocorahs gauge. 2 different gauges confirmed. Only .08" at north Valentine.

06/18/2020 Added more Doppler rainfall images including Sparks Norden areas. Storm Prediction Center was right as a mesocyclone developed just to the NW of Valentine yesterday luckily missing us. Later in the evening multiple storms developed and moved southwest to northeast not at the strength of the first supercell but with large amounts of rainfall. 1.77" north, 1.67" at GC station. Airport total is being reported at 1.71". Here is a look at the doppler storm rainfall totals here. This is an image of a scud cloud hanging off the backside of the supercell yesterday evening scud image.... Closeup of rainfall totals around town here. A close up of the Norden Sparks area here...FYI adjusted the website rainfall total to match the Cocorahs gauge.

06/17/2020 Storm Prediction Center has Valentine at slight risk of severe thunderstorm activity.

06/16/2020 52 MPH gust at the Golf course (GC) station (Renamed from NE) for better location reference, 49 mph north Valentine, and airport reported 55 mph. High temperatures both north Valentine stations managed 93° but fell well short of the blast furnace feel which kicks in near 100°. 40 miles south Goose Creek road 300 feet higher elevation only managed 89°. Here are the Mesonet stations in Nebraska high (Max) temps Tuesday. The Sparks station on the SD border is 18 miles from Valentine as crow flies 91° and Merritt 92°. here.

What's new another windy day with temperatures expected upper 90's.

06/14/2020 7:20pm: .05" with thunderstorm north Valentine and big cool down mid 70's. More trying to get going across Cherry county so will leave the GR3 doppler feed running.

Haven't done this for some time so took a portable radiation shield and Traceable® Extreme Accuracy Standards Thermometer link here out to airport, tested for 40 minutes, departed at 12:22 pm. Trying to see where the big discrepancy is I've been seeing +4 to 5° warmer at times coming off the ASOS. The highest temperature recorded during the test was 86° while the airport ASOS was coming in at 87.8° between 12 and 12:20pm. This same time-frame north Valentine max was 84.2°. I have no reason not to trust the thermometer used during test it matches all my other units made by Sensirion. Test location was a couple hundred yards from actual ASOS just for clarification using a passive radiation shield with a stiff breeze. What's absolutely clear it was actually warmer during testing at the airport +2° vs north side of Valentine but add the additional 2° instrument discrepancy makes it worse so the +4° to +5° difference I'm seeing at times vs airport... ASOS testing image with arrow pointing at ASOS.

06/10/2020 North side of Valentine picked up .14" since yesterday morning. Cocorahs gauge 2 day total 1.77".

06/09/2020 Here is the doppler storm estimated total. Report that just came in 2.70" off Goose Creek road 40 miles south of Valentine Cocorahs gauge. Zoom in on Goose Creek road. here. The pink is 3-3.5" estimate usually over done but gives a good idea.

Heavy rainfall amounts vary around town with multiple thunderstorms embedded as of 5:45 am some 24-hour totals range from 1.80" reported at the airport., automatic 8" diameter gauges 1.65" north, 1.76" at NE stations. The wind is expected to blow again approaching 50 mph gust today. These trees on property eventually have to go, cleaning up hundreds of twigs and branches every few days is getting old. 7:15 update, Cocorahs gauge amounts 1.63" north, 1.69" NE. FYI my experience the Cocorah gauge measurements can run slightly lower than full size 8" diameter gauges especially with heavy rainfall due to splash out with the shallow funnel. I've often said the shallow funnel is a poor design and needs extended deeper. In my side by side test with standard 8" gauge the 4" dia. cocorahs have shown as much as .05" per inch undercount. I've sent this information to Cocorahs, but they don't actually make the gauges so it's went nowhere.

06/07/2020 Crazy day for wind, 64 mph at airport after a 70 mph gust Saturday evening from a nearby thunderstorm & 56 mph at NE station. High temperatures reached 95.1° at north, 96.5° at NE station and (100°) was reported from the airport ASOS. Notice I said reported. Looking at all weather stations in the area including HW stations the only one close to 100° was the NE station and it was still -3.5° cooler. Let's say even if the airport was somehow right it's not representative of the area or city of Valentine. It's in its own bubble with the temperature...... The forecast going forward has a couple 70% chances coming up, we could use the rain in this area.

3:40pm: Very hot wind sustained in the 32 mph range gusting to 47 mph at the unobstructed NE station. Airport reporting similar numbers but hotter. NWS issued a Watch for Severe Thunderstorms tonight.

More thunderstorm misses yesterday continuing abnormally dry period. T to .01 rainfall on north side town. High temperature yesterday 95° with 96° at the NE station where it recorded a west 50 mph wind gust in evening with TS, while the airport recorded a 70.2 mph (21:52 CDT 06/06). Lawns that are depending on rainfall as supplement are really stressed and yellowed.

06/06/2020 If monitoring high SE wind speeds today, check the live NE station near (Golf course). Trees obstruct SE direction (summer foliage) at the north weather station location.

06/04/2020 Small thunderstorm popped up over Valentine this morning leaving .04" both north and east stations. Received a report 40 miles south just off Goose Creek road from yesterday's thunderstorm north of Thedford dropped .64" and hail was piled up in small drifts. No report on hail size they weren't home at the time of storm, hail was still piled up 2 hours later.

06/03/2020 4:36pm: Good view of the thunderstorm sliding south of Valentine on the WSW view camera currently.

3:15pm: Reminder when thunderstorms are in the area I'll turn on the GR3 Doppler feed when I can. Found under radar tab. Those that have my cell number can also send a reminder text.

06/01/2020 Hot start to June, north Valentine high temperature peaked 98° at 17:37 under full sun and light wind.

Expecting our first 90°+ day today. We reached 88° yesterday and expecting above normal temps all week with chances of thunderstorms in the 20-30% range. May ended (-2°) below normal and (-.21") below on precip. Full look at north Valentine weather station summary HERE.

05/25/2020 Light drizzle started just after 7am this Memorial Day. Radar shows mainly light rain and drizzle over a large area of north central Ne. including eastern side of Cherry county. Not expecting thunderstorms but went ahead and turned the GR3 doppler feed on for better local coverage. Found under Radar/Satellite tab.

05/24/2020 NE station is back online, reported rainfall totals from last night (.46"), North this station (.43"). Still running below normal on the month, but cousin 40 miles south and 9 miles east on Goose Creek Rd. a different story after 1.12" last night 4.22" on month using a Cocorahs rain gauge.

3am update: 2.3 hour power outage restored. Rainfall total this station (.43)". Power outage took out the airport ASOS it looks like also with the last update at 0035 with (.18") reported. The NE station is still offline and can't communicate with it.

05/23/2020 NWS issued a Severe Thunderstorm Watch for this evening. Our dew point has been around 60° today so plenty of available moisture. GR3 Doppler radar feed is on.

Another night of dense fog between 2am and about 7am. This is the time of year as dewpoints rise on clear nights the ambient temperature reaches the dew point resulting in heavy morning dew and 100% humidity. Reminds me of the Arizona mountains during the monsoon in mid summer the temps reached the dew point almost every morning on clear nights creating heavy dew. Any clothing or gear left out overnight was wet in the morning. Some may also remember the clinging bed-sheets before AC with the higher dewpoints. Chance of thunderstorms this evening with 80% chance of precip in the forecast.

05/21/2020 10:50am Update: Internet is back up. Mist and light drizzle continues north Valentine. Additional .02".

We did get the 20% chance of TS early this morning, .07" in manual gauge. Auto rain gauge .06". Yesterday airport reported a high of 80°....cough. The real high temps yesterday 77° this station, 78° at NE station with SE wind gust recorded at 44 mph. Only .02" rainfall was recorded at NE last night. Replaced the north station humidity/temp sensor yesterday morning. Nothing was wrong with old sensor just wanted a fresh new Sensirion SHT31 for the summer period. DATA sheet Here Temperature accuracy is .2c or .36F.

05/20/2020 FYI due to increasing tree foliage during late spring through fall SE wind is obstructed at this station location. Check out the NE station (Linked) for accurate wind speeds coming out of the east. Dew point is hanging in mid 50's with moist air flow and small chance of TS late tonight in the forecast.

05/16/2020 These weather models are starting to remind me of the coronavirus models. Maybe they are all Made In China. FYI they did a mass covid-19 test the other day of 87 with no new cases. So only 1 person has been confirmed positive not community spread yet we have 15 positive cases in Todd county and many if not most from that area do shop in Valentine yet it's not here. Raises my suspicion was COVID19 already here like many have been saying starting back in December? I would be more interested in a community antibody test to determine if herd immunity is present. If the virus is as contagious as advertised you would think it would be here with the Todd county exposure.

05/15/2020 3:30pm: The latest midday model runs are in good agreement predicting between 1"-1.9" additional rain for Valentine through Saturday. I'll leave the GR3 doppler feed running during this time period.

6:30 AM: Total rainfall north Valentine Cocorahs so far including last night before midnight .41" total image

As far as predicted rainfall totals for Valentine the 00z model runs range from 2" GDPS to only 1/2" with the driest model ARW which I linked directly on external links. Several are putting the heaviest amounts in south-central SD now while others further south around the NP area of Nebraska. The GR3 Doppler feed found under Radar/Sat tab will try to run for a closer local look during periods of thunderstorms especially. Page will auto-refresh on its own now so it can be left open and unattended.

05/10/2020 11:20AM: Occasional light snow flurries continue on north side of town. Airport sensor still hasn't picked it up after almost an hour so may be very isolated in coverage.

4AM: 26° currently north Valentine, 25° at NE station 1/2 mile east. Hard freeze in progress tonight. We reached freezing around 11:40 pm so about 8 hours expected with much below the 28° mark. Around 4AM satellite shows clouds rapidly moving down from the north, this should moderate temperatures somewhat as we approach sunrise.

05/07/2020 5:15: Thunderstorm added .10" north side daily total .16". Main storm skirted south of town again. Very cool currently just 43°.

Starting to hear distant thunder, started the GR3 feed of Doppler radar. Link found under Radar/Satellite tab. Select BR1 at top of radar screen tab.

05/06/2020 North Valentine reached the freezing mark this morning with roof frost visible. Looks like below normal temperatures ahead with a couple more light freezes in the 7-day forecast and showers especially Thursday.

05/04/2020 5PM: Storm total 2-day north Valentine (.97").

05/01/2020 Lasted HRRR has Valentine picking up about 1/3" by 7am tomorrow. Looks like a wet weekend ending Monday.

04/28/2020 Internet is back up live data is streaming at 7:30pm.

Internet went down around 9:30AM so (live data) is currently not updating. Message from Centurylink: An outage has been reported in your area. Our technicians are looking into it, and it should be resolved by Apr 29, 2020 12:00 AM. Meanwhile for current live weather conditions link to NE Valentine station live on external links. Peak wind gust at 6:13pm was 53 MPH north station. 60 MPH at NE station at 6:14PM.

Strong winds with gust 41-42 mph overnight across Valentine.

04/26/2020 Another freeze overnight making it the 180th of the season. Even though we had a mild winter this is the most seasonal freeze days since station started. Freeze data comparison can be found under Reports/Daily tab.

04/20/2020 6:15am: Critical fire weather conditions are expected today with wind gust reaching 35-40 mph along with low relative humidity and warm temperatures approaching 70° this afternoon. Wind has started to pick up this morning north Valentine 10-14 gust to 17 mph pre-sunrise.

04/12/2020 6:40am: 5.7" measured new snow. Total Cocorahs precip .66 since 7am yesterday making for a storm total .77" as of 6:40am today. Snow started about 10 pm and has been steady since with periods of heavy snow mixed in. This is where the heaviest snow band set up and was stationary for 9 hours before moving east. Doppler storm total Image

04/11/2020 2PM: Winter Storm Warning, rain to snow change over around 10pm then all snow after 11 pm. Models continue to focus the heaviest precip along SD border or just north, however, UKMET, and ECM latest run have a second area developing more E, SE but NAM and HRRR continue with heaviest along the SD/NE border. As we get closer models will become more fine tuned. Also starting to see a possible isolated TS as seen on radar at 2:40pm.

04/10/2020 Looking at the 12z model runs several of models including ECMWF have the heaviest snowfall setting up just north of Nebraska border. Valentine looks to be in a position to receive several inches of snowfall. The GFS is the outlier forecasting heavier snowfall western panhandle and the southwest portion of Cherry county. The NAM and UKMET have Valentine in the bullseye for heaviest potential.

NWS issued Winter Storm Watch for Saturday through Sunday evening. 4-7" snow potential with wind gust as high as 40 mph making travel very difficult.

04/09/2020 Looks like our April snow is right on schedule. No mention of blizzard conditions in this one yet.

04/06/2020 Humidity reached a low of 11% this afternoon after light fog this morning.

04/03/2020 6:30am: The windchill this morning -6 with temperature 8°. Looks like a quick rebound with 60's Sunday and even 70's next week. Final lows 7° both north and east stations.

04/02/2020 8pm: (.04") in Precip today mostly flurries. Very cold day with windchill near 0° all day. We peaked at 18° for a short period between 12:30-1pm daytime high. It was much warmer 28° before the full brunt of arctic air arrived near midnight hour. Just wanted visitors to know the airport continues abnormally warm here is a snapshot as you can see the airport is reporting (18°) at 7:35 pm. Also, note every other thermometer in the region is reading 15° or less. Region snapshot here

03/31/2020 (.29") rainfall overnight.

03/27/2020 Added WorldOmeter COVID-19 cases link. The best one I've found for simplicity and not bloated. Shows yesterday along with (Now tab) of new reported cases. Click the USA tab and breaks down into the states.

03/26/2020 Added the new DHHS COVID-19 for Nebraska interactive map link to external links. This makes it easier to follow exactly where new cases are and to take extra precautions to prevent the spread. Valentine residents please consider taking advantage of grocery delivery services being offered this will help stop the potential spread. Quicker we stop this the sooner we can get back to normal.

03/19/2020 6PM update: 6 PM totals rain and snow manual Cocorahs gauge .50" adjusted website. (.25") fell as rain, (.25") fell as snow. 2.5" average snow depth measured, stake is not accurate with lots of wind today.

1pm: Moderate/heavy snow visibility low. Looking at radar the main snow band has shifted further north slightly from the area previously expected.

Update 11:20am: Rain has turned to snow 34° north Valentine.

03/14/2020 12:30pm: 2.2" snow storm total, Snow-melt (.22") 10:1 ratio....Switched radar feed from NWS link which went down to WU feed. Temporary

03/13/2020 6:10 pm: Light snow has started temperature 35° and dropping.

03/09/2020 4:50am: Freezing rain earlier on now a light snow.

03/03/2020 Very strong wind gust this afternoon. 50 MPH north station, 53 MPH NE. Airport only reported a 41 MPH gust.

02/25/2020 7:40am: 1.5" new snow (.13) melt so far today. Still light snow falling. The temperature is 24° currently.

02/20/2020 6:50am:Low temperature so far this morning (2°) north station, (1°) NE. Much colder with temperatures below zero south of Valentine with fresh snow cover. Fresh snow can lower the temperature as much as 10° easily with good radiational cooling conditions.

02/13/2020 9:00am: Final Lows (-10°) north Valentine and (-11°) NE station. This was impressively cold air with a lack of snow cover. We could have been pushing -20° with a few inches of fresh snow. Looking at area temperatures the Sparks Mesonet was the coldest reporting (-15°). This station is located 18 miles NE exactly on the state line. Link to the Mesonet stations is under external links.

As far as models went the 00z Canadian (GDPS) had the best handle forecasting (-7°) from what I saw yesterday. The GFS and NAM were least accurate forecasting (+4 to 5°) followed by the ECMWF, UKMET all keeping temperatures at or above zero last night. So a 10-15° whiff is very poor performance and why forecasting is still a challenge. The official NWS point and click forecast came in close at (-7°) same as Canadian model.

02/12/2020 2:40pm: The arctic air is squeezing all the available moisture out with flurries even with the sun shinning. Current WC 0° at 15° air temp. WC could dip near -20° later tonight as we get below zero.

02/11/2020 A short-lived blast of arctic air is due to arrive Wednesday into Thursday before a big rebound on Friday. Depending on the model the low temperature could range from a couple of degrees above zero to -7 or so early Thursday morning. The official forecast is currently at -4.

02/08/2020 The models really whiffed on the arctic air yesterday and this morning. Yesterday's daytime high was 24°, 10° under expected and this mornings low in 9-10° range 7° colder than expected.

02/01/2020 The January summary Above normal temperature with the mean (26°), or (+2.4°) above normal and 2nd warmest since the station started in 2014, average high was (37), low (15). Precipitation (.50" ) was (+.21") above normal. Snowfall only 2.6". Monthly extremes: high (52), low (-6), with 31 days freezing or below and 5 days below zero. Monthly climate report summaries here: 2020 click for summaries

01/31/2020 Dusting of snow overnight (.02) melt. Big warm-up tomorrow before modified arctic air arrives.

01/30/2020 Sneek peak of January summary this will go down as 2nd warmest since the station started June 2014 with the warmest coming in 2015. What's interesting was the few arctic air outbreaks this December and January due to the symmetrical rotation around the pole of the polar vortex.

01/28/2020 Light snowfall this morning .03" moisture total.

01/22/2020 11:45pm: Today's rain and snow total (.15") Temperature has stayed above freezing 33° with slush accumulation around 1/2", light snow currently falling.

01/20/2020 6:10am: The temperature this morning is hovering around 0° or slightly lower. With a couple more hours before sunrise we could slip into the -1 to -3 range. Update final lows (-1) North, (-2) NE.

01/19/2020 Overnight low reached 0° north Valentine, 1° NE station.

The NE station will be relocated back to the original location due to dropped packets using the repeaters. The wind data appears most affected by packet loss around (60%), the move is needed so repeaters aren't needed. Hope is to get this move done within the next week or so. More will be posted after move is complete.

01/18/2020 Reached 30° north end. Back into the low 20's tomorrow.

5am: Windchill in the -12° range at 9° currently. Peak gust I've noticed in the area was 64mph at the SD HW83 weather station 15 miles north of town. Peak gust north Valentine was 49 mph, while the airport reported 52.9 mph. Actual high temperatures all week have been running below (as much as 10° Wed.) what most models have forecasted so won't be surprised to see the same result today. The closest model to actual air temp this week has been the ARW linked below coming in with 20-22° high temp today. The arctic air has been settling a little further south than model positioning.

01/17/2020 A high wind warning for later this evening has been issued by the NWS.

9am: All snow now after (.12") of freezing rain mix.

7:20am: Interesting precipitation this morning a blend of freezing rain and ice pellets AKA sleet. Everything has a light ice glaze and the ground is turning white with ice pellets.

01/16/2020 (-4°) last night occurring just before 1 AM.

01/15/2020 4:45pm: We experienced our coldest day this winter season with lots of sunshine. The thermometer struggled to reach 10° at both north stations. Forecast shows a big warm-up on the way with mid 30's tomorrow and 40's Friday before cooling back down.

8:10am: Arctic air spilling in, Just hit (0°) at both north and NE Valentine locations within seconds of each other. Windchill north Valentine -17° currently. Our forecast high moved up +4 (17°) from yesterday so it looks to be short-lived with 33° tomorrow. FYI the ARW model still has Valentine topping out around 13-14° today. Just a reminder the Airport sensor always reports (+2°) high and that's indisputable. (Freezing rain events have proven this sensor wrong multiple times, ICE does not form and cover everything when above freezing.)

Added a few selectable forecasts for other locations outside Valentine on the 7 Day forecast page. Cody, Ainsworth, North Platte are a few. I'll possibly add others later.

01/11/2020 Final numbers of coldest morning this winter so far (-9°) NE station (-6°) North. The forecast has trended away from the bitter cold outbreak for next week.

01/10/2020 3:25pm: Light Snow flurries new snow measured 0.9" on snowboard. Current temps around the area NE Valentine (14°), North Valentine (14°).

Models are split on just how cold we can expect to get with the Canadian still the coldest with a low around -10° midnight Thursday. The trend has been not as cold for all models going back a couple of days ago.

01/08/2020 Looks like the balmy January is ending with Arctic air expected to spread over the region with possible negative teens just beyond the 7-day forecast. These air masses can squeeze an inch or so of snow out depending on available moisture. The Canadian model GDPS latest run 00z is the coldest having Valentine around -16° next Thursday morning.

01/06/2020 Light dusting of snow last night with just a trace amount in rain gauge. Yesterday recorded a 46 mph gust on north side of town.

01/01/2020 For the year 2019, 8 of the 12 months were below normal on temperature with February brutally cold. The year ended -2.8° below normal. Precipitation at this station 34.40" which is a whopping 14.38" above normal. FYI 2019 data was split between west and north valentine due to move in June.

The December summary very different from the year came in Above normal with a Mean temperature (27.5°), or (+3.7°) above normal and warmest since the station started in 2014, average high was (39), low (17). Precipitation (.87" ) was (+.50") above normal. Snowfall 9". Monthly extremes: high (60), low (3), with 31 days freezing or below and 0 days below zero, also a first for December. Monthly climate report summaries here: 2019 click for summaries

12/30/2019 One of the bigger snowdrifts about 43" in front of west view camera. Image

6am: Wind still howling with occasional flurries. Snowdrifts have shifted a few feet and redeveloped in areas cleared yesterday like the front of garage. Sigh! North Valentine 4 day snow total (5.7"), thankfully less than the expected (8-12") but bad enough with the high wind. FYI HW 83 going north out of town was closed down early yesterday evening while out and about. Nebraska 511 still shows closed at 6am.

12/29/2019 4:30pm: 49 mph gust at 4:24 pm, Light snow and very windy 40+ mph gust sustained around 32 mph, picked up another 1" snow since 7am (.07") snowmelt. (5.3") 3 day total. 3 foot plus SnowDrift now all along the west side.

6:40am: Snow falling with blowing and drifting. North Valentine measured snow total since 7 am yesterday 4". (.28") snowmelt. The seasonal snow Report page has been updated.

12/28/2019 2:40pm: Snow very light, the temperature has dropped to 30° along with NW winds picking up over the last 45 minutes. Report from cousin 40 miles south on east side of HW83 they don't have much snow, image sent also verifies grass still showing on the lawn.

12:35 pm: Snow heavy at times. 2.3" of snow measured on snowboards.

Picked up 1/2" measurable snow most fell before midnight. (.19") total moisture in Cocorahs gauge, adjusted website to reflect the correct amount. Temperature is hanging right at the freezing mark this morning with fog. The airport has been reporting 34° and 86% humidity but that's not real. It's 32° with 96% humidity. The winter storm is expected to get cranked up later today and evening.

12/27/2019 9:45 update: Snow large flakes 32°. Avoided the freezing rain so far tonight.

I'll be doing some pre-ice storm prep today once the roof has thawed of frost. Going to try Dupont snow and ice repellant on the anemometer. Hoping it prevents freeze up again. Fingers crossed.

12/26/2019 Snowfall potential has been updated by NWS. How things have changed suddenly from the Dec 24 blog about how it was looking December would end much milder than normal.

12/25/2019 Freezing fog early Christmas morning. Interesting development overnight, 2 Models GDPS and ECMWF are now advertising a significant snowstorm potential with deep low starting around the 28th. Not all models are in agreement on location (GFS) is further east, stay tuned to the official NWS forecast for any updates.

12/24/2019 This December looks to go down as the mildest since wx station started back in 2014, currently looking like we will end about +5° above normal range with no below zero days. This is also a first where we averaged 5 occurrences in December the previous years. Question is will we have to pay the piper? Some side streets are still not fully ice and snow-free even with the above seasonal temperatures due to low sun angle. Snow coverage on the north side has dropped just below 50% even though some areas still have significant snow depth triggers trace amount or (1/2") on the Cocorahs report. The far west side of town is still slightly above 50% as of yesterday at the previous station site on W 3rd St.

12/19/2019 5am: Model uncertainty has developed between runs on potential Christmas snow. Confidence with forecasters is low at this time.

12/18/2019 Another micro-climate morning the 2nd or 3rd this winter season with almost a 10° split across town (2 miles). Far north and NE side in the balmy low 20's while far south low teens.

12/16/2019 8:34am: Final low temperatures (3°) north station occurring 2 minutes after sunrise, also (3°) NE station occurring 23 minutes after sunrise. About the 2.7" of new snow yesterday I was a little surprised we received that much. The storm kind of came out of nowhere and most of the models had the heavier snowfall staying south of the area.

Low-level clouds cleared off allowing the temperature to reach single digits before midnight. The question now how much lower before sunrise? Looking ahead at forecast models it looks rather mild for this time of year with the only hint of snow coming from just one model GFS 00z run around Christmas so can't put much into it 9 days out unless others also start agreeing.

12/15/2019 6:20pm: Low level fog/cloud deck rolled in around sunset currently preventing temperatures from tanking with the fresh snow.

6:10am: Cocorahs report 2.7" new snow. (.23") snowmelt. Very light snow currently.

12/14/2019 Something to blog about after several quiet days. Winter Weather Advisory has been issued by the NWS. Confidence isn't great on snow amounts expected due to uncertainties between models. Leftover snow and ice around Valentine has refused to melt leaving some side streets still partially covered due to the sun angle this time of year.

12/10/2019 8pm: South wind has picked up this evening warming our temperature above the daytime high of mid 20's.

Very cold morning as of 6:30 AM (3°) North and (4°) NE station. Feels like: -7°F north Valentine. Airport must have a blowtorch under their thermometer at (9°). Trace of snow north side overnight.

12/09/2019 Arctic front brought a dusting of snow overnight (.02") snowmelt. Moderate winds have the feels-like (windchill) temperature near negative (-11°) this morning with single-digit temperatures (7°) both north-side stations at 5 am.

12/08/2019 Snow stake camera is up with solar lighting for nighttime found under camera images: Yard/Full image. This location won't have the blowing snow issue as before being located on the east side and fenced.

12/05/2019 Reached 39° both northside stations today with a fairly brisk breeze. Snowmelt continues but it's slow this time of year with the low sun angle despite above freezing days. Most side streets are still partially covered throughout town 5 days after the snowstorm.

12/04/2019 Snow stake camera was moved due to major drifting on the west side caused by open exposure and wind direction. I have the camera on the east side now but the ground is frozen currently so can't get snow stake down all the way. We need a temporary thaw, so for now the stake is missing.

12/03/2019 Snowfall Potential script has been updated. Thanks to SE Lincoln Weather.

12/02/2019 At 12:34pm the NE Station anemometer broke free of ice. The NE station low temp bottomed out at 3°, North side 5°.

12AM (9°) Fresh snow does seem to make a difference how cold it gets because it still breaths and not compacted. (6°) at the NE station currently. (Anemometer still stuck NE station from freezing rain). Not sure models have figured the fresh snow out yet. Valentine has always been unique when it comes to how cold it can get.

12/01/2019 Added the ARW temperature model loop to external links. This model is usually the best performer for temperature forecast in our area during winter with arctic air especially.

9:35am:HW 83 is open, hard-working city crews have plowed most streets already but they are slick, realized the first stop sign the anti-lock brakes don't work that great, peddle pumping still works the best.

7:00am: Pretty much buried in this morning. It's going to take some time to shovel out once the wind stops. (.04) additional snowmelt measured since midnight.

The November summary is HERE. It was a wet one + (.85) precip and (-1.1°) below normal mean temperature. 29 days of freezing temps and 2 days Below zero. 7 days highs never reached freezing and (11.9") of snowfall for November. For comparison to other years with this station, check out the Summary page and look at the mean temperatures HERE

11/30/2019 Adjusted website to reflect manual snowmelt catch since midnight @ 8pm (.45"), Blowing snow continues, drifts are getting rather deep. Snow stake is not accurate due to the drifting.

10am : Picked up another 2.8" of new snow since 7am. Light snow currently.

8:30am : Heavy snow, found a pole to break the anemometer loose but one of the cups is full of ice so it's not spinning as it should.

7AM: Cocorahs report (.75") 24 hour total (.46") freezing rain, (.29") snowfall. New snow 2.9".

The anemometers are frozen from the freezing rain at both North and NE stations. Possibly if we get those 50 MPH winds the anemometer will break free. The roof is treacherous for climbing on right now with the ice and snow build-up. The long extension pole I ordered last year never came so didn't follow through. I'll look in Valentine hardware stores today for something meanwhile reordered a 24' extension pole for next time this occurs. 2+ inches of new snow fell overnight. Full Cocorahs report will be done around 7am.

11/29/2019 BLIZZARD WARNING has been issued by NWS. From midnight CST /11 PM MST/ tonight to noon CST /11AM MST/ Sunday. This afternoon freezing (31°) rain (.46") north Valentine fell. Image of the rain gauge froze over HERE. Noticed trees have icicles now.

The airport ASOS KVTN reported an above-freezing temperature of 34° throughout the entire extended freezing rain event. (11/29/2019) Due to this fact, along with this continuing issue and not just a onetime event the NOAA Weather Radio broadcast will end from this website. I cannot with a clear conscience continue to propagate false information knowingly when conditions are actually hazardous for driving and flying. I hope those that used the broadcast understand my concern and obligation to safety. The winter storm is projected to dig a little further south giving Valentine a higher snowfall potential.

7:24 pm update: Cocorahs gauge collected (.46") freezing rain

11/28/2019 5:45pm: Snowfall potential map has been updated by NWS LINK to their site for additional details.

Winter Storm Watch has been issued by NWS with post-Thanksgiving winter storm looming ahead. In the Thanksgiving spirit and weather-related here is a link to Newspaper Blog titled "A Blustery Valentine Thanksgiving" Dated Nov 26, 1896.

11/27/2019 Storm total from 11/26/2019 manual Cocorahs gauge (.33"). TBRG heater always has some evaporation especially extended periods of light snow like we experienced yesterday recording only (.24"). Website adjustment was made to accurately display storm total with (+.09) correction added on today. Even at 10:1 we received 3" of snowfall with 2.5" currently on ground north Valentine. Slightly more at the old west Valentine location 2.9" at 5pm yesterday.

Something I've learned with 19 years of trial and error even light rain and drizzle will evaporate with these rain gauge heaters. I've found the solution for light rain, just make sure the heater stays off. For snowfall, there really is no solution with heater in use. 30% undercount error is common with the heater running and light precipitation. For anyone interested I have the heater set to turn on at 33.5°f off at 34.5°. I use a precision thermocouple and switch with tenth of degree adjustment ability.

11/25/2019 Winter Storm Warnings across the region have been issued by the NWS. Bad timing with winter driving conditions likely to impact holiday travelers. For Valentine locally the forecast has 3-5" with the first storm Tuesday, followed by a second stronger system Friday night through Sunday with heavy accumulations possible. Beyond today if you must drive the best day provided road conditions are decent looks like Wednesday.

11/22/2019 6:AM: Excellent radiational cooling this morning with single-digit lows and light wind. Low temps so far (7°) North Valentine, (6°) NE station. Airport has also reported (7°) earlier this morning. Looking at next week models have shifted snowfall potential further north again so stay tuned to official NWS forecast for any holiday travel concerns.

11/21/2019 High temps both north and NE station stayed below the freezing mark today. The snow that was being suggested by models next week has moved south so some uncertainty for Thanksgiving currently.

Last night only trace amount of what looks like freezing rain on outside surface of rain gauge.

11/18/2019 Some weather of interest our peak wind gusts around town today, 3 different stations 46,47,48 MPH. If we don't reach freezing by midnight our 22 consecutive freeze days will be broken at north Valentine location. Update: We did make freezing before midnight so consecutive freeze days was extended to 24. This can be followed on freeze data found under Reports/Daily tab.

11/12/2019 North Valentine low reached (-4°) while the NE station 1/2 mile east was (-7°). The low-temperature yesterday occurred around 10 pm (-3°) giving us two subzero days for November so far. We expect temps closer or above normal for this time of year over the 7-day forecast. Normal for November 12th H-50, L-23. The airport also reported two days of (-6°) lows, yesterday morning and at 1 am last night.

11/11/2019 At 8:00 am windchill average -13 to -14° with air temperature (1°) north Valentine also (1°) at the NE station. Airport is reporting (-6°) 7:35 am with very little wind while North side still has 10+ mph. Snow stake is no longer accurate due to the wind overnight. (2.7") was the total snow recorded prior.

11/10/2019 12:00 am update: New Snowfall total 2.7" (.18") moisture content. Wind has picked up gusting, snow stake won't be accurate for long, with a air temperature currently 13°, windchill -2°. Still have some light snow falling.

We ended up with a little more than expected, the fresh snowpack will accelerate radiational cooling tomorrow night especially if the south wind holds off as it sometimes does.

10:00 PM: 2.2" new snow currently on flat surface snowboard and sidewalk. Grass areas always show more at 3". This is a nice gentle snowfall something we don't always experience so the snow stake should be close to actual amount received. Looking at radar 10:30pm the main snow band is shifting south off the SD Nebraska border.

The NWS has extended the Winter weather advisory to include Eastern Cherry with 1-2" snow potential. Light snow currently, radar echos have increased across SD and now reaching into Nebraska. I think looking at radar HRRR may have missed where the heavier bands are developing at least early on.

1:30 PM: Ice has developed on exposed metal surfaces image

12:50pm: The air temperature has dropped below freezing North and NE stations. The airport ASOS (33.8°) may take another hour to reach freezing due to the +2° warm bias. Unfortunately, it won't stop ice from developing. HRRR is still showing light snow starting between 4-5 pm and still advertising around 1.3" snowfall total which is in line with the NWS official forecast.

11am: Mist continues, freezing temperature arrival looks around the noon hour. Sparks Mesonet 18 miles ENE at the SD border is reporting 32°, Martin SD airport is currently 30°.

6:40am: Arctic front to push through today. Short-range HRRR model suggest around 1.5" snow over the next 18 hours for Valentine on the latest hourly run. Linked on external links and runs hourly.

11/08/2019 Solar Radiation at the North Valentine station is now running, and reports on the website as well as CWOP and WU. During the peak, full sun summer will produce around 1100 W/m2. This decreases during the winter where it reaches the lowest point. Clouds of course also reduce solar radiation.

11/07/2019 6am: Clouds have rolled in with a light south wind early this morning warming us from single digit (9°) to 18° at the N and NE stations and heading for mid 40's later today. Upper 60's on the horizon Saturday before another arctic air mass moves in with a high of only 20° on Veterans Day. One of the little perks about living in Valentine are the occasional nice warmup days to enjoy during fall and winter. We are running much colder than normal this fall even without much snowfall due to the cold air already pooling near the Hudson Bay and spilling south, question does it continue into the winter? Exceptions go both ways. It's a ENSO neutral year so there are (no outside factors like El Nino or La Nina) going on.

Pivotal Weather is offering free ECMWF HI-RES for non-commercial use now. Linked under "External Links". They are asking if you would like to help keep it free consider a small donation if possible, apparently its very pricy.

11/06/2019 Added a snow stake normal size image to go along with the full-size closer look zoom if needed. Both are found under the camera images tab.

11/02/2019 North Platte NWS Forecast Office says October 2019 was the 5th coldest on record for both Valentine and North Platte. This dates back to the late 1800s.

11/01/2019 3PM Update: Peak wind gust so far today Airport 46 MPH, North Valentine 44 MPH, NE Valentine 43 MPH.

October summary below normal with Mean temperature (40.3°), or (-8.2°) below normal, average high was (54), low (28). Precipitation (1.52" ) was (+.27") above normal. Snowfall occurred 2 times totaling 1.8", trace amounts occurred a couple more times. Monthly extremes: high (85), low (5), with 19 days freezing or below and 0 days below zero. Monthly climate report summaries here: 2019 click for summaries Note this was the coolest October by far in the 6 years of records. The warmest occurred back in 2016 with a mean temperature of 54.2° or +14° warmer than 2019.

10/31/2019 (45) degree spread today at both North and NE stations H-50°, Low 5°

It may feel like December but this is just Halloween, our final low temperatures this morning on the north side has been 5.1° while the NE station 1/2 mile east got down to 5.4°. The wind was calm on north side of town allowing for excellent radiational cooling. Expecting a big warm-up with the forecast high today 46°.

FYI North Valentine station official name is CWOP EW3958, NE is CWOP EW7498. Locations 1.8 and 2 miles crow flies from airport ASOS.

10/30/2019 6am: Cold morning for October at 9° currently and could drop another couple before sunrise. To make you feel better I was looking at the Peters Sink Utah Station linked below (yesterday) it's -43° currently. The forecast has us warming to 31° today and another cold morning tomorrow at 10° before we get back into the 40's for high temperatures later in the week.

10/29/2019 Arctic invasion in October, at 3 PM we are setting at 23° and looking at single-digit low potential in the morning. The forecast has Valentine at 10°, it could be worse with a little snow cover we would be looking at 0°. Even the Mountain West is getting in on the act. One of the coldest places lower 48 occurs at a natural sinkhole in Northern Utah called Peters Sink was down to -35° today. This weather station holds the second coldest record of -69.3°F. Nobody lives their BTW, it's just a weather station. More about Peters Sink and current conditions here

10/28/2019 10AM: Snow Stake camera is up with full size image for better night image 2304 x 1296. This is a large image, slide lower bar to locate Snow Stake. The image will auto update every few minutes.

"Major Change" The website is now receiving weather conditions from North Valentine (CWOP) PWS located on N side of Valentine above City Park. The decision to make this changeover was based on unknown long term availability of property NE station is located, travel distance/time back and forth, communication issues (internet) especially during weather events and lack of power for wintertime heater snowmelt. This station North Valentine does sacrifice wind data primarily from non-dominate directions, NE through SE due to trees so it's more representative of inside the city conditions unlike the NE station completely unobstructed and open. The NE station will continue collecting weather data for the foreseeable future, viewable via Weather Underground linked under "External Links" or any site that includes CWOP reporting stations like MesoWest.

10/27/2019 NE Station high temp came in at midnight. H-34.8°, new North station H-35°. Today's lows we still haven't reached at 9pm currently 24°, should occur around midnight. Both stations follow each other closely when the wind is blowing.

10/26/2019 With the new residential North station I'll be logging high and low temperature comparisons with the NE station for a few days. Lows this morning North 34.2°, NE 34.1°, Highs today North 61.8°, NE 61.8°.

Looking at snowfall potential forecast by NWS, Valentine is on the eastern edge of 1-2" for Saturday night currently 80% chance of precip with another 1-2" potential for Sunday at 50% chance. A good model to watch once we get inside of 18 hours of an event is the HRRR snowfall. The Hi-res short term models adjust rapidly so can change hourly run to run. Linked on External links. The current forecast has NW Nebraska once again receiving the brunt of snowfall. What is more certain our temperatures are going to be winter-like next week and it's still October with below freezing highs and near single-digit lows.

10/25/2019 *Update on the new North side residential station: Changed from passive to FARS (fan aspirated radiation shield ) because of lower airflow in residential area. The fan helps prevent heat buildup inside the radiation shield on low airflow days. Also located sensor for better air sample away from building.

Added a second online weather station. This station doesn't have optimal wind exposure, with exception SW to NW directions have good wind exposure. Also, the station air temperature sensor doesn't have sunup to sundown full sun exposure. Mornings will be shaded for first 2 hours (Oct.) after sunrise due to a nearby building. Beyond morning the shielded temperature sensor will have full sun exposure. The station automatic rain gauge and anemometer are roof-mounted, with the air temperature sensor mounted at the standard height 5'. Instruments have the same accuracy as NE station but without the wide open exposure. Precipitation amounts will get adjusted with ground level manual gauge if needed. This station does have an electrical source so the heater is available for snowmelt. The link can be found under "External links" as Valentine North .

10/23/2019 3:PM Update: Getting some light snow flurries on NE side of town. (34°) currently. Looking at temperatures upstream of cold air, Martin SD airport is currently 30°. Sparks Mesonet station (18 miles ENE) on SD border was reporting 34° at 3PM. Link for Sparks is on external links with top of hour updates only.

Looking at forecast I can safely say this October will go down as coolest since station went in service 2014. Look at the history mean temperatures: HERE. As of Oct. 23, (44.2°) with a winter like forecast to close the month out.

10/21/2019 Storm totals West Valentine (.50"), NE (.51") NE weather station (.54").

2:28pm: 52 MPH peak gust at NE station, 55 MPH at airport. East side cameras are working again (wireless internet fixed)

7:00am: Website precipitation total updated (.33"). West side also received (.33") with 1/2" snow still on grass. Airport reports (.30") precip. NE Cocorahs (.31"). Peak wind gust this morning 47 mph both airport and NE station. Saw lots of deer (15-20) congregated this morning while getting the NE station snowmelt.

5:30am: Light snow with rain mix this morning current temperature is 33.5° so not accumulating much. Images from cameras east of town are also not updating normally with wireless connection issue.

10/20/2019 8 pm: Forecast for tonight has some strong winds moving in again with gust in 45 mph range with decent rain chances mixed with snow. Looking at the tight rotation spin on radar it looks like the low pressure is centered directly over us currently.

10/19/2019 Another freeze this morning with a low temperature of 29°. Yesterday we received our first moisture since the snowfall over a week ago .02-.03" of rainfall late afternoon. Wind speeds were gusty, peaking at 41 MPH (NE station), 40 MPH (airport).

10/18/2019 4:PM update: With all the complaints about the airport thermometer locally I took advantage of the wind mixing today by driving out to both NE station and airport KVTN ASOS and physically checking temperatures side by side against a certified traceable +/-0.05 degree C thermometer. The airport ASOS is running a full (+3°) warm at 66° with actual air temperature 63°. The NE weather station was running only slightly cool (-.2F) which is within spec. (+/- 1/2°) at 63°. I went ahead and compared the radio station Coop thermometer later, it was coming in .6 to .7 tenths low but the temperature at the time was unstable because of cloud cover moving in so may have been within (1/2°). The airport thermometer has serious problems and not even within horseshoe range at +3°. The problem is also reflected by the fact it can no longer reach 100% humidity.

No freeze this morning with NE (this) station low at 35°, airport ASOS reported 36° just before 8am.

Over on north side of town backyard thermometer sensor the low was 37°. The heavy tree cover and branches act like cloud cover reducing radiational cooling, which in turn hinders accurate low-temperature data at backyard location. Trees are not friendly to weather data collection influencing wind, temperature and precipitation accuracy. Forecast today has a high near 62° with a slight chance of a shower.

10/17/2019 10am Updated: Another chilly morning 29° at the NE Station, airport reported 30°, after 7am. Forecast high expected near 80° so enjoy another warm fall day. After an above normal September, October so far is running below normal on temperatures with 9 (10 at airport) recorded lows freezing or below and its just Oct.17th. If you are/were wondering about this winter we are in an ENSO-neutral condition so (neither El Niño or La Niña is present) which basically means a typical type pattern without influence from extra warm or cold Pacific waters.

10/16/2019 8am: Morning lows so far NE station 21°, airport ASOS 23°, also this location on north side town currently 23°. Little wind anywhere this morning with layer of frost on exposed surfaces.

10/15/2019 Nice warm up yesterday from a morning low of 25° to afternoon high of 78° (+53°) as a cold front approached. At 7am 37° both NE station and airport ASOS.

10/13/2019 3:40am: Little micro-climate going on this morning where NE side Valentine wind speeds have not subsided and still gusting into mid/upper teens while far west and south including airport 3:35 am 0 mph, temperature 20°f creating a 10-degree differential across town with NE side @ 30°. Toward sunrise winds may subside and temperatures equalize.

10/12/2019 Temperature dipped to 21° @ 1:00 am before wind picked up again. Airport 20° at same time.

10/11/2019 Update on cameras: Changed the west camera view toward the porch for light when weather is happening. Added west and yard cam found under camera images. Both are indoor cameras so may have window glare at times. All cameras can be viewed under Camera images tab. Porch ... Yard... and West

7am update. Final 2-day storm totals as of 7am including rain/snow/sleet. West Valentine (.35"). NE side (.32"). The (.02") for today on website was an adjustment that fell yesterday. Wind speeds have been brutal for an October type storm, this was more like dead of winter. Still seeing a little on radar this morning so more flurries can be expected.

10/10/2019 6:55 am: Current website precip totals are up to date from last nights rain, snow, sleet mix. Cocorahs NE Valentine (.26") everything was frozen solid in and outside of gauge. NE weather station manual gauge also (.26"), 29° current air temperature. I've unplugged the NE weather station automatic tipping bucket rain gauge so melting won't add to overall total. The west Valentine Cocorahs precipitation report will be done later after the event is over. FYI the Airport ASOS is reporting (.22") total @7:30am.

4am: Line of thunderstorms tracked south to north through the area. Mixed bag of precip. We did get some icy accumulation on surfaces with the temperature freezing. Back deck image. Frozen precipitation liquid measurements will be delayed and not real-time due to station relocation. (no heater power supply)

10/09/2019 Added link under "External Links" to HRRR snowfall loop. Use drop-down box for latest hourly run.

Looks like we are back into the 2-3" range for snowfall accumulation this morning. Models have moved the system north on the latest runs. With the warm ground any snow should melt rapidly. There is some thought it may all end Thursday evening now in the forecast discussion. Eastern Cherry will likely not go into a "Warning" unless models change track again. Western Cherry is still likely to become a Winter Storm Warning.

Beautiful day yesterday with temperatures soaring to 85° at the NE weather station. Little cooler inside town (83°) at this location with the tree foliage and grass.

10/08/2019 4:40pm: Winter Storm watch has been added to eastern Cherry county. Looks like snowfall potential map has been updated by NWS. Valentine currently 6-8" through the 11th (Friday) 7pm. Reminder this station all frozen precipitation liquid measurements will be delayed and not real-time due to station relocation. (no heater power supply)

10/07/2019 The first freeze of the season occurred at NE station, the low reached 27°F... in town 1/2 mile west 29°. Airport ASOS reported 28°. Looks like we are in for an early season snow event later this week with high temperatures near freezing. Watch the upcoming forecasts for possible headlines.

10/05/2019 Windy day, peak gust NE weather station recorded a 49 mph gust. The forecast later in the upcoming week has a major cool down with even snow wording in the forecast. The growing season will likely end with lows getting into the low to mid 20's so those with sprinklers should consider winterizing.

10/04/2019 2pm update: looks like a chilly homecoming parade and game. 51° with a rather brisk wind 22 mph gusting to 30 mph this afternoon. 50% chance of rain this evening after 7pm.

Moved the heat pump blog updated with performance numbers on first freeze here

10/03/2019 7:50am: Light frost this morning, temperature has stayed above freezing so far on NE side of town at 33° and 34° at the NE wx station.

10/02/2019 9:40am Update: Temperature has dropped down to 39° currently at NE station, 40° in town on NE side. Heavy mist continues. We did have a light band of showers toward the morning with some thunder. If it clears off tonight we should have no problem reaching the freezing mark.

10/01/2019 7am: Bands of showers with a few embedded thunderstorms overnight. Some rainfall totals overnight west Cocorahs (.25"), NE (.29"). NE Wx station (.30"). Looks very fall-like and wet at times then clearing off for the first frost Thursday morning with the potential for our first freeze also. Difference between frost and freeze, with a frost only exposed surfaces, IE windshields, ground (grass), roof shingles frost over and with a freeze the actual air temperature measured 4-6' above the ground reaches 32°. For accuracy to prevent thermometer from experiencing the same radiational cooling as exposed surfaces like grass and windshields its sheltered inside a radiational shield and away from any heat sources which could raise temperature such as building, concrete, etc.

The September summary, highlight was abundant rainfall again along with warm temperatures, recording 3.38" at this station which is (+1.25") above normal, the temperature also was running well above normal (+3.4°) with 2-90° days. For the full summary click HERE.

09/30/2019 7:40am: Cold front passed through last night with misty conditions this morning.

09/23/2019 Finally got the solar radiation sensor going after NE station relocation. Apologizes for dragging my feet, ended up bringing solar cell home and rewiring to find the problem.

7am: Cool this first day of fall, so far this morning (37°) at NE station, (40°) in town on NE side after a August like September running (+5.5°) on month to date. Signs of changes ahead as we go into fall just beyond the 7 day. Stay tuned to official forecast for updates. Here is some data on average frost and freeze dates

09/21/2019 Rainfall amounts from last night, west valentine Cocorahs (.16"), NE Coco(.12") and NE weather station 1/2 mile further east (.14"). Airport ASOS reported (.08"). Winds gusted into 40's yesterday afternoon with peak of 47 mph recorded last night associated with the thunderstorm at the NE wx station.

09/17/2019 Reached 93° at the NE weather station Sunday and 88° on Monday and 89 today. We may be done with the chance of the '90s after today for the year. Overall it's been a cool summer with below normal temps.

09/11/2019 7:35pm: Currently fog and mist. GR3 Doppler feed is running. Found under Radar/Sat tab. Refresh every 6 minutes or so for new image.

Update 8:10am: Keller Ranch 39 mi South of town, using an official Cocorahs gauge recorded 4.1"..More rainfall totals as of 6:40am west Valentine Cocorahs (1.48"), NE (1.39"), at NE weather station (1.38"). Another round of thunderstorms tonight with 100% chance of rainfall with some storms reaching severe level again. Ainsworth airport recorded (4.81") with road report HW20 covered in water but passable.

Image of mesocyclone as it approached Valentine yesterday.

09/10/2019 8pm:West side of Valentine reported near 1" hail. Wind speed peaked at 51mph at NE station. Airport reported 82 mph (WOW). I'll work on rainfall totals after it's over. Still lot of radar returns in area.

7:20 am: 52° Fog and 100% humidity this morning.

Totals from yesterday morning west and NE manual rain gauges both (.40"). NE weather station manual gauge came in with (.42"). More activity with forecast mention of possible severe expected late afternoon and tonight with 80% chance followed by another round tomorrow night. Looking at the HRRR model updraft speeds the Valentine area is near bullseye on the morning run IMAGE for 8 pm. Here is the image from latest run of total precipitation potential. This model updates hourly and may change with adjusted input throughout the day.

09/05/2019 5:30PM update: About concerns for the HS football game Friday night and lightning, the updated afternoon Official forecast looks like only slight chances less than 20% during game time 7-9pm. Onset of thunderstorm activity is expected after midnight.

09/03/2019 Noon hour update: A noticeable cold front went through with NW winds picking up and dew point crash from 70° down to 52°. Today's low temperature will most likely occur just before midnight tonight.

09/02/2019 9am update: Currently mist with 97% humidity. 1° spread between dew point (68°) and temperature (69°). Rainfall totals from last night, westside (.03"), NE (.12"), 1/2 mile east at NE weather station (.14"), Airport reports (.10"). Today, Labor Day 2019 may be the last 90° day looking at 10 day if it makes it. Beyond looking at last year we did have somes 90's mid month. Most models have us topping out upper 80's° today. The 2 GFS models make it into 90's.

1am:GR3 Doppler feed running. This TS seems to be drifting north slightly and may reach Valentine. North movement is slow.

09/01/2019 6:40am: Patchy fog is developing just before sunrise. The August summary, highlight was rainfall again, recording 5.73" at this station is a whopping (+3.55") above normal with the temperature running below normal (-2.8°) with no 100° days. For the full summary click HERE.

08/31/2019 6am: Fog has developed this morning. Light additional rain amounts fell toward midnight yesterday with additional +(.07") at both West and NE gauges.

FYI if the airport KVTN ASOS sensor temperature (image) was correct (lower), it would also be reporting relative humidity of 99% instead of 88% with fog.

08/30/2019 6:10pm Update: NE Valentine Cocorahs picked up (.35"), NE station (.34") and west side Cocorahs (.34") image. Airport reports (.38").

Nice view of approaching thunderstorm from NW. Local GR3 Doppler feed is running under Radar/sat tab.

08/26/2019 Thunderstorms after midnight, rain totals around town: West Cocorahs gauge (.50"), NE Cocorahs (.50"), NE weather station (.49"). Airport shows (.48") on 24 hour total.

08/16/2019 Last nights rain (.10") west and NE rain gauges.

08/15/2019 Thunderstorm overnight rain amounts across the area: Airport ASOS (.96) corrected, Westside Cocorahs (.85"), NE side Cocorahs also (.85"). 1/2 mile further east at NE weather station automatic gauge recorded (.87") Corrected. Both ASOS and NE WX station have corrections.

08/12/2019 Thunderstorm complex weakened as it approached Valentine. Last nights rainfall amounts NE Cocorahs (.32"), West side Cocorahs (.41"), Airport ASOS reported (.44").

08/11/2019 9:20pm update: Fast moving complex of thunderstorms moving toward Valentine. Looking at current movement near 45 mph.

08/09/2019 9:30pm Rain update: Intense downpour from thunderstorm starting 8pm with minor Street flooding, rain total (.49"). 1/2 mile east at NE station (.53"), West side Cocorahs on W 3rd (.27"), Airport reports (.25"). Heaviest area fell on NE side of town, Doppler image.

08/08/2019 Thunderstorms again last night around 11:30pm. Amounts recorded West side Cocorahs (.20"), NE side Cocorahs gauge (.16"). Manual gauge at NE wx station also (.16"). Airport ASOS reports (.08").

08/07/2019 Rain gauge totals from last night: West 3rd Cocorahs (.05"), NE side NE Cocorahs (.20"), Airport (.04"), and the manual gauge at NE weather station (.31") with fog image at sunrise.

08/06/2019 At 10pm: Small but potent thunderstorm moving out of SD clipped NE side of Valentine dumping (.31") at NE weather station in just a few minutes. 1/2 mile east (.20") on NE Cocorahs gauge. Looks like south side of town airport reports (.04"). Doppler image as it rolled through.

08/05/2019 11:30am update: The NE station actually recorded (2.22") in manual gauge located at station, adjusted NOAA report and website reports to reflect correct amount.

08/04/2019 The rain rate per hour on NE side peaked just over 7". RR image... Storm totals as of 8:20pm. Airport ASOS (1.72"), NE WX Station tipping bucket (2.22")corected, NE Cocorahs (2.29"). west side Cocorahs (2.12"). Here's a look inside the NWS style gauge on W.3rd St. overflows into outer cylinder at 2" mark. High School was flooded, water wraps around the main building from Green almost to 5th street (HW12). image

7:11pm Currently seeing street flooding on NE side Looks like water is backing into driveways. 2.06" unofficially on tipping bucket. Image of standing water N Huge St. Backyard.

7:06pm : Very heavy rain 1.70" currently on tipping bucket NE side and no let up yet. Will update official Cocorahs once it ends. Backyard now has standing water.

6:15pm: GR3 radar feed for Doppler is running, under Radar/Sat tab. Looks like hail currently at Kilgore. This is a pretty strong thunderstorm.

08/03/2019 Dense fog with visibility only a few feet at times this morning. Airport sensor says .24 mile. At times less on NE side town. Use caution while driving.

08/01/2019 July summary, the highlight was rainfall recording 5.3" at this station is (+2.09") above normal and temperature was slightly below normal (-1°). No 100°F days recorded for July is a little unusual and likely due to the abundant rainfall and higher humidity. With the rainfall we have seen the dew point reach into the low 70's on several occasions making it uncomfortable. For the full summary click HERE. At (21.42") we are on pace for another 30"+ year of rainfall and not helping the excessive groundwater issue.

07/31/2019 7:20am: Light thunderstorm activity in area last night. West Cocorahs (.10") NE side (.07"). Didn't blog yesterday morning amounts (.02") everywhere. If anyone wants to pick-up west-side Cocorahs send an email. You can use existing rain gauge location preferred for historic reasons but if inconvenient I have a spare gauge you can use at own home. Official 4" diameter Cocorahs gauges made by Stratus are the only gauges allowed and good site exposure is preferred. There are Cocorahs knockoff gauges found with Official Cocorahs label but are not allowed and have been found not accurate. The Stratus gauge is the only official gauge and has been extensively tested against NWS standard 8" diameter metal gauge and considered most accurate.

07/28/2019 8:00am: Light Thunderstorm activity last night. Cocorahs gauges last night west side (.10"), NE (.09"). I would link directly to Cocorahs but their map isn't secure (which would drop this sites security padlock) until then I'll add measurements in the blog.

07/26/2019 8:45pm: Thunderstorm activity rain gauge totals. West 3rd Cocorahs (.48"), NE Cocorahs (.24"). NE weather station received the least (.17"). Airport 24 hour total (.33").

9:15am: Starting to hear thunder, the GR3 Doppler radar feed is on for a better view locally. Found under Radar/Sat tab.

07/24/2019 Finally updated (About) weather station after relocation and move.

07/18/2019 6:25am: dew point 70° this morning, windows confirmed by fogging up with interior temperature just below 70°. Airport weather stations used a chilled mirror for years and was highly accurate but has since been changed for a more low maintenance sensor for dew point measurement.

07/16/2019 8:00am update: Heavy thunderstorm with wind driven rain last night. Totals Cocorahs NE (1.37") , west side Cocorahs (1.07"), NE weather station (1.16"). Airport ASOS reported only (.29") somehow and suspect IMO after looking at radar storm track. NE Cocorahs rain started 11:29pm and ended at 01:25am. Saw a few smaller broken tree limbs while out. Looking at the rain rate at NE Cocorahs station peak was 6" per hr. rate Image

07/14/2019 8:50pm:Picked up some light pea size hail on NE side, over on west side reports of nickel size. Totals reported this evening not counting last night, read 8:40am report below for those.. Airport (.30") was heaviest, west side Cocorahs (.17"), NE side Cocorahs (.13"), NE weather station (.16"). GR3 Doppler image feed running, link found under radar/sat tab with another healthy looking storm to SW.

8:40am: Last nights thunderstorm recorded rainfall amounts west side Cocorahs (.30") while NE Cocorahs only (.16"), NE weather station picked up (.19") and airport ASOS reports (.17"). Forecast high for today is 100°. With the moisture from last night still around dew point this morning is still mid 60's, it may dry out later today as the temperature rises, if not heat index will approach 100° also.

1:35am: Doppler radar feed on under Radar/sat tab. Radar shows hail potential has diminished (weakened) considerably as thunderstorm approaches.

07/12/2019 8:40am: The stiff wind gusting into 30's must be unexpected today, don't see mentioned in the forecast. dew point has risen significantly also with low 70's this morning. Feels like something is in the making today with the atmosphere getting this moist and expected heat. Kind of an odd direction for moisture to move in on a north wind.

07/10/2019 6:45am: Cool morning 56°, it's really dried out with dew point 50° this morning. Looking at forecast daily thunderstorm activity may finally be ending with Friday night being next chance. Yesterday Cocorahs gauges west side (.05"), N. Huge St on far NE side (.06"). NE weather station picked up (.10") as a heavier area of rain fell just east of Valentine early evening.

07/07/2019 6:25am: Last nights rain from thunderstorms, NE Cocorahs received .48", west side Cocorahs .45", NE weather station (.41") and (.23") reported on south side town at airport ASOS. FYI airport ASOS is 1.3 to 2 miles distance from other locations. Looking at radar there is another small line developing to the west. Doesn't look like much currently. Turned the GR3 radar feed back on just in case it develops more.

07/06/2019 6AM fog has developed this morning. Like a broken record another round of thunderstorms last evening, this time before midnight. Manual gauge readings, NE Cocorahs (.72"), west side Cocorahs (.63"), NE wx station (.60"). When the updated afternoon forecast came out with only 30% chance I thought maybe it would end. Tonight's forecast has 40% chance of repeat.

07/05/2019 More thunderstorms overnight. Rainfall totals since midnight west side Cocorahs 1.18", NE weather station 1.16", NE COCO 1.13", Airport 1.09".

Another likely chance of thunderstorms tonight. We are approaching, now within 2" of our yearly normal precipitation total again with the year just past the halfway mark. This will make 5 of the last 6 years well above normal for moisture and not helping the Ogallala aquifer high groundwater situation with flooded highways.

07/04/2019 6:pm Started GR3 Doppler radar image uploads. Looking at storm in western Cherry currently. Found under Radar/satellite tab. Image needs refreshed manually ever 3-5 minutes.

2PM: 2 day updated Totals manual gauges, .96" NE station, west side Cocorahs .97", NE Cocorahs .89". The airport ASOS reported 1.07".

Happy Birthday America....4:40am update: Thunderstorm activity in area is relentless. Another round this morning. GR3 radar feed is back on. I'll do rainfall totals once its all over. Looks like NE station got hit the hardest on this one .51" (6am) since midnight so far. Unfortunately heard a unconfirmed scanner report someone may have been stuck by lightning in last nights storms. Lots of lightning this morning so stay safe.

07/03/2019 8:05pm Update: Strong line of thunderstorms appear to be holding together and heading east tonight currently in western Cherry county Cody area. GR3 Doppler feed is running. Radar/satellite tab. Image needs refreshed manually ever 3-5 minutes.

A super mesocyclone developed in SD near Allen again with 3 different reports of tornadoes.

2:48 am update: TS weakened considerably as it approached Valentine. Less than a tenth of rainfall (.08") NE Cocorahs, NE wxstation (.04") and (.07") at west side Cocorahs.

2am: GR3 Doppler image upload is on. Line of thunderstorms approaching with gusty winds out front located just north of Crookston.

07/02/2019 Positioned WNW camera for a better view. Found under camera images tab. Patchy fog this morning with temperature and dew point near the same. About the camera with wide angle lens objects appear further away than they are. Distance across draw to other building is 241 yards.

07/01/2019 6 am update: Another round of thunderstorms last night. The very heavy rain/hail has avoided Valentine. Some totals from yesterday evening west side Cocorahs .35", NE Cocorahs .32", and NE wx station .27".

06/30/2019 Hot day yesterday with temperature peaking at 103° at NE station, 102° at NE Cocorahs. Rainfall amounts last night with thunderstorms just over tenth. .12" W. side Cocorahs, .14" NE Cocorahs, .12" NE wx station. There was a confirmed tornado yesterday near Allen SD. Tornado story HERE. A funnel cloud was also reported near the Rosebud Casino last night. Not sure if it was by a trained spotter, scud clouds can easily be mistaken as funnel clouds. Scud clouds will be just floating along with no clear rotation. Scud image

06/29/2019 dew point temperature slightly lower in upper 60's this morning. Forecast has the high temperature near 100°, offsetting any moisture difference. Along and east of HW 83 the NWS has issued an heat advisory for this afternoon.

06/28/2019 8:am Still have scattered dense fog in area but its burning off, dew point has crept up also, now upper 60's to near 70°. It's going to feel uncomfortable today, with possible heat advisory later this afternoon mentioned in forecast discussion.

6:53am: Fog currently very dense with just a few feet visibility. Fog this morning with the higher than normal dew point temperature mid 60's and air temperature also mid 60's fog has developed with near 100% humidity. As air temperature rises the dew point temperature will separate dissipating fog after sunrise.

06/27/2019 91° both NE WX Station and NE Cocorahs location today. Upper 90's tomorrow and near 100° Saturday. Heat index could approach 100° tomorrow with the moist south flow and mid-60s dew point temperature.

06/23/2019 Update 4:30 pm: Thunderstorm developed directly over Valentine dumping heavy rain especially on west and parts of north Valentine with highest total coming from far W. 3rd St. Cocorahs (.53") followed by (.36") at NE Cocorahs. Go just 1/2 mile east at NE weather station only (.19"). The airport reports (.29") since midnight.

06/22/2019 Moved all camera images to Camera image tab.

06/21/2019 Strong thunderstorms around the area last night. The airport on southern side Valentine picked up heaviest rain since midnight (.65") while far west Valentine 3rd St.(.50"), NE side town just behind at (.48") both NE Cocorahs and NE weather station.

06/20/2019 5:50 Update: Strong thunderstorm, south and west side of town picked up heaviest precip and highest winds with possible small hail. (.36") rainfall N. Huge St, (.37") at NE weather station, airport was reporting (.57"). Cocorahs west side (.52")...Moved camera back under front porch cover to help protect lens from rain and snow.

4:15am: Thunderstorm 13 miles west of Valentine with radar indicated hail moving toward Valentine. Gr3 radar feed is turned on.

06/18/2019 Rainfall totals from yesterday around town. west side Cocorahs on 3rd .51", NE Cocorahs .45", NE weather station .50", airport .47".

06/17/2019 Started GR3 radar image upload, fingers crossed changing frequency stops the temperature spike around lightning. Looks like we are about to see and running out of ideas.

06/16/2019 Weather station will stop transmitting while I change frequency for about half an hour this morning. Still getting the temperature spike while lightning is in area.

06/13/2019 West looking camera image now available from northeast side Valentine.

06/10/2019 Chilly morning for mid June, dropping down to 36° this morning at NE weather station.

06/09/2019 west side weather station and images have closed. A new image looking west will be available from NE Valentine location later this week.

06/02/2019 Strong thunderstorm north of Cody currently heading Valentine direction. Turned on GR3 radar for closer look. Found under Radar/Satellite tab.

06/01/2019 Summary for May mean temperature well below normal -5.6°. Precipitation well above normal by +4.85" critters are growing webbed feet... For full summary click HERE

05/29/2019 Adjusted rainfall NE side, automatic gauge over counted .14". The move last week must have knocked calibration off so gauge has a new calibration. Total rainfall last 24 hours NE station was 1.13"

05/26/2019 As of 1pm most of the activity has been developing over northern Cherry county with precipitation and a few embedded thunderstorms.

05/23/2019 Patchy ground fog this morning. More rain with a thunderstorm overnight, northeast picked up heaviest 24 hour amounts, around 1/2". Next storm activity potential Sunday evening through Tuesday in forecast with Memorial day looking active at this time.

05/22/2019 Major move starting today 6:25 pm, website data is being uploaded from the newly relocated NE Valentine station. The station now transmitting live is situated for maximum accuracy minus snow melt-ability. Cameras will stay unchanged for now. Valentine West is still available with 5-minute updates on the external link menu bar.

05/22/2019 Yesterday 24 hour totals 2.45" both west and east sides with 2 day totals 3.42" west, 3.39" east. Totals from storm do not include what has fallen since midnight today. East Valentine ahead on monthly May total 5.40", while 5.20" has fallen on west side as of midnight. This is normal for May since 2015... Rain summaries here

05/21/2019 Rain continues with intensity ramped up a little this evening, at times around .5" per hour rate. Current total 6:20 pm 1.8" since midnight, 2 day total approaching 3" soon.

Yesterday light rain all day with around 1" both east and west Valentine. We could see an additional 2"+ cold rain through Wednesday. More unsettled periods with chance of thunderstorms later this week.

05/10/2019 Widespread freeze this morning for Valentine area. 174 freeze days is 5 season record for this station with average last freeze occurring mid May. With nothing in 10 day forecast other than 36° for Sunday morning this might be the last occurrence.

05/02/2019 Hard freeze this morning east side station down to 23° currently, west side 24° and no wind. Looking at 10 day don't see any freezes in forecast. Currently tied with 2017/2018 for station record of most freeze days in season of 172.

05/01/2019 Rain and snow mix early this morning turned all rain later. (.16") total. Did a calibration on west side tipping bucket today.

Summary for April mean temperature ended slightly below normal -1°. Precipitation also slightly below normal by .12"... For full summary click HERE. For snow report here

03/25/2019 Light Freezing rain/snow mix this morning. image .. Meanwhile the airport reports 34°.

04/30/2019 Update: .14 moisture all snowfall at 8:15 pm. Ground is covered but warm and melting as it snows....hard to measure about 1.2" at 8pm.

04/30/2019 5am: all snow 32°. (.03) accumulation so far. Valentine is right in that zone of winter weather. Will it ever end?..

04/29/2019 Below freezing west Valentine this morning with light wind, 30° currently, east side still above at 34° with 8 mph wind but will also reach freezing should wind subside. Models continue to suggest snow upcoming but temperatures never reach 32° at the surface so have some doubt it falls as all snow. Last 5 years haven't seen all snow above 32.0° except maybe a short-lived flurry with grass accumulation. We have had rain-snow mix before several times in 33° range and turnover all snow right at freezing mark 32°. Exception airport running couple degrees warmer has reported snow at 34° several times.

04/25/2019 Rainfall total from last night west Valentine .64", 8" SRG. East side tipping bucket also .64". Airport .54". Further south less moisture on this one. Looking at some models chance of snow next week in 2" range for Valentine. Still 5 days out so likely it doesn't happen but freezing potential still high for gardeners and planting seedlings.

04/15/2019 Snow stake camera will be removed until next fall sometime in next few days for lawn mowing season. Not seeing anything in forecast on 10 day other than maybe a snow shower. Will be installed again next October. 2018-2019.. Season total inches- 53.9"

04/12/2019 Anemometers both east and west thawed finally. I've got a 30' window cleaner pole coming for next winter should this happen again.

04/11/2019 8:50pm update: Everyone wants the snow stake, so its back by popular demand.

3:18pm Snow light or stopped. Radar returns clearing out, it may be over except wind. Sun peaking out also solar 642 W/m2. I'll be doing snowmelt on the 4" Cocorahs gauges both east and west sides comparing snow amounts. I'll report findings here. The east side gauge was emptied just before snow started 4pm yesterday. It doubled the freezing rain on west side. This is to satisfy my curiosity why the east side cameras seem to show less snow and disappears much quicker.

Results of test between Coco gauges. East side +.01 more snowfall catch. But received double freezing rain yesterday +.10", so storm total +.11 vs West side. These are surprising results for me. Snowfall was a wash .01 is negligible. Something else of interest the 4" dia. coco gauges caught same amount as the 8" dia. on snow collection. Why I had the 30% difference last snow not sure now. They are surely easier to handle vs the big 8" gauge for snowmelt.

Tipping bucket adjusted to match manual 8" gauge at 12 noon. Blizzard total snowfall west Valentine 7.4" estimated (.62) snowmelt. Last April's Blizzard still hasn't been surpassed, no doubt the most intense storm I've experienced.

5:20am Currently snow and low visibility with blowing snow. SRG 8" diameter .67 storm total includes yesterday, of that (.56") snow. Snow equivalent ratio revised 12:1 (6.7") 24-25°F. Tipping bucket shown on website is .04 behind actual. NOTE: (Airport precipitation has reported nothing since midnight).

04/10/2019 Anemometers have froze up both east and west Valentine stations. At midnight .37" total (.11) freezing rain (.26") snow

11:20am: Freezing drizzle continues with elevated surfaces ice covered. .09" so far. Airport reports light snow only a flake or two west side. Just drove roads, still warm enough not iced over yet.

6:55am: 31°, Freezing rain verified only .01 so far, ice on outside surface of Coco rain gauges. Airport ASOS reports 34° ? KVTN sensor image .

Fog with temperature reaching freezing 32.0° at 6am this morning. Could get ice development soon on surfaces. 32.5° east side currently. This is with the Campbell scientific sensor (SHT75) both east and west stations. The Davis SHT31 is showing 31.8° currently. What I like about the SHT75 is the fast response times, as much as 1° per scan. Humidity is also better. The SHT31 will be used exclusive for very cold weather sub zero where it stands out and the SHT75 all other times going forward. Both sensors are on a data logger, I've been comparing since last fall.

04/09/2019 8:15pm update: Thunderstorm .04 new precip

Here are a few model predictions this late afternoon until we get into the shorter range models. GDPS-22", GFS-FV3-18", ECMWF-16", GFS-14". Correction on ECMWF 12z run still at 16". The source used for ECMWF is free but flaky sometimes. Tonight 10pm the shorter range HRW's HRRR, RAP will start coming in, HRW linked on external links.

A few updates: Snow stake relocated, moved north about 10 feet, timelapse for snow stake has been added back for storm. East side 8" diameter rain gauge is fixed, this gauge has no heater so will not record snowfall accurately. Also setup a 4" manual rain gauge east side location for comparison to west side 4" diameter manual. (Wish I had a spare 8" ) Results between the 2 locations will get posted post storm. Reason I wish for another 8" diameter, the 4" under collected 30% vs 8" on last blizzard. Personally not impressed at all with these 4" diameter plastic Cocorahs gauges, had to modify to prevent heavy rain and hail splash out with shallow funnel top portion.

Blizzard Warning now issued by NWS, 18-24" of new snow potential.

04/08/2019 Winter Storm Watch issued by NWS with big snow amounts projected by some models. ECMWF and GDPS has Valentine receiving around 20", yikes! NWS snowfall potential link has Valentine at 10" most likely with as much as 14" potential. Still a couple of days out so this could change. Deja vu last April 14, 11 inches.

04/07/2019 Models are predicting heavy snowfall potential. Here is a summary of wettest model Sunday evening. ECMWF has 2.4" total precip for Valentine. Of that .6 falls as rain so the potential of very heavy snowfall using this model and 10:1 scale. This model has rain to snow change over around noon Wednesday. Other models are not as wet, with several more days expect changes but something to watch for mid-week.

04/03/2019 Update: 4:30pm. Today's rainfall so far, west Valentine, 8" manual gauge .33", automatic .32".

3:20pm Something is wrong with East side weather station rain gauge so plugged in backup 6" diameter Davis rain gauge. .20" was amount manually started from with unknown true amount. Currently .30 in town.

04/02/2019 NOAA Weather Radio feed back up.

04/01/2019 Weather Underground rapid fire is working again. Live data updates now available for east Valentine station, found under External Links.

Summary for March mean temperature ended well below normal -7.4°. Precipitation 2.02" almost double normal +.95", of that 9.2" fell as snow. West Valentine stands at 46.5" of snow on the season. For full summary click HERE. For snow report here

03/25/2019 Light Freezing rain/snow mix this morning. image .. Meanwhile the airport reports 34°.

03/17/2019 Moved camera images off main index page reducing website load time. All found under Navigation bar. Images will auto refresh.

03/14/2019 .02 new moisture. (.46) total form of snow. The wind is brutal this morning, several 50 mph gust in town. East Valentine station wind gusted to 64 mph, west side in town 55 mph. 2 foot drifts now common, some higher like in front of garage door. Reports of 20 foot drifts just a few miles north of town off HW83. Highest observed west side town 6' against fences.

03/13/2019 The 8" manual gauge total on day 1.58" of that .44" was caught as snow. I'm sure some was missed by the horizontal nature caused by the high wind so estimated around 5.5" new snow, further explanation behind reasoning the 4" diameter Cocorahs gauge missed 30% of the snowfall catch vs the 8" diameter gauge so odds are the 8" underperformed also to some degree with the conditions experienced. I'm confident the 5.5" is a more accurate estimate of snowfall vs going straight 10:1 ratio under conditions experienced. The heated rain gauge caught 1.60" total precipitation. Areas are drifted deep, amazing what a little snow will do with this much wind. For the record altimeter pressure bottomed @ 29.17".

Snow stake area is flooded, ground is froze so can't move it. 2:10pm HRRR knew what it was talking about on timing of snow start and on the nose of 32°. Measured and dumped 8" SRG for snow catch. 1.14" was rain accumulation. Turn over to snow occurred right at 32°.

Standing water is backing up in places it shouldn't like my shed. So far today rain .83" 8" dia. SRG. Also 8" tipping bucket. Cocorahs 4" dia. gauge .80"

Blizzard Warning still in place. Rain should change to snow after 4pm. 6 inches is Forecast for Valentine, minimum 2", Maximum 11". Snow stake is under standing water so don't expect to accurately reflect snow depth. With the expected wind gust to 60 mph snow measurements will be difficult so will use 10:1 ratio of snow caught in rain gauge. I'll empty the 8" diameter gauge once snow starts and use as primary catch gauge for snow measurement. FYI next winter snow stake will be relocated to higher ground.

03/12/2019 Update 10pm: HRW model (linked on external links) just updated. Results of model has Valentine at around 11" snow. Any shift eastward could bring more. Snow is disappearing today slush and standing water most areas.

Blizzard Warning has been issued by NWS. Snowfall potential NWS looks like 7" most likely with maximum 15". I'm concerned about freezing rain build-up so would rather have more snow. Pick your evil I guess.

This is unofficial: Enthusiast but not a trained meteorologist. What I'm seeing today (may change) looking at ECMWF which has a snowline feature some others don't, Valentine gets around .7" moisture after atmosphere is cold enough to turn all snow around Wednesday 6pm. Surface temperature does drop below freezing prior around noon with cold air under cutting the moist warm air from above so between 12pm-6pm what precipitation type is the question, freezing rain or snow? Around 6pm when atmosphere is cold enough for all snow the bulk of precipitation has already fallen 1.5" leaving around .7" to fall as all snow using 10:1 ratio equals about 7" new snow + what has fallen during that questionable period (12-6pm). Here is the 5pm image just before atmosphere goes all snow. Click. Here is image of how much precip has fallen at 5pm Click. The reason I say leaving about .7" this model on this run has storm total of 2.2" for Valentine and could change with each run. So going by this model run puts down 7" new snow, maximum depends on snow change over timeline. One more thing ground is frozen so the rain on front side will melt much if not all the current snow so this water needs a place to go, some will seep in but most will run off or just pool.

03/11/2019 Afternoon Update from NWS: "This system has the potential to be one of the stronger storms in the last 10 years or so - with very deep surface low pressure and abundant moisture resulting in very strong winds and heavy precipitation. Please monitor the latest forecast information." FYI in forecaster discussion they say deep low pressure taking a negative tilt, progged to drop to 972mb (that's 28.70") inHg, that's considered very low.

Winter Storm Watch issued by NWS. All the longer range models are in pretty good agreement with Valentine near the bullseye or real close on some models. As we get closer the Hi resolution short range models will fine tune so changes can still occur this far out. Stay tuned to forecast updates.

Update 2pm: Here is the latest ECM one of the better models for placement of systems. Valentine is the red dot in the 2" range of moisture. click for (ECM)

03/10/2019 The forecast has Valentine above freezing today. It will be our 2nd day this month and only 3rd day dating all the way back to Feb. 3rd if it does. Major winter storm potential coming next Wed. and Thur. but lots of questions still on impact. Several models have crazy snow numbers in 18" range but we've seen those turn into nothing before, but with calving season starting worth keeping eye on considering the unusual cold and snowy late winter nothing can be ruled out yet. 18" added to the 7-14" already on ground would create drifts 4+ feet making movement very difficult.

Update: I'm back on the Win7 computer without battery backup. HP is sending replacement due around the 21st. FYI apologies yesterday Windows 10 decided without permission to do a reboot on weather computer that I didn't catch for 6 hours. I need to replace the battery on the Win 7 weather computer so I can use again. Using Win 10 with forced updates and reboots makes reliability nonexistent.

03/07/2019 Cocorahs 2.7" new snow, Snowmelt (.22"). Average ground snow depth at 10" this morning. Heated 8" diameter rain gauge came in slightly higher (.22") moisture. FYI snow stake has been running just over 1" lower than actual accumulated total depth. There is the potential of several more storms, some with substantial snow accumulation in future starting Friday evening. The never-ending winter continues. First 6 days of March, west Valentine this station average high 18°, Low -6°, with 5 of those 6 days going below zero. Can't imagine how cold it would be without Cows.

03/06/2019 1pm update: Latest models have shifted track of storm we may see adjusted forecast snowfall amounts later today.

Valentine well below zero this morning, low temps so far -8° west, -9° east side occurring around 5:15 am. Winter Weather Advisory in place instead of Winter Storm Warning just across SD border because of the speed of system limiting snowfall amounts. The fast-moving system will move through this evening into tomorrow morning with snow amounts of 3-5" possible. Friday night another chance of 1-3". The forecast has 33° Friday. If this comes true it will be our first day above freezing since February 13. How cold has it been? 5 of our first 6 days of March have been below zero. If we get the forecast 3-5" snowfall, ground accumulation will be at its peak for this winter averaging 9-13" throughout the immediate area. Good thing temperatures are moderating so melting will increase moving forward.

03/05/2019 Gusty winds this morning as high as 36mph east side earlier last night. 5° currently west Valentine. Our low was 1° around 1am. Image this morning near HW20 and 83 intersection Click... Cold temperatures have moderated with 20's-30's for highs expected this week with more snow in the forecast starting Wednesday evening. Watch upcoming NWS forecast, including snowfall potential tab. Another tool I've found useful are short term models. Around 9am look at the WRF-ARW latest Wed12z run found external links. This model updates twice each day around 9am and again at 9pm.

03/04/2019 Wind speeds were higher than anticipated overnight gusting to 25mph east side station with WC of -33°, west -31° at times. Current air temperature -15° west Valentine. East side -10° with wind speeds consistently higher, being wide open. Areas that were sheltered from wind dropped very low overnight, like Gordon airport before midnight was down to -22°. Low temps may drop further especially if wind subsides a little prior to sunrise. I'll update current temperature as it does.

Statement from NWS: At 5:24 CST, North Platte officially recorded a temperature of -25F, shattering the previous record of -17F set in 1960, and also beating the coldest temp EVER recorded in the month of March, which was -22F, set in 1960 and 2002!

Another NWS statement: Valentine airport recorded its 8th coldest February since the 1890s.

(My Statement) Global warming may be what we wish for, if computer models that track sun energy are correct. Sometime starting in 2030's models predict low sunspot activity lasting for decades, similar to this year bringing on another mini ice age. You won't hear about it because it doesn't follow the popular (false) narrative currently pushed until it actually starts. The suns energy has always been the main factor in climate.

03/03/2019 3:45pm update: High temperature today 3° west side but only managed 1° at wide open station on east side Valentine. Gust were up to 34mph making for brutal WC east side today. Forecast has wind staying up overnight 10-20 mph range this will prevent strong radiational cooling preventing temperatures from completely tanking, -12° is current forecast low. WC will be low again tonight with any kind of breeze. Silver lining 37° Thursday but snow in forecast Friday.

7:00am: -14° west side with WC -32 below this morning. East Valentine -14° with WC -35°.

03/02/2019 7:pm update: light snow most of day Cocorahs new .8" (.03") moisture, 7.5" total depth. Currently -1 with windchill -19 west Valentine. HRRR has Valentine cloud free between 1-2 am.

3:20pm: Windchill Warning starts tomorrow morning at 6am and goes through 10am Monday. This afternoon east side weather station located in open field is experiencing windchill of -18 at times. Temperature is 3° currently at station. Link for live data is under external links. In town west side windchill is -13 with air temperature 4°.

03/01/2019 6:50pm: Winter Weather Advisory was expanded by NWS to cover eastern Cherry and several other counties.

6:00am: Yesterday 2 different snowfalls totalling 2.8" official Cocorahs for Valentine. That additional (.9"), (0.07") moisture content of snow we picked up late yesterday and measured at midnight. Today Winter Weather Advisory starting midnight for western Cherry county, does not include Valentine. Summary for February below:

February summary west Valentine extreme and well below normal temperature Mean (12.5°), or (-14.7°) below normal, average high was (23.5°), low (2.4°). Precipitation (1.02" ) was (+.54") above normal. Snowfall occurred 11 days totalling 16.5". Monthly extremes: high (68), low (-18), with 28 days freezing or below and 13 days below zero. Monthly climate report summaries here: 2019 click for summaries 13 of the 28 days were below zero, if not for the first two very warm days, record warmth Feb.1 & 2 we would of been inside top 5 coldest dating back to 1890.

One thing to remember when looking at old records the official Valentine weather station has moved several times. Miller Field didn't get the weather station until 1950's or later. For years the station was ran by the Weather Bureau, one of the later locations was down-town ( Many here still remember ) with instruments on top of the building of all things so records are skewed from having temperature readings measured at 25' for those years. Centennial Hall in Valentine has many of the old historical Weather Bureau daily log books for viewing.

02/28/2019 11:59pm: New snowfall tonight .9" makes 2.8" daily midnight total. Monthly Feb. total 16.5", season 37.3". Next update tomorrow morning if snow continues. Looking at the monthly temperature west Valentine we are -14.7 below normal has to be one of coldest on record. I'll do a complete summary tomorrow or look here: CLICK.

6:50 am: Cocorahs Report New Snow 1.9" (.17") snowmelt, 7.3" total snow depth. Low temperatures this morning west Valentine 8°, east side dipped to 5°.

02/27/2019 7:40am: -6 west and east Valentine this morning. Single digit high temperature yesterday 9° west Valentine, forecast has around 1" of snow starting late Wednesday into Thursday early morning, with most models agreeing. The one exception is HRW WRF-ARW keeps snow in SD. This model run however is old and only runs twice a day, next updated run will be around 9am. Same model has been very good with temperatures and the arctic air having Valentine -7 to -8 this morning. Play the updated Wed12z run when available 9am, found on external links.

02/25/2019 Yesterday's low temperatures occurred around 9 pm, west Valentine bottomed at -5°, east -8° before clouds rolled in. Early this morning temperatures hanging around 0° with windchill of -11 to -15° currently. Forecast high-temperature today single digits (5°) Burr... The forecast has backed off on snow Wednesday night with Thursday evening being next best chance of 1/2". Warmest day looks like Thursday mid 20's. Coldest looks like next Saturday night Sunday morning, just how cold remains to be seen with forecast currently -9°. We are gaining almost 3 minutes of sunlight each day, 18 minutes by this same time next week so winter will end.

02/24/2019 Excellent radiational cooling early on tonight, then should cloud up around 11pm bringing rise in temperature. HRRR has temps -7 to -8°, 9-10pm then rising to around -2° by sunrise with full cloud cover.

Strong winds especially open areas like east side, experiencing steady 20+ mph with peak gust 45mph this morning producing windchill in -16 range with air temperature down to 5°. Still no real break from winter, in fact another real cold arctic outbreak looks possible early March maybe coldest of winter with ECMWF suggesting -25 March 5th in Valentine. Still early so models may change but worth noting when that extreme. Image of Euro March 5th 6am

02/23/2019 Advisory cancelled. Little or no accumulation only 20% chance expected in Valentine forecast.

Yesterday was an unusual snowfall, we started out with 19:1 ratio and ended around 7 or 8:1 ratio. Snow Ratio expresses how much volume of snow you get for a given volume of water. Example a ratio of 10:1 for every 10 inches of snowfall equals one inch of liquid water. Storm summary is below.

02/22/2019 11:59pm: For breakdown of midnight to midnight use the snow report link tab under climate/daily history. For storm total including yesterday evening 4.0" new snow, (.34") snowmelt. Total snow-depth average currently 7.0". Snow settles after falling even with extreme cold and why snowfall measurements are encouraged to be taken as soon as possible. The reason I mentioned this was something I heard (about spilled my coffee) that couldn't be further from the truth, you can't just add-up all the snowfalls, because ground is frozen solid and air temperature is so cold expecting that amount of accumulation on the ground. It doesn't work that way. Snow settles under its on weight until density reaches 30% of water no mater how cold it is. Main reason a snowboard is used so new and old can be separated with the old snow being compressed from weight of new snow you would undercount how much new actually fell. So 6" new snow on snowboard may not show up as 6" on snow stake or ground.

7:00am: Cocorahs measurements 2.1" new snow (.11") 19:1 moisture ratio. Freezing drizzle in the forecast after 2pm. Winter Weather Advisory in effect almost all of area today. Good day to avoid travel especially after 2pm when freezing drizzle could occur. Looks to dry out beyond this weekend but temperatures stay cold throughout month with 31° warmest forecast day on 28th.

02/21/2019 10:00pm: New snow 1.7", Next update will be tomorrow. Snow stake started at 3.7" today, also available is time-lapse video which updates hourly about 10 min. after the top. Not a great indicator of actual new snow because old snow will compress to certain point from weight of new snow.

11:45am: Radar echoes building to SW moving north at noon. Winter Weather Advisory eastern Cherry in place with several inches of snow expected through Friday evening. Final lows -9° west Valentine, -11° east side.

Depending on which model you look at (linked eternal links) light snow moves in this evening between 5 and 8pm. HRRR is the later time. *Radar is already picking up snow moving up so my confidence is low on HRRR start time currently.

02/20/2019 6:55am: Still a few flakes with air temperature currently 9°. Cocorahs report 2.8" new snow total on snowboard, .09" moisture content. This has most likely settled some being the snow is so light, settles fast with 31:1 ratio which previously was running around 40:1 when snow started. These last 2 snows are the lowest water content events in the 5 winters I've done this in Valentine. Typical 15:1 to 17:1 is what we see.

02/19/2019 10:30pm: 1.2" new snow, light snow falling.

Looking at some of the long-range models this evening there is a lot of snow and cold ahead. Parts of eastern Nebraska are especially being hit hard with snow in the 2-foot range of accumulation. This goes all the way into March. I'm thinking lack of sunspot activity is playing a major roll this winter. Some scientist have been predicting a mini ice-age by the 2030's similar to the Maunder minimum a 70-year period between 1645 and 1715. Normally there is a 11 year cycle of low activity which we are in currently, but in about 15 years these scientist predict a long term reduction in sunspot activity bringing on long cold winters for several decades, that should be fun.

2:30am: Down to -12° both east and west stations early this morning, light wind with very thin veil of high clouds visible in distance may prevent further temperature drop. Radar shows snow echoes around 40 miles to south. Added the HRRR model to external links, which updates hourly using drop-down for latest run. While there you can select 10:1 ratio or the Kuchera ratio which is high at times.

02/18/2019 8:10am: Low temperature came in after sunrise 8:07am at -8° west Valentine, east side of town warmer at -5°. Had it cleared off few hours earlier last night we would be flirting with negative mid teens this morning.

6:00am: Light snow flurries finally ended overnight. Valentine is on edge of cloud cover but clearing off with temperature dropping below zero west Valentine and likely to continue dropping through sunrise.

02/17/2019 9:00pm: Still getting light flurries, it will end eventually. Temperature down to 6° with windchill -10°. FYI HRRR model has clouds clearing out just before sunrise tomorrow morning, most others don't. Forecast leans toward conditions to stay cloudy so bottoming out around 0° vs -9° HRRR should it clear off. Western Cherry will be mostly clear and gets below zero most areas.

3:00pm:Storm total 4" (.16") moisture, temperature has dropped to 11° with windchill -5 currently. Still light snow with gusty winds at times. Peak gust this afternoon west Valentine 31 mph, east side 32 mph. Ground snow depth has shifted with the fluffy light snow and wind. Drifted areas getting deeper other areas getting less.

Great images coming from snowplow tracker. Here is snowplow coming into Valentine, HW12 corner of Hospital and High School. "click for image"

9:00am: 3.7" storm total. Snow stake is no longer accurate, stuck at 4" since 1am and dropping with the wind. But the drift behind it is increasing. Actual total depth 5.2". Winds gusting to 25 mph, air temperature 8°. Forecast has potential 1" additional today.

02/15/2019 7:00pm: New Winter Weather Advisory has been issued for Saturday. Today's Cocorahs snow total 1.8" (0.13") snowmelt.

Winter weather advisory continues this morning with 1-3" snow possible, however heaviest areas of snow expected today have shifted south and west of Valentine. The arctic air had dug a little further south which I noted yesterday (since deleted) may have impact where heaviest snowfall occurs. The models started correcting late yesterday, now putting heaviest snowfall between Mullen, Thedford to Broken Bow where 4" plus could fall.

Don't forget about the snow plow tracker. Linked on external links. Getting some good images this morning.

02/14/2019 9:30pm: Temperature currently down to 3° west, 2° east side Valentine. Clouds are starting to move in, so this may be as cold as it gets tonight. Latest model run HRW WRF-ARW just finished. If you hate snow you may like, take a look from latest run, moisture content 0.1" . This isn't official or part of the forecast and may be wrong. Unfortunately if you want snow its been right more than wrong since I started watching about a month ago. On a high note for snow lovers even if we only get an inch there's more snow in the forecast for Saturday.

7:35am: Down to 4° with windchill -15°, wind gust this morning approaching 30 mph. Models are struggling again with how cold the arctic air is.

Winter Weather Advisory issued by NWS. Forecaster confidence is high so they issued advisory early with all models in agreement 2-4" is likely for Valentine Friday, with 1-3" additional Saturday and another 1-2" Saturday night. Near the SD border this first snow Friday could actually be heavier so additional statements could be issued later by NWS. The HRW WRF-ARW model mentioned below yesterday 00z run also agrees for Friday 3.2" using (10:1) with 0.3" moisture could be as high as 6" with the arctic air.

02/13/2019 11am : Looking at a few model runs we may actually get more than our typical half inch of snow on Friday. Both NAM and Canadian are suggesting several inches. Most interested in the next HRW WRF-ARW (about 10pm) for confirmation, this model normally doesn't over extend snowfall amounts for our area. Model linked on external links look for Thursday 00z run this evening. The official NWS forecast also has 2-4" snow possible Friday.

Today's forecast is for 50's, with rest of 7 day below normal temperatures with snow chances on Friday and Saturday, mixed in are several days of near or below zero lows. This February is on track with last years very cold February, only thing missing is snow. Last year we had 10.5" total for month, so far this month 1".

02/12/2019 -1 west Valentine, 0° east side this morning. We get a nice one day warm-up this Wednesday near (50°), before we go back into the deep freeze. Enjoy!

02/10/2019 7:00am: Light snow, 2° this morning Valentine. -12 to -17 windchill east side.

02/09/2019 Colder this afternoon than expected for Bull Bash. 3:15pm and it's already down to 15° with nasty windchill 3°.

02/08/2019 5:15am : Coldest morning this winter after several very cold days. -17 to -19 currently west to east side of town, with still over 2 hours before sunrise. Very light wind this morning. Temperatures recover today with 20's in the forecast before another glancing shot of arctic air due Saturday evening into Sunday with high temperature low teens again. Bull Bash Saturday should enjoy the best weather for some time with high temperature near 30°.

02/07/2019 5am: Currently -5° both east and west Valentine. Windchill -30 east side, -25° in town west Valentine. Total 24 hr. snow accumulation Cocorahs report. 0.6" new snow, .03" moisture content. We may drop a couple more degrees this morning lowering windchill even more around sunrise. Some of the colder air is filtering in this morning so another very cold day near or below zero for high temperature.

Tomorrow morning is most likely the coldest of the winter. Models are all over the place, -2 to -17 with Canadian sticking to its guns. The model performing well with this arctic air has been the linked HRW WRF-ARW, very close with the official forecast -11 to -12°.

02/06/2019 6:40pm: Temperature -0° both east and west Valentine, with windchill currently -19° to -23°. Light snow continues with heavier bands starting to fill in and moving closer to area.

02/05/2019 5pm: Winter weather advisory issued by NWS. Snowfall being arctic variety with anticipated very low windchills and blowing snow causing reduced visibility.

Stayed above zero last night coming in at 1° for a low temperature both east and west Valentine. Forecasters have backed off on ideas of much snow with this system similar to previous where most energy stayed in SD. German and Canadian models sticking with -20 for Friday morning. Euro has also lowered to -15°.

02/04/2019 5:45pm: Snowfall potential link has updated. Visit the NWS link on same page for more detailed information.

3:30pm: High temperature west and east Valentine 10° so far today. Forecast discussion has mention of a possible snow event development later in week. Still some uncertainty so watch for upcoming NWS forecast updates. Earlier several models were showing some extreme cold Thursday, still cold but not -20's cold. Couple models still holding on to near -20 Friday morning are German, Canadian standards.

Very cold this morning, -1° low so far with windchills observed coldest of this winter -17 west to -24 below east Valentine. We may struggle reaching teens today with moderation tomorrow 20's but in general a very cold week ahead. Worth mentioning most models not just a couple like yesterday are suggesting some extreme cold Thursday with sub-zero highs and approaching -20's for low. Coldest model German standard suggest -27° with the Euro (ECMWF) coming in at -20°. Model forecast link, Select model top of graph. Best viewed with ad blocker on... If we get any snow cover prior will be determining factor just how cold. NWS forecast has potential 2" this week with models suggesting between 2-3 tenths moisture which could equate to little more but we know how bad models have been overestimating snowfall this winter, at least for Valentine area.

Little off subject, you may remember all the El Nino talk for this winter and how they were 85% sure it would develop. Never developed, so best chance is a weak spring El Nino about 65% is what they say. Spring El Nino's have little impact on global climate.

02/03/2019 10:30pm: Arctic air continues filtering in. Current temperature 7°, windchill -10° west Valentine. Tonight's low expected to bottom around 3°.

12:40pm: 22°, windchill 13° The arctic air and stratus has seeped in much sooner (12 hours) than expected. Looking at SD temps just north are upper teens and levelling off as has Valentine at 22°. Radar returns are staying west of area. One of the forecasters mentioned possibility of this happening (315 PM CST Sat Feb 2 2019) discussion.

Record high yesterday breaking 128 year old record of 66°. This station west Valentine 68°, east side recorded 69°. Big change starting this evening as arctic air moves in and continues next 7 days or longer with below normal temperatures. Mixed in are chances of snow. Keep an eye on NWS forecast for details.

02/01/2019 January summary west Valentine Slightly above normal with Mean temperature (24.2°), or (+0.6°) above normal, average high was (36), low (14). Precipitation (0.28" ) was (+.02") above normal. Snowfall occurred 7 times totalling 3.3". Monthly extremes: high (56), low (-10), with 30 days freezing or below and 4 days below zero. Monthly climate report summaries here: 2019 click for summaries

01/30/2019 With clouds overnight east Valentine managed -13, west -10. Winds are light this morning. 50's in forecast Friday, Saturday and cools back into teens by Tuesday with potential storm toward end of 7 day.

01/29/2019 9:15pm : Currently -5° west, -6 east Valentine with windchill -17 range. IR satellite is showing clouds starting to reach Nebraska border.

01/28/2019 8:30pm : Seeing some light snow developing around area. Dusting to a few tenths possible.

1:00pm Update: Snow currently light wind blown with sun peeking through. Manual moisture melt .02" moisture and 0.3" new snow.

01/26/2019 Storm total Cocorahs 1.6" new snow, snowmelt .11". Looking at radar echoes persistent redevelopment looks likely.

01/24/2019 8:30am: 2° this morning windchill -16° west Valentine, -20° east side. In extended looks like shots of arctic air through end of month. Some models spread the arctic air more westward, most keep main core of cold east of area with only glancing blows.

01/23/2019 Added Nebraska snow plow tracker link under External links tab. Now you can locate all State snow plows and see visual of road conditions.

01/22/2019 10:15am update: Light snow has picked up, starting to see areas of blowing snow, 14° with windchill -3°. Radar isn't picking up the light snow well, current stateline image.

*Added a couple model forecast loops to external links: After loading press the play button. You can position mouse over area of interest during loop (Valentine coordinates 42.86 -100.55). At upper left side of page, under forecast hour you can select latest run.

01/20/2019 Temperature jumped up to (36°) for few minutes last night as light precipitation moved through. Wind has shifted back to the NE as the arctic air is filtering back in. Geographically Valentine forecast are challenging with arctic air moving back and forth.

01/19/2019 Clouds cleared off overnight. Temperatures -6° east, -5° west Valentine, Sparks Mesonet at 7am -6°. The airport ASOS as expected is warmer.

Updated forecast has possibility of 1-2" snow Monday night with blowing snow potential, plus another shot of arctic air moving in Thursday just before the ice tournament next Saturday. Looking at the moon surrounded by ice crystals, sunrise may produce a nice sundog.

01/18/2019 9:50pm update: Getting some light snow again, temperatures 5° both east and west Valentine. Sparks Mesonet was down to 4° at 9pm, while Merritt was at 6°. Many are concerned about the ice conditions for the big Merritt ice tournament coming up January 26th.

4:40pm update: .05" total moisture. 0.6" new today on snowboard. Light snow continues to fall with arctic air squeezing out moisture.

9:30am update: Light snow started west Valentine around 6:30am. Currently ended, With the extended freezing fog from yesterday and last night surfaces will be slick. Trees, fences around Valentine are covered with thick hoarfrost. click for image ... West Valentine roads have light cover of snow, this is front of house on 3rd St.

01/16/2019 4:35pm update: Freezing mist/drizzle occurred with light snow currently, surfaces have layer of thin ice.

01/15/2019 Dense ice fog overnight leaving a layer of hoarfrost, cleared up just after midnight. Winter weather returns starting this Friday with 1 to 3 inches new snow possible.

01/12/2019 Hoarfrost this morning with the arctic air and light mist. Temperature continues to slowly drop this morning, currently 18° at 10:44am. Sparks Mesonet station, located 19 miles NE was down to 16° at 10am. Hourly Mesonet link is lower left under external links.

01/08/2019 Light rain and dusting of snow overnight 0.02" moisture.

01/01/2019 December summary west Valentine Above normal with Mean temperature (25.2°), or (+1.4°) above normal, average high was (38), low (14). Precipitation (1.09" ) was (+.72") above normal. Snowfall occurred 5 times totalling 11". Monthly extremes: high (55), low (-10), with 31 days freezing or below and 4 days below zero. Monthly climate report summaries here: 2018 click for summaries

Winds stayed up last night only recently slowed, so didn't get the radiational cooling expected. -8 below has been the low so far. Forecast server appears back up.

Government server error with forecast, Getting BAD Gateway 502 error.

12/31/2018 8:25pm update: Forecast low by NWS is now -14. Air temperature is very cold when wind is blowing this hard and near zero... Windchill is running near -20. When or if wind stops temperature will plummet tonight. Last New Year we went down into -20's, not a prediction just saying it does happen around here. That's how Valentine gets all those -20's this time of year. Happy New year all.

5pm update: Snow light but still blowing, 3° everywhere but airport 5°. (.08") snowmelt west side town today estimated 2" new snow using NOAA snowmelt chart which uses temperature to calculate snowfall.

12:50pm update: Driving conditions very low visibility 50-100 yards this is 3rd street, middle school on left.. What a couple inches of snow can do with 40mph winds. snow drift.

Arctic air has arrived with gusty winds and light snowfall. Coldest airmass of winter season so far, with single digit air just north of Valentine moving south this morning. Click on area observations Magpie Creek and Martin Airport (8°).

12/29/2018 Excellent radiational cooling for ice making tonight with -10° west side and -13° east side so far. Will update later if it dips any lower toward sunrise.

12/28/2018 6am update: Since midnight another .01 moisture of snowmelt making storm total .09 or approximate 2.3" powdery snowfall based on air temperature and using NOAA snowmelt guideline. Winds have lightened up only slightly from yesterday and still gusting 48mph east Valentine station and 40mph in town overnight. Air temperature currently 11.4° both east and west Valentine. Windchill is ranging between -6 to -11 below currently. Temperatures expected to bottom around 8° this morning and rise to 15° this afternoon both official forecast and RAP model suggest.

12/27/2018 12am update: Light snow and wind continues. At 11pm .08" total moisture 2" new snow. Will update snowmelt total in morning as light snow continues.

12:20pm update: Radar is showing large area of snow working back west of HW83, snow has picked up in Valentine with low visibility 100 yards at times. Temperatures still bitter cold 12° windchill -5, after low 10° with high winds near 38 mph.

4:45am Update: Winter Storm Warning dropped by NWS with Advisory in place. Bitter cold this morning with windchill below zero -3 and currently wind is howling and just peaked at 42 mph here at west Valentine, 44 mph east side, 45 mph at airport. FYI RAP unofficial forecast has low this morning around 11° and high temperature already reached at midnight and peaking around 15° today so the air is very cold.

Completed snowmelt from yesterday for Cocorahs report .12 was actual 24 hour total including light rain/mist and yesterdays 7am report vs .11 reported on automatic. 0.8" was total snowfall with 0.5" current depth.

12/26/2018 8:15pm Update: Colder air is starting to filter in from NW.

4pm Update: North Platte NWS has adjusted down snow amounts into 6-8" range for Valentine area.

FYI, not official, some models are trending heavy snow bands well east of HW83 leaving Valentine out of any significant accumulation.

12/25/2018 NWS has issued Winter Storm Warning, for powerful winter storm. Precipitation can start late tonight 50% and expected to end Friday with heaviest amounts Wednesday night and Thursday.

12/12/2018 Light rain/snow mix so far this evening. Still running above freezing 34° at 10:30pm.

12/11/2018 Some of the forecast models underestimated the snow cover combined with low sun angle, temperatures only managed to reach above freezing for 2 1/2 hours yesterday. With initial melting, settling done days ago and now frozen ground, very little snow/ice melt occurred yesterday. We should have better luck moving ahead with 40's in forecast starting Friday. 6am update: Airport and west Valentine so far have been down to 11°, east Valentine 9°. Final lows can come in just after sunrise but with clouds moving in may have already bottomed out.

12/10/2018 After this morning, the forecast is showing warm-up with above normals mixed in through this coming weekend. Slight chance of precip. Wednesday. Normals for today are H-37°, L-12°. Update 8am: Low's this morning East side 5°, airport 3°, West side this station 7°.

12/08/2018 First below zero's of meteorological winter. Conditions were just right with strong radiational cooling, snowpack, clear sky, and light wind. Coldest -5° at the east side station and just barely below 0° was west side at -.1. The airport has reported -4.

12/07/2018 9:05pm update: Looks like temperatures are threatening to go below zero tonight under calm winds clear sky. East Valentine station already at 2° same with the airport. Warmer on the west side this station currently 8°. Starting to see ice fog developing on south camera.

12/06/2018 The coldest day of the week with forecast high 21°, currently 17° at 10:30 am and single-digit windchill. Looking ahead next 7 days temperatures closer to normal after the weekend. Normals for this date Valentine are H-38°, L-13°.

12/02/2018 Flurries this morning with temperature on slow decline since midnight. 21.6F at 10:30am.

12/01/2018 Update: 9:40pm Storm Summary. Total snow accumulation came in below expected due to warm temps that lingered. Total snow 6", moisture (.99") including yesterdays rainfall. There was enough moisture to support 10-11" had it not been for extended warm period. Will have monthly November summary done tomorrow and insert below. Looking at the forecast over next 7 days below normal temperatures with highs 20's to low 30's and lows dipping into single digits at least once. Light snow has started again will update tomorrow if needed.

November summary west Valentine Below normal with Mean temperature (32.2°), or (-2.3°) below normal, average high was (45.5), low (22.0). Precipitation (.89" ) was (+.24") above normal. Snowfall occurred 3 times totalling 2.2". Monthly extremes: high (72), low (6), with 27 days freezing or below. Monthly climate report summaries here: 2018 click for summaries

11/30/2018 10pm:Light rain 35° (.07") so far. Started GR3 Doppler radar feed under Radar/Satellite tab.

6pm: Afternoon update by NWS has backed off some on snow totals with wintry mix ( freezing rain and sleet) may continue on longer by a couple hours reducing several inches of snowfall. Changeover to all snow time frame will be determining factor on totals.

6am:Snowfall potential by NWS has been updated. Check the potential tab, current range early this morning is 12-18" with least expected amount updated now 10". Other than the blizzard last April (11") this may end up as one of the bigger snows in several years. As we know this time of year even a couple inches tends to stick around with the short days and low sun angle.

FYI: NOAA weather radio stream feed back up after Wednesday power outage, forgot to restart.

Winter Storm Warning has been issued by NWS Forecast Office North Platte. Stay turned to official NWS forecast as winter storm approaches should updates be needed. For more details on snowfall go here and click on probabilistic tab. It's also linked with the Snow Potential tab on this website.

11/28/2018 Winter storm watch has been issued by NWS impacting area Friday night through Saturday night. Stay tuned to NOAA weather radio and NWS forecast as winter event gets closer.

South camera stopped working today for unknown reason and now working again. Will have replacement available Friday if it continues to fail.

11/24/2018 1.7" new snow. Moisture total (.23) .08 fell as rain, .15 snow

4PM update: Snow/rain mix started with temperature 34.7° west Valentine. This will soon turn all snow as temperatures drop. (.07) fell as rain so far.

11/23/2018 Update 9:30 pm. NWS Winter Storm Watch has been dropped, Winter Weather Advisory now in place.

The NWS forecast discussion, confidence for upcoming winter storm has risen with all models tracking together. Winds 35+ mph and heavy snow possible now looking at 3-5". Stay tuned to NOAA Radio and NWS forecast for updates.

11/22/2018 Very warm Thanksgiving day in forecast with upper 60's. Looks like chance of snow Saturday night. Forecaster confidence currently low on amounts at this time because of timing on rain to snow change over and speed of system. Generally 2-3" being forecast currently. Watch Snowfall Potential tab and updated forecast as storm approaches.

11/20/2018 Ice Fog developed around 1AM, temperature low 20's.

11/13/2018 Snowfall Potential map for North Platte FCO is working again. Changed default location to North Platte.

Soil has frozen (31.5°) at 4" depth today measured 8am. The shallow depth fluctuates mornings coldest to heat of day warmest while the deeper sensors continue trending in direction of season. Soil temperature history can be found under Climate/Daily History tab. Last November was abnormally warm (+4) vs this year (-4) so soil temperatures are running 5-6° lower now vs same time a year ago.

11/12/2018 Light snow gusty winds near (30mph) as Arctic front moved through overnight, trace to tenth inch snow with a few flakes still this morning. 6am 16° with cold windchill near 4° early this morning. High temperature stays below freezing today with forecast 26° and getting into single digits tonight (9°). Much warmer with Pacific air, 60° Wednesday. Normals this time of year High-50, Low-23.

11/09/2018 7:35AM update: Temperatures currently 6° in Valentine with windchills as low as -13° at east side the more open location. To our NE few miles the Sparks Mesonet station was reporting 5° at 7am. Our High temperature for the day already occurred at 1am 24°.

Arctic front moved though around 3:35am bringing snow showers and very gusty winds... 43mph west Valentine, 40mph airport, 39mph East side.

11/08/2018 Snow potential updated Forecast from earlier has decreased to less than 1" around Valentine.

11/05/2018 Another rain overnight totals including prior to midnight (.18) west side, (.20) east. Looking at future forecast this morning, winter like temperatures ahead with highs near or below freezing by Friday. Only mention of snow is chance on Thursday.

11/03/2018 Cold rain overnight (.15) 6AM both east west Valentine. NWS gusty winds western Cherry county and most of western Nebraska. No wind advisory currently for eastern Cherry. 30-40% chance precipitation tonight turning to snow late. No accumulation mentions.

11/02/2018 Few hundredths moisture (rain) around the area last night breaking the long stretch of no moisture. 60% chance again tonight, followed by lower chances through Monday.

11/01/2018 12:pm update: RAP short range model shows Valentine finally receiving some rain, (.05) or so, ending our 18 day dry spell. click for RAP outlook over next 20 hours. Beyond that NWS forecast has 60% chance rain Friday evening for even better chance.

October summary west Valentine Below normal with Mean temperature (44.1°), or (-4.4°) below normal, average high was (58.7), low (32.3). Precipitation ( 1.92" ) was (+.48") above normal and all falling early in month. Snowfall occurred twice totalling 4.2". Monthly extremes: high (83), low (13), with 15 days freezing or below was most recorded for October since station startup in June 2014. Monthly climate report summaries here: 2018 click for summaries

10/14/2018 2:30pm update: Thought we would melt more snow today but with clouds and wind temperature still 27° at 2pm. Our high temperature occurred at midnight 30°, now thinking we may not reach the midnight reading unless cloudstence freezes with most leaves now off trees. click for complete look After a wet October start we are now 14 days without more than a trace of moisture.

10/19/2018 Added East and West Valentine WS back with Weather Underground which includes live data and useful graphs. Links are found External/links east or west. Those with phone apps are now able to link stations through WU once again for near realtime conditions using WU app. FYI East side weather station near golf course is reporting again. Pointed antenna toward tower but not locked down or tuned so images and data may sometime hang. This upcoming week may have another short outage while permanently mounted. Link for station data found at External links "East Valentine".

6:00am update: 3.1" new snow West Valentine image, (.29") total moisture. NWS issued Winter Weather Advisory which includes Eastern Cherry and Valentine. Roads are snow covered 5am inside Valentine. Ground temperature still above freezing (40°) this morning at 4" depth so settling and melting should occur rapidly today. (If we get sun which we haven't at 1pm)

Testing of the MeteoShields this is what the temperatures look like vs the AC powered fan aspirated shield this morning....Top shield FARS is the official shield used for station and warmest by few tenths because it draws larger air sample and mixes vs the passive shields.. Image shield comparison...... FYI East Valentine station has been logging in sending weather data even though wireless antenna is down for roof work. This upcoming week antenna will be installed correctly and station transmitting ever 5 minutes along with camera images.

10/12/2018 East Valentine weather station and cameras will be down extended period and will go back online sometime next week. Wireless antenna removed for roof project. Removed images from main page temporarily until internet service is restored.

10/10/2018 Update 7:25am: Light snow 1.1" accumulation image, 32° west and east Valentine while Airport as usual +2°.

10/09/2018 So much for fall...Winter Storm warning... issued by NWS FCO North Platte 3-6" possible with locally higher amounts over higher elevation of Sandhills. Forecast is for rain changing over to snow around 7pm central. FYI airport ASOS may struggle to reach freezing throughout much of event, per last check (1720) it was running +2° above both east & west Valentine CWOP stations along with COOP thermometer in town. 39 vs 37°. Sign of the times. Stay safe and avoid travel if possible this evening.

10/08/2018 Winter Weather Advisory has been issued by North Platte NWS office for Valentine area Potential image * WHEN...From 4 PM CDT /3 PM MDT/ Tuesday to 9 AM CDT /8 AM MDT/Wednesday.* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Plan on slippery road conditions,especially Tuesday night. Expect reduced visibilities at times.....The snowfall potential link out of North Platte isn't working yet. If you select South Dakota Aberdeen it is currently working.

7pm update: Cold rain the last two days with .81" total so far west Valentine. Ground soil temperature west Valentine 48° at 4" depth so upcoming potential snowfall should melt rather quickly. Soil temperature compared to Oct.6 2016 is 5° cooler this year due to recent cold rain.

10/06/2018 Update 7:50am, Second freeze this morning, harder this time and more widespread. East side Valentine link near Golf course low has been 24°, here on west side town slightly higher elevation (30 feet) 26° so far this morning. Anyone wanting to track freeze data this season link is here and found under climate /history tab. Stretch of wet weather coming up over next 7 days with some snow wording included.

10/04/2018 Update 7:30am: Light rain with temperature hovering just above freezing (33°), no ice build-up currently. East side station Cocorahs observer also reporting no ice build-up where temperature is 32.4°. First Freeze overnight with West and East stations Valentine reaching 32° 1-1:30am and staying around 30° majority of night. Forecast today chilly with high around 42° & 80% chance of rain.

10/03/2018 Peak gust so far today in town west side 51 MPH, Airport 58 MPH, East side Valentine station 52 MPH. This was at wind-shift with colder air from NW as front moves into area.

10/01/2018 At 6:00am some light drizzle occurred overnight (.03") . Radar showing some light showers hugging SD border and working eastward toward Valentine area. May or may not hold together over next hour or so. Will turn the local Doppler image on as it approaches. Found under radar/satellite tab.

September summary west Valentine Above normal with Mean temperature (63.3°), or (+1°) of normal, average high was (75.5), low (53.2). Precipitation ( 2.23" ) was (+.59") above normal for month. Monthly extremes: high (96.4), low (35), 4 days above 90°, with 0 days freezing or below. Monthly climate report summaries here: 2018 click for summaries

09/26/2018 Scattered frost west Valentine this morning, roofs, some grass and vehicle surfaces. Low was 35° on west side. Frost

09/25/2018 6:00am update. Rain overnight and some thunder (.77") currently west side Valentine, (.74) east side. Rain possible 80% mainly before 10am.

Update:3pm Frost advisory extended all Cherry county for early Wednesday morning. Covering tender plants advised. Freeze warning now extended for Sheridan county. Average first freeze (32°) for Valentine September 28 looks on schedule for some tonight especially the colder spots. Historical Freeze data provided by Crop Watch & High Plains Regional Climate Center (1896-2012) data. Click average freeze dates.

09/20/2018 Light to moderate rain overnight currently has stopped 5:10am. Radar shows more light showers working toward Valentine with showers expected through about 3pm. 2 day storm totals at 5am: west Valentine (1.07"), east side automatic gauge south of city golf course (1.16").

09/19/2018 4PM update: Thunderstorm activity currently ended. Light mist off and on with occasional embedded rain shower not showing on radar. Around town rain totals so far: (.39") west Valentine, (.46") east side automatic, (.41") airport. More activity expected tonight with surface cold front with possible hail.

Some info on east side and west stations: East side is using the passive Barani Design MeteoShield Professional shield. This open unobstructed location has enough air flow the fan aspirated shield isn't required. In town this station after testing for a month its been determined air flow isn't sufficient all the time for passive shield so fan aspirated radiation shield (FARS) is still in use. Long term testing will continue of the Barani shields.

09/18/2018 Why does it look so dry when we are over 6" above normal on year? To summarize we've only had 2 rains above .01 totalling 2" at this station west Valentine since end of July. The camera on weather instruments shows how dry it is with area naturally watered.

09/15/2018 Dense fog this morning. Areas of visibility less than 100 feet.

09/06/2018 Cool morning with airport and east side Valentine 48°, west side this station 50°. Not much happening weather-wise last 3 weeks except for nip in the air. Paper wasp are starting to show up, with queens looking for place to winter.

09/01/2018 August summary west Valentine below normal with Mean temperature (70.3°), or (-2.5°) of normal, average high was (84.5), low (57). Precipitation was near normal ( 2.11" ) at (-.07") for month. Monthly extremes: high (98), low (42), 11 days above 90°, with 0 days freezing or below. Monthly climate report summaries here: 2018 click for summaries

08/29/2018 Cool morning, 42° both east and west Valentine before clouds moved in.

08/24/2018 Anemometer move complete. Thanks to Neil's Tree Service & Lawn Care. Mounted on pole approximately 60' south and 30' tall. This should give better wind exposure being farther away from trees with solid mount providing better accuracy.

08/22/2018 Both east and west Valentine stations solar shield/screen are now using the new helical design Barani Design MeteoShield Professional The company Barani Design Technologies started with development of Formula race cars and later wind turbines. Barani Design has now entered the civil aviation ground meteorological station development arena. I'm currently testing for Barani Design both Professional and standard design shields long term against Davis fan aspirated 7755 and another gilled shield 7714. Testing includes data logging shield level wind data, solar, temperature.

08/22/2018 Added State Roundup link under almanac tab State Roundup This is hourly only, near top of hour.

08/16/2018 Here are some Doppler estimates of rainfall. Hint it usually over estimates but you can still see where heaviest rains fell. Regional estimate, and Local estimate.

08/15/2018 10:00 pm update: Currently clear skies, 60° with 100% humidity, radar returns all east and south of Valentine. Rain totals today west Valentine (1.71") with heaviest downpour 4" per hr. rate (see graphs page) coming around 6:25 pm, airport report is always a mystery? With 24 hr saying 1.52" but 1.42" as new record maybe they end record at 6pm instead of midnight? Never really figured it out, click for REPORT. , Radio station announcer reported coop gauge (1.76"), east side near golf course (1.55") automatic rain gauge. Official Cocorahs on east side 1.59".

6:30 pm update: Heavy downpour mainly north side of town currently reaching almost 4" per hour rate. Yearly rain total now at 22.82" west Valentine, Airport at

First substantial August thunderstorms with (.80) west Valentine, (.77) airport, (.72) far east side automatic gauge. More rain is few minutes away and mention of redevelopment later this evening. Will update totals after it stops. Don't forget for local look at radar GR3 Level-3 radar LINK. Will be active during storms only.

08/11/2018 Uncomfortably warm day for outdoor activities at Cherry County Fair and Rodeo. Highs around town west side 95°, east 96° and airport 97°.

08/03/2018 Added Doppler GR3, Level3 radar link for primarily local Valentine area, whatever user looks at will be displayed on internet feed. This is Doppler radar software uploading images to website. FYI may not keep on all the time it's just using bandwidth if nothing is happening. Newest image will update if in play mode. Reload page also works shows latest still image 10/10. Link is under Radar/satellite tab. GR3 Level-3 radar LINK.

08/02/2018 July summary was slightly below normal with Mean temperature (74.0°), or (-.5°) of normal, average high was (86), low (63). Precipitation was well above normal again (+ 2.66 ) with (5.87") total for month. Monthly extremes: high (99), low (52) with 0 days freezing or below. Monthly climate report summaries here: 2018 click for summaries Valentine has already exceeded it's yearly average rainfall. Airport came in above normal both temperatures and precipitation.

07/30/2018 Thunderstorm early this morning with heavy rain reaching 4.2" per hour rate for few minutes... 24 hour Rain totals..... (.24) west Valentine... (.30") east side automatic... east side official Cocorahs (.34")... airport (.18). Beyond today no mention of rain with only slight chance Saturday, always subject to change with forecast models. Temperatures back into 90's later in week.

07/27/2018 Rain amounts from TS west Valentine .24", airport .22", far east side near golf course only .09". I think Valentine dodged a bullet on this one with storm sliding just west of town, storm intensity peaked about 12 miles SSW with very large area of hail.

5:20pm UPDATE: SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING just issued for Valentine area. Hail is showing on Doppler radar, small but nasty looking thunderstorm dropping out of north again. Update 6:10 PM TS is SW of Valentine updated image here, looking really nasty as hail ball has increased Hail is pink, Click for image.

07/25/2018 Another round of showers & some thunder early hours. This station west (.43"), east (.39"), with airport leading again with (.55"). Tiki torch availability running low around town with perfect mosquito breeding weather. Next good chance rain coming Friday and Friday night 60% with Saturday 30%.

07/22/2018 Update 9:14PM: Three different rain events today since midnight, west Valentine (.97"). Airport (1.00"), east Valentine (.94"). Will update rain totals if they change. Looking at radar the surface trough is slowly moving east and clear of immediate Valentine area and taking thunderstorms with it.

8:30 PM...Another TS from north working and building this direction, bigger with hail. Click for image.

07/21/2018 3.5 magnitude Earthquake struck 10 miles north of Valentine 2:11am, shaking and waking many including barking dogs, rattling shelves and beds. I could hear it first thinking it was large gust of wind before the house shook.... Odd experience.

07/18/2018 Some information for weather geeks you might find interesting on last storm. difference in rain gauges, this was a very wind driven storm. Not surprising the NWS style 8" diameter gauge caught the most with the tipping buckets unable to keep up even at 4" per hour calibration. Rainfall rate of 18" per hour was recorded. Click for graph of high rain rate.

4" diameter cocorahs with modified extra deep funnel for hail catching.......2.13": 8" diameter NWS style made by Novalynx ..2.21": TE 8" tipping bucket rain gauge calibrated at 4" per hour rate..2.03": Rainwise 111 8" tipping bucket calibrated at 4" per hour rate..2.02"

07/16/2018 Updated images again on 18th: Major thunderstorm with high winds uprooting 2 foot diameter trees and blowing power line down. Peak wind this station recorded 60 mph behind a group of large trees but estimate 75-80 mph wind in area. Airport recorded gust 74 mph. This was some of trees down in area most west of main (HW83) with exception of one 1 block east on 3rd St. in Valentine, click for few images. clink for large tree..., snapped..., uprooted and snapped..., uprooted.... clink for large tree on house 1 block east of main... Power went out west side for 2 hours while power line was restored (Good job by city workers in adverse conditions). (2.13") total morning update from CoCorahs gauge. 8" SRG manual (2.21") total rain (adjusted website to Cocorahs) . East Valentine automatic gauge picked up 1.74", Airport 1.73". Estimated Doppler radar storm totals at midnight red and pink the heaviest. click for rainfall totals

2 cameras are down I'll trouble shoot tomorrow possibly rain damage from driven rain but not sure. Something I've noticed since returning to Valentine storms during July dropping out of north WATCHOUT they carry lots of wind. The 30' anemometer flag pole was bent so far over I thought it was going to break so was surprised it recorded only 60 mph gust and that might be why. Need to guy wire keeping it up straight. (Next project).

07/14/2018 1:20 PM update: Cold front has been slowly pushing east with a light band of rain showers approaching Valentine area.

07/13/2018 Storm update: Rainfall amounts west Valentine 1.77", Airport 2.18", East Valentine located just south of golf course 1.64" automatic gauge, some 100 yards east official Cocorahs gauge 1.68". Also airport set a daily record for date with 1.87" at midnight.

FYI changed humidity/temperature sensor west Valentine just before rain yesterday. Also new sensor install complete today at east Valentine station. I'll be changing these out in spring next year as yearly maintenance.

07/12/2018 Good chance for heavy rain today. July typically doesn't get many rain days compared to May and June but when it comes can be heavy. 1"+ possible with storms later today and night with slight chance severe weather which would include large hail and wind.

07/11/2018 Final high temperatures west Valentine 99.5°. East Valentine just south of golf course 100.0°. Not much in heat index increase with dew points around 58° during peak of heat. Rain still in forecast Thursday night increased to 80% so more confidence.

Valentine has been upgraded to Slight Risk severe weather for Thursday, #2 on 0-5 scale. Somehow slight doesn't seem very likely even though it's above marginal. Tomatoes are turning red so expect hail.

07/01/2018 June summary this station. Temperatures above normal, Mean temperature (70.1°), or (+2.6°) above normal, average high was (82.8 ), low (58.6). Precipitation was well above normal (+ 2.41 ) with (5.97") total for month. Monthly extremes: high (100), low (44) with 0 days freezing or below. Monthly climate report summaries here: 2018 click for summaries More information below on wet June...

East Valentine Cocorahs monthly rain total ended up with: Station NE-CH-3 June total (6.55") and west side NE-CH-1 (5.98")...In contrast the Brownlee cher013 (Nebraska Rain site) some 36 miles south only reported a monthly total of (2.83") ? on possible missing data. Going west Cody 8.2 SSW another (Nebraska Rain site) reported (6.53") and finally just 16 miles north of Valentine in South Dakota, Olsonville 4.5 SE reported a monthly June total of (7.57") and was highest official amount in immediate area with Valentine airport right behind at (7.30").

06/30/2018 11PM update: Another round of heavy rain this evening with peak rainfall rate 3.2" per hr. on west side town. Rainfall amounts since midnight West side (1.30), Airport (1.14), East side automatic gauge (1.13). East Cocorahs may be slightly different. Airport monthly total came close to record, adding today's total now reported lower at (1.12") monthly looks like (7.30") preliminary subject to change. Record is (8.63") in 2014. In comparison west side Valentine June total this station (5.97"), Monthly summary tomorrow. Climatological Summary numbers are updated and available each day about 5 minutes after midnight with NOAA reports 2018 click for summaries

10:AM Doppler radar storm estimates with yellow and red the heaviest, blue lightest. Click for images, around town and region More thunderstorms are expected to develop late this afternoon and continue into the evening hours. 40% chance for Valentine after 2pm.

06/28/2018 Heat index west Valentine (100°-102°) was common for several hours this afternoon. Still muggy out 7pm with upper 90's. Strong cap in place so forecast has only slight chance thunderstorm development this evening. (91°) was high (non heat index) temperature both east and west Valentine today, with warm morning lows of 70-69°.

06/26/2018 6:00am update: Heavy fog early this morning with visibility low looking at cameras on east side near HW 12 and HW 83 cameras at SD border looks like near zero visibility.

06/24/2018 Thunderstorm brought brief but very heavy rain. Updated totals (.68) West side this station in about 17 minutes. (.62) East side CWOP automatic station also a second Cocorahs gauge 100 yards distance recorded (.63), and airport (.57)..... Rainfall rate peaked at 5" per hour for brief period west side. Image of wild rain west side click for downpour image.... Forecast has more rain chances around 50% into Monday.

06/20/2018 3PM update: New daily record rainfall for date airport (3.04), crushed old record (1.17) set 1904. Airport is now 5.28" on month putting it +2.86 above normal for June and for the year total moisture 14.17" since Jan 1. This station west Valentine yearly total is 12.8", missing out on most of heaviest rain last night.

4:35 AM. Valentine had a near stationary heavy rain cell parked overhead with parts of town getting dumped on. The airport south side 2.06" in 1 hour, east Valentine 1.25" while west Valentine only around .55" same period.

At 5 AM: 24 hour rain totals Airport (2.34"), West Valentine (.72"), East side, automatic gauge (1.43").

06/18/2018 4 PM: Much needed rain with lots of cloud to cloud lightning making for a constant rumble. Since midnight (1.28") west Valentine, East side automatic gauge (1.32"). Airport if I read correctly is reporting (1.17") since midnight. I may need to revise airport amount if I find out different. Potential of more heavy rain Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

06/17/2018 Warm front moved closer to Valentine bringing rain and thunder overnight with (.14) rain since midnight making 24 hr.total (.55), East side (.52), Airport (.39). More chances of rain and thunderstorms coming daily over the next week.

06/16/2018 Update 6:10 pm second round rain lighter this time. Total so far today west Valentine (.41). East side wx station (.36), airport rain gauge (.22). Atmosphere still juiced for more convection, looking at dew point temperature still upper 60's more to come is very possible this evening should the stationary front drift east a few miles. The SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH continues until midnight.

5:48 pm: Rapid thunderstorm development and heavy rain west Valentine. Small hail ball associated with 36,000 foot top storm passed just west of Valentine less than 1 mile. (.32) precipitation fell west Valentine in few minutes. We are still under a severe thunderstorm watch currently.

06/14/2018 Hot day reaching 98° both east and west Valentine stations. Heat index high was 103° so felt warmer than actual thermometer. Looking ahead chance of thunderstorms increase Friday night into weekend. At sunset 9:20pm dew point had dropped back into 40's from mid 60's earlier.

06/11/2018 Thunderstorm cluster clipped Valentine area last night, heaviest rain stayed WNW with (.03) west Valentine and mainly gusty winds felt around town 2:30am. Airport south side (61)mph, over on east side and open station (51)mph, here on west side Valentine with heavy tree foliage (41)mph. At 5am another small line developing 41 miles west of Valentine moving east.

06/10/2018 Heat index reached 98° east and west Valentine stations today. dew point range was 70-73° most of afternoon verified with sling psychrometer. Thunderstorms far NW zone tonight, at 10pm moving NE direction into SD but can't be ruled out with 30% chance between midnight and 2AM. More normal like temperatures early week before heating up into 90's on Thursday. Slight chance of rain returns Wednesday.

06/09/2018 First measurably rainfall for normally wet June as line of thunderstorms developed and moved through area yesterday evening. Cody Ne. and NW of Mission SD both reported hail. The Cody hail estimated (1.5") to near golf ball size (1.68") from images. Highest tops noticed on Doppler radar were around 44,000' same area hail was reported. This station west Valentine Cocorahs recorded (.54) rain, east of town Cocorahs gauge recorded (.51) with CWOP automatic tipping bucket gauge 100 yards distance picking up (.58).

06/08/2018 4PM: Atmosphere is getting juiced this afternoon. Mid to upper 60's dew point temperature both east and west Valentine. Risk of severe weather has also increased with Valentine area within enhanced risk zone this evening. Wind damage is main concern with potential large hail 1"+ according to forecaster discussion.

06/06/2018 First 100°F degree day both east and west Valentine stations recorded yesterday. It's been an abnormal dry stretch for this time of year (9 days) without more than trace of moisture along with temperatures already heating up reminiscent of the blistering hot July of last year. Hopefully this trend doesn't continue before it turns into drought. Dry conditions tend to feed upon itself until a major weather pattern shift occurs.

Unusual event last night, temperature spiked into low 90's around 1:30 am. Result of decaying thunderstorms in area last night called 'heat burst'. I've seen wind reaching into 60mph range here in Valentine couple years ago from same phenomenon which usually only occur at night.

06/02/2018 Yesterday's thunderstorm development started here in Valentine area first with a juiced atmosphere, dewpoints reached into low 70°'s. Fortunately for Valentine as storms gathered strength they had drifted few miles to E, NE with many of those areas reporting 1-1.5" hail including storm chaser report of 2.5" with photo 1 mile from Ainsworth. Doppler radar indicated tops on some storms reaching 50,000' which can produce significant hail/wind damage.

06/01/2018 May summary this station. Temperatures well above normal with Mean temperature (63.1°), or (+5.5°) above normal, the average high was (75.9 ), low (50.4). Precipitation was above normal (+ 1.27 ) with (4.40") total for month. Monthly extremes: high (94), low (34) with 0 days freezing or below. Monthly climate report summaries here: 2018 click for summaries

Looking at Forecaster discussion from early morning, the convection outlook for today has shifted east for main supercell development. We still have a 30% chance of severe weather but main area for development is east of HW 183 going more SE. Update: 7:30am RAP is trending convection chances higher back toward Valentine this morning on latest hourly runs so good day to monitor weather sources for any changes.

05/29/2018 Goes 16 Satellite is now operational for public, link has been added Radar/Satellite tab for high resolution image loops. GOES 16 link There have been recent issues with images not updating so current Zulu time has been added. Upper Mississippi Valley and Northern Rockies both cover this region.

05/24/2018 Late update this evening strong thunderstorm developed east of Valentine multiple reports including video and photo's of small well developed funnel cloud. No reports of touchdown. Image of funnel cloud Not my image from Valentine cemetery was posted to public on facebook.

05/24/2018 Another line of TS followed by showers last night, 24 hour Cocorahs totals 7am (.31) west Valentine, (.32) east Valentine ... Airport 24 hour reports (.30). Warm temperatures ahead looks like upper 80's to mid 90's through Sunday with next chance rainfall starting Sunday evening and continues into next week.

05/22/2018 Patchy ground fog this morning near the east Valentine station location. East side station location

FYI West looking Valentine camera went down today. Until replaced rearranged front page index, if missing satellite loop visit USA Full page Satellite Loop

05/20/2018 Light soaking rain yesterday, (.44) west side, (.39) east side and airport. May has exceeded the normal monthly total by +(0.37) west Valentine so any additional rain will be bonus. We also avoided any late spring freeze thanks to heavy cloud cover when it did get cold so the Lilocks are blooming nicely for first time in 4 years.

05/18/2018 Strong line of thunderstorms last night followed by several hours of rain. No hail observed this station west side. Cocorahs amounts West Valentine 1.34, East Valentine 1.50. Airport is reporting 24 hour total 1.28" and peak wind gust 54mph. East Valentine peak gust 46mph while in town (this station) west side only 38mph with blocking tree foliage out now. Another round of rain and TS expected tonight.

05/17/2018 Active wet period ahead with potential rainfall amounts through Saturday evening. NWS Rainfall potential graphic

05/16/2018 5:35 update: Hearing several cracks of thunder. Isolated TS cells developed. Cell to NW has strengthened 33,600' top with small hail ball, moving off NE.

05/11/2018 7am:Cocorahs 24 hour rain totals West Valentine (.76), East Valentine (.72). Airport reported (.77). More cells moving though area this morning primarily southern Cherry county some working this direction.

Some visible wind damage as heading toward East Valentine weather station this morning, 1-ridge cap on roof lifted, 1-flag pole blown over, several shingles dislodged along with broken tree limbs. Rather large tree approx. 36" diameter snapped at trunk.

05/10/2018 Update: 11:00 pm rain has stopped after several thunderstorms rolled though area followed by steady rain. West Valentine daily rain total currently (.76). Airport reporting (.77). East Valentine automatic gauge (.80) but unofficial until Cocorahs 7am tomorrow. Airport reported amazing 77 mph wind gust while in town west side 46 mph, east Valentine reported 49 mph gust. This high wind occurred toward end of rain event with rather cold air temperatures in the low-mid 40's the strong ESE wind developed, may have been some sort of broad outflow wind with this huge area wrapped like a cyclone but will wait for an official explanation if given by NWS. They were very busy with a couple tornadoes down south last night. UPDATE: NWS explanation : outflow from storms to the east

05/10/2018 One of the forecast guidance models Rapid refresh HRRR from 12 noon CTZ model run has potential 1" rainfall Valentine tonight. Rainfall potential . The next 6-7 weeks are generally considered wettest period for Valentine with potential big rainfall numbers through end of June. Last year we missed out on the big spring rains resulting in drier than normal conditions going into summer and the blistering hot July resulted.

Still not seeing any mid to late May freeze on horizon which is a little unusual, especially considering how cold this winter was. Fingers crossed, garden is planted.

05/08/2018 First significant thunderstorms last night. Cocorahs reports west Valentine this station (.49), east side Valentine reported (.60), Airport between at (.53). Highest peak wind gust with TS last night occurred west Valentine 45 mph around 1:12am, while airport and east Valentine peaked around 40 mph.

05/07/2018 Added station solar sensor today . Solar radiation can be seen on bottom 2 graphs of graph page along with front dashboard. Also solar data is being transmitted to CWOP from this station.

05/03/2018 Starting today station and website will display adjusted SEA LEVEL PRESSURE (SLP) instead of aviation Altimeter. Sea level pressure use several parameters to calculate pressure including 12 hr. Mean Air Temperature, Outside Humidity, Elevation, Atmospheric Pressure. CWOP prefers altimeter because of simplicity with few PWS having ability to calculate SLP so will continue sending altimeter to CWOP as before. For altimeter 5 minute updates here.

05/01/2018 April summary this station. Temperatures well below normal with Mean temperature (39.2°), or (-7.5°) below normal, the average high was (53.5 ), low (26.3). Precipitation was below normal (- 0.52 ) with (1.70") total for month including 17.6" snow along with 24 hour spring Blizzard. Monthly extremes high (83), low (6) with 19 days freezing or below and (0) Days below zero. Monthly climate report summaries here: 2018 click for summaries

FYI removed the east of Valentine cameras temporarily. UPDATE: wireless Internet provider for East Valentine station and cameras back up 9pm.

04/26/2018 Switched ISP service for website to DSL, hopefully this proves more reliable with inclement weather. The phone lines and DSL stayed up throughout the Blizzard unlike cable. All time high 411 visitors when internet went down and stayed down throughout most of Blizzard. The east of Valentine cameras and weather station (doesn't record snowfall) did stay up throughout however. (different ISP) NWS updates also continued.

04/18/2018 Another snow last night. (.27) moisture with light snow currently at 6am and couple new inches on ground.

04/16/2018 7:15am: Cold again this morning for mid April with lows in single digits. East Valentine down to 6° while west side this station 9°. This is second day with back to back record low temperatures, the old record in 1951 was 12°. Still have areas of snow drifts 30" deep measured yesterday west Valentine. Snow melt yesterday slowed down likely due to the very cold morning low from yesterday morning. My guesstimate today if averaged out is around 5" still on ground. The deep areas and their are many may take some rain or warm temperatures before melting. Ground soil temperature sensor this morning is 34° at 4" depth.

04/15/2018 Cold Sunday morning underway for mid April. Updated 7:20am: Lows 6° west Valentine, 9° east Valentine where wind speeds are higher. Revised estimated snowfall yesterday 11 inches from 11.5". Snow loss guestimate yesterday due to melting and 7 hours sunshine with above freezing soil temperature around (4").

Just noticed the old record low for Valentine (Officially) was 14° on April 15, 1905... So the unmentioned thermometer may even get there, due to back in the good ol'days when it was acting normal winter lows ran 2-3° lower than in town, especially with ground snowcover sometimes -5° lower. That's normal.

04/14/2018 Some images 3:15pm with snow already melting around town and plows busy everywhere. West Valentine 3rd St. & Thatcher this wxstation location I think west Valentine wins on snowfall again ....... downtown area side street...... Digging out garage this morning, finally short clip of brave soul changing Cocorahs gauge yesterday. Click for video clip.

04/14/2018 Snowfall from blizzard of 2018 is 11.0" revised estimate from snowmelt. Total moisture .84 of that .73 was snowfall. 2-4' drifts common in area with some reported higher. Our snowfall experiment at East Valentine station failed with bad location selection. 1.62 inches moisture was recorded which would of been 20+" snowfall. Apparently the nearby windbreak of trees (small pines) also collected and wind drifted snow into gauge due to the strong winds 60 mph at times was best estimate what went wrong.

FYI the ground being warm above freezing (36°) today and strong sun angle the snow should melt fast.

04/13/2018 7pm update: Estimate current new snowfall using heated rain gauge for now (Manual rain gauges are also collecting moisture and will be primary once storm subsides) using the 15:1 moisture ratio 7.5" new snow. This includes subtracting the early rainfall. Visibility is down to near zero at times.. The snow stake will not show correct snowfall its blowing right by and drifting against buildings and other structures. Also something about Airport ASOS it stopped reporting snowfall at 4PM. (Its broke) This is why site only shows freezing Fog, I use the airport metar for conditions. ....

Some reported wind gust from Blizzard the East Valentine station 57 MPH, In town this station on west side 54 MPH, Airport ASOS 59 MPH

Reminder power outage/internet outages are possible today should website stop updating. Light rain overnight, ground/soil temperature is 45° this morning at 4" depth. The correct air temperature is 33 both east side and west Valentine at 8am. Reading forecast discussion this morning 15:1 is expected snow to water ratio, previous thought was higher at 20:1 so snow amounts backed off somewhat but still 9"-18" is forecasters thought for Valentine.

04/12/2018 UPDATE 11:45am: BLIZZARD WARNING issued by NWS.

5AM: Serious wording in forecast discussion this morning for dangerous winter storm ahead. Valentine area snowfall likely now at 14" for a crippling winter type system that will bring significant snows and extreme wind with Blizzard conditions nearly certain now for the Sandhills and northern Nebraska. potential for the loss of life of ranching values, especially newborn/infant calves as the forecast calls for a cold rain that will transition to snow with the arrival of Arctic air. Click for Snowfall Potential tool here.

Soil temperature this morning Valentine 4" depth 43° will have some impact on accumulation but as mentioned in discussion 15" snowfall even with ground temperature the high winds and certain drifting will have major impact. The 14" snowfall likely could actually be on conservative side using the NAM model with 21" Valentine and 30" just to west and north. Click for NAM image...Just FYI measuring snowfall with 40-50 mph winds is near impossible so moisture content along with snowfall temperature/moisture ratio table published by NOAA will be relied upon. Click for .pdf link to snowmelt table estimator. ......We were going to try and also measure the snowfall moisture at east Valentine station just for this storm, problem is we only have 1 spare Cocorahs gauge and it really takes 2 because snowfall will overflow 4" diameter gauge in a few hours so this may be off. Updated plan: for snow catch at east Valentine station, Cocorahs observer will be using a secondary container for storage preventing overflow in cold garage to prevent evaporation of sample. Cocorahs should be proud as I am with an Korean Veteran east Valentine station still doing something for America at 80+.

04/06/2018 11:40AM Cocorahs report: Sun breaking through but very cold with windchill 3°. (1.1") new snow with (.09) snowmelt today. Air temperature 16° but dipped to 12° about 9:30AM. Very light snow flurries currently but still have some green radar echoes developing to the west moving east.

Potential for breaking 2nd record cold low this April overnight. Old record is 6° at airport. Much depends on lack of cloud cover low wind speeds and how much snow is left on ground. At 9pm temperatures running 2° warmer vs the record low on 4th. Click for RAP forecast Lows

04/04/2018 Very cold last night for spring weather. Some lows this morning 3° at the East Valentine station, in town this station 6°, Airport had record low 5° reported. We are not out of the winter pattern yet with more snow in forecast Thursday night and Friday. Good thing about this time of year the sun intensity is strong and ground is above freezing so it melts fast.

NOAA Radio stream Valentine area live again. (Request from visitor) NOAA WXN82 STREAM

04/03/2018 FYI was looking at latest RAP model run at 6pm our low temperatures forecast by RAP single digits tomorrow morning. Snow pack melted down today so RAP may be over doing depth and cold. But with calving season something ranchers should be aware lows may dip below forecast. Click for RAP forecast Lows

04/03/2018 Cocorahs update 1pm west Valentine 2.7" storm total new snow. Additional .01 after 7am, storm total (.23) moisture from snow melt, air temperature 20°. Warm ground and high sun angle has already melted the roads.

04/01/2018 March summary this station. Temperature below normal with Mean temperature (34.4), was (-1.8°) below normal, the average high was (47 ), low (23.6). Precipitation was above normal (+ 0.63 ) with (1.70) total for month and 9.4" snow. Monthly extremes high (71), low (7) with 29 days freezing or below and (0) Days below zero. Monthly climate report summaries here: 2018 click for summaries

03/29/2018 1.3" new snow today. Snowmelt .13,

03/27/2018 Some winter statistics over last 4 seasons this station. Dec, Jan, Feb. 2017-2018 was coldest with mean temperature 21.5° , 2016-2017 mean 24.1°, 2015-2016 mean 27.8°, 2014-2015 mean 25.3°. Coldest single month was also this year February 2018 mean 17.9°. Next coldest month was Dec 2016 mean 19.2°. Snowiest month was February 2017 20" which also recorded most snow single storm 14" .

03/26/2018 Yesterday morning completed semi-annual testing of station thermometers verifying calibrations are within specifications (+/-) .2F. All 3 units used at this station passed against certified NIST Traceable accuracy (.09F). This test is done near 0C (+/-) 2C to fall within range of certification on test thermometer. Testing was done with stiff breeze so air is well mixed and temperatures fairly steady yesterday morning. Did have an older sensor no longer in use fail test. Test will be repeated in the fall.

03/25/2018 5:30AM: Freezing drizzle this morning forming ICE on contact. Temperature at 29° both east and west Valentine.

03/19/2018 10:25pm snow has stopped..Final Cocorahs update: 2.1" daily total, .27" storm total snowmelt.

1.5" as of 9:35am Temperature just below freezing this morning east and west stations at 31.6°. Airport +2° (33.8°).

2" accumulation is possible, we are almost there with radar returns building SD again with wrap around movement toward Valentine area. Here is best radar for site, Click for Radar Slow loading but works well once loaded.

03/17/2018 New snowfall 2 tenths added on late last night with additional .02 moisture making yesterdays total 4.8" (.91) moisture. 6am ground depth on morning observation 4". Also both east and west side wx station anemometers are currently froze and not moving from ice storm yesterday. They should start working again once the sun comes out or wind picks up. This was first time and rare event for anemometers to freeze up.

03/16/2018 3:20pm update final: Snow total 4.6". Cocorahs snow melt and mix total .89". Looks like winter event is over.

10am update: Freezing rain has turned to sleet. Several tenths of ice build up being covered by sleet with snow to follow soon. 11:30am Sleet turn over to mainly snow mixed with sleet until around noon before all snow and heavy at times.

Icy conditions this morning with light freezing rain. Sleet, freezing rain and eventually snow expected later today. This mornings Cocorahs gauge shows Ice build up with just .08 precipitation.

3:00 AM light freezing rain has started with surfaces freezing on contact. Current air temperature 31.0° both east and west Valentine, warmer airport thermometer reads 33°. Click for Ice build up. The airport ASOS thermometer continues to read +2° high. I've removed all direct airport thermometer links including NOAA radio broadcast from website until its accurate again.

03/15/2018 Winter Storm Warning updated by NWS for western and eastern Cherry county do to heavy mixed precipitation expected with 1 to 3 tenths ice build up along with snow accumulations of 3 to 5 inches with higher amounts possible going west toward Pine Ridge. Current thinking on snowfall amounts click on, Snowfall Potential ....Winter Storm Warning has been extended to include almost all counties on SD/Nebraska border.

03/06/2018 Updated 11am: Light snow this morning with wind gust still in the 30mph at times. 1" new snow estimated due to drifting using snow melt 16:1 ratio (.06) melt.

03/05/2018 Some High wind gust so far today with 30° air temperature 12 noon. East Valentine 55, west Valentine 53 mph. Winter Weather Advisory eastern Cherry extended until noon Tuesday. Snow amounts Valentine not expected to exceed 1" in upcoming winter event. So far only .2 tenths snowfall from last night.

03/04/2018 6:30am update: Fog (freezing) this morning with just below freezing temperatures both East and West side Valentine. ICE has formed on chain link fencing west Valentine with temperature between 31.1 to 31.5°. Airport visitors with ASOS thermometer still running 2 degrees warmer (33.8°) could be in for a surprise. Make sure you deice because the chain link doesn't lie. 10am update: Ice has melted as temperature above freezing with light mist.

03/01/2018 February summary this station. Temperature well below normal and coldest month station history (4 years) and ranks inside top 20 of coldest February's dating back to 1890. Mean temperature (17.9) below average (-9.3° ), average high (30.6 ), low (4.3). Precipitation was above normal (+ 0.21 ) with (0.69) total for month and 10.5" snow. Monthly high (53.2), low (-16.8) with all 28 days freezing or below and (8) Days below zero. Monthly climate report summaries here: 2018 click for summaries

02/24/2018 11am 1.2" new snow, Moisture content 11:1 ratio. (.11)...Looking ahead more normal like temperatures with even few 40's over next 10 days, with slow absorption into frozen ground will experience more standing water until evaporated or ground thaws. Good setup for fog under right conditions.

02/23/2018 Below zero again this morning, -1° west side and just dipping below -.4 on east side. This makes 8 below zero days this February on west side with 22 total this winter. Another 1-3" of snow expected in next storm late tonight into Saturday.

02/22/2018 New snow total today at 5:00pm 1.3", moisture content (.09), 14:1 ratio

02/21/2018 Looks like a good chance of snow tomorrow 1-3", with one model at 1" another 4". Very cold temps last night as one of the colder February's continues with east side weather station getting down to -21° this morning. Big spread of temperatures last night reaching 10° differential at times between east and west Valentine. Final lows: Valentine west side -14°, east side -21°.

02/20/2018 7:40AM winter storm update: 4.2" new snow total with light snow continuing but radar echoes diminishing. FYI the snow stick has wallowed out around base about 1/2" deep from wind so shows less than actual depth off snow board. This snow turned into a 20:1 ratio with near zero temperatures.

Currently 6am light snow 1° air temperature both west and east Valentine stations, Mesonet stations in area Sparks 0° and Merritt -1°. Airport coming in warmest reporting 3°. Windchill west Valentine -13, open area east side -17.

02/19/2018 Update:10:05pm moderate snow at times 2" storm total. 4° air temperature currently, windchill -14. Note the heated rain gauge may not keep up with this type of dry snow and low temperatures. Manual snowmelt will be done and total precipitation count updated later.

02/18/2018 Upcoming winter storm NWS issued WINTER WEATHER AVISORY for eastern Cherry county with WINTER STORM WARNING for western Cherry, stay tuned for upcoming NWS forecast updates if necessary as we get closer to event. Another tool available is Snowfall Potential.

02/16/2018 If it feels like its been abnormally cold this month, it has. West Valentine through Feb. 15 average high 28.6°, low 2.3°, mean 16.1 which is -11.1° below normal.

02/15/2018 Arctic cold front moving through this afternoon with a little freezing rain just before snow. Between freezing rain and snow melt which produced standing water yesterday, lots of ice with roads slippery in area.

02/10/2018 Windchill warning issued by NWS this morning. Low temperatures so far around town west Valentine (-16.8°) east Valentine (-18.3°) . -35° east Valentine, -22° west Valentine.

02/09/2018 Evening update 10pm WIND CHILL advisory issued by NWS with temperatures starting to tank under fresh snow, arctic air and clear skies. Already -7° east, west Valentine with airport -8 and Merritt Mesonet -9. Any wind tonight will bring low windchills.

02/09/2018 Final storm Update today: 5:30PM.... Cocorahs new snow total 2.8", moisture (.20"), total snow depth 3.8". Current air temperatures around area 3° west, east Valentine, Merritt Mesonet. Sparks Mesonet at 2°, airport ASOS 5°. Temperatures forecast to dip single digit below zero tonight. (Doesn't have far to go even if it stays cloudy) Some areas south of Valentine reported 4+ inches while areas NW Nebraska 11" where models really underestimated.

5AM: Light snow overnight, (4°) currently both east and west Valentine stations. Other temperatures 5am Sparks Mesonet 2°, Merritt Mesonet 4°. Airport ASOS Miller Field coming in much warmer at 6.8°. New snowfall .4 tenth inch (.02) moisture at 4am. Rapid Refresh (RAP) models increased potential snowfall today, now 3-4" ending 4-5pm.

02/07/2018 Update: Models backed off on snowfall amounts now 1-2" for area, follow latest NWS forecast updates for details along with any changes as event approaches. For latest Snowfall Potential

Cold morning below zero with this station west Valentine just below (-.2 ) while east Valentine station (-2.3°).

02/04/2018 Final Cocorahs numbers from Arctic snow overnight with plenty of wind moving snow around. New snow .8" (.06") moisture. Overnight lows reached (-1F) both east and west Valentine stations with current air temperature 10am 3F west 2F east Valentine. Windchill was observed at -22° below overnight in town.

02/01/2018 January summary this station. Temperature below normal minus (-0.9°), Mean temperature (22.7), average high (35.1), low (10.3). Precipitation was above normal (+.37) with (.63) total for month. Monthly high (59.6), low (-25.7) with all 31 days freezing or below and (6) Days below zero. Monthly climate report summaries here: 2018 click for summaries East Valentine station summary below with monthly highlights.

January highlights East Valentine station *Near new golf course, mean temperature (21.6). Precipitation (missing), Monthly high (61) low (-27).

Today's weather note windchill around -10° early this morning with temperature 5F. Snow cover has diminished but still prevalent around town with 50% bare ground mainly non shaded areas. Going east of town HW 12 snow is 80-90% gone.

01/22/2018 Winter Storm final update 4:40am Official Cocorahs (6.1") total new snow. (.35) moisture total. Ground depth 5.7" at observation. The snow stake differs because wind has funneled around base of stake.. The stake is for reference only for this reason along with warming above air temperature in sunlight and melts snow at base.

Some storm observations, we do have drifting snow in area with wind gusting to 30 mph. Forecasters and models did well in predicting snow total for area. 6-8" was the general consensus with 7" being most likely. The heated rain-gauge kept up with manual Cocorahs snow melt readings with 25-32F temperatures surprisingly well only 1 tip of bucket short, unlike colder storms where much would evaporate. The airport thermometer reading +2F warm was above freezing through first half of storm. Why they don't fix I can only surmise.

01/21/2018 4:45 AM Winter storm still on schedule with NWS along with Winter storm Warning in place. Valentine snow amount still around 7" likely. RAP short term hourly model last run has Valentine in the no doubter category with 6-8" by midnight and still more coming. (Subject to change throughout day) This is just one model out of several but one I like during events because of the hourly updates. This model also shows first teaser flakes around 6am this morning with possibly inch by noon and then intensifying during afternoon. RAP Snowfall Potential

01/20/2018 Winter storm Warning issued. Looking at snow amounts NWS has Valentine most likely around 7". One model has 3" for lowest amount with highest at 9".

01/16/2018 Upcoming snow potential Sunday both NAM and GFS latest runs have area in potential 4-6" range. This will be warmer system with more moisture vs arctic snows hopefully avoiding the freezing rain like last storm. Still early on so changes likely, stay tuned for NWS forecast office updates. Added North Platte and Rapid City Forecast offices to Snowfall Potential

01/16/2018 8:25am: Doesn't look like it will make teens below zero with (-12) both east and west Valentine so far. Deeper snow pack would of helped temperatures really plummet which we don't have. Only patches snow on far east side and just inch on west. East Valentine wind stayed up some all night causing low windchills. Big warmup after today with another chance of storm on Saturday. Updated soil temps this morning. Frozen solid down to 28" with 4" depth at 9F and 36" depth 34°.

01/15/2018 Teens below zero expected tonight with optimal radiational cooling expected and wind speeds decreasing. Windchill warning has also been issued, even light winds can bring windchill dangerously low with air temperatures negative teens.

1PM: Coldest daytime temperatures of the year factoring in bitter windchills (-25°) range, current air temperatures east Valentine (-2), west Valentine (-1), old town Thatcher (-2).

01/14/2018 7PM and final update: (.2") new snow. We lost more snow during the rain than we gained. Current ground depth (.8"). Snow has ended with wind gusting into 30's this evening as temperatures plummet below zero by sunrise..

2:40 PM: Light snow (33.4°), East Valentine (33.5°) no new accumulation yet. Airport reports 2 degrees warmer (35.6°).. Freezing temperatures due around 4pm. Another Arctic blast moves in tonight with single digits around midnight. Bitter cold tomorrow with high forecast near 5°.

01/13/2018 Snowfall update 10:10pm (.8) inch new, moisture content (.06), Looks like radar returns have ended. Still few flakes falling.

01/12/2018 First new snow accumulation for month .9" at 1:30pm. (.05) water content with temperature during snowfall 2-4F. Radar returns have diminished.

01/11/2018 Update from yesterdays winter storm: Just a dusting and trace accumulation of snow, main snow band developed just east of Valentine area. Surfaces in Valentine are iced over from freezing rain which fell with temperatures as low as 15F. Total precipitation from storm (.07) mix of rain/freezing rain/sleet/snow. Bitter wind chills -20 common with gust as high as 38mph and -0F air temperature as of 8am. Peak wind gust yesterday in town was impressive 48 mph and 45 at east Valentine station. Doesn't happen often where in town gust is higher than open area East Valentine station. Lowest observed wind chill was -22 around 5am.

01/09/2018 Very warm today 58F both west and east Valentine stations. This was NOT A Record day in town or east side as the airport reported its 61 degrees. Wednesday's winter storm has some uncertainty with rain to snow changeover due to warm pre-frontal temperatures and how much falls as rain vs snow. Stay tuned for NWS updates if necessary will automatically appear top of home page images.

*Here are the Yearly Mean temperatures from prior years this station differences vs Airport. 2015 and 2016 only a few tenths while 2017 jumped to 1.5F

2015 (49.2F) ....... Airport ASOS 49.5F .3 difference

2016 (50.2F) ....... Airport ASOS 50.3F .1 difference

2017 (49.0F) (coolest of last 3 years) ....... Airport ASOS (50.5F) +1.5 difference ( 5th Warmest on record)

2017 suddenly in March airport went much warmer

Nearby Ainsworth airport (36 miles) is the same with 2017 being cooler than previous 2 years not warmer. Same with 14 miles south of Mission Coop weather station, 2017 was cooler not warmer. Evidence is clear starting in 2017 the Valentine ASOS started running warm beyond the fact I've compared physically against NIST certified thermometer and see +bias (1.7) on ASOS along with MADIS clearly indicating sudden rise in March 2017.

Ainsworth yearly Mean temperature

2015 (51.5F)

2016 (52.4F)

2017 (51.1F) Coolest of last 3 years not warmest

Yearly summary 2017 Mean temperature 49.0 (+1.1) above normal. High (108), Low (-20). Peak wind gust (49 mph), Precipitation 20.37 (+.35) This was the coolest year in last 3, or since beginning of this stations data.

Contrarily airport mean temperature was (50.5) 5th warmest ever. Airport was within a few tenths every year prior until now (+1.5) above this station and surrounding stations continuing into 2018. Changeover +1.7 was recorded and observed by MADIS in March which was same time I noticed the sudden rise. MADIS is meteorological observational database and data delivery system which tracks all data.

The irony of it all, its now confirmed right here in Nebraska "Man Made Warming" is real by just turning the thermometers up and bingo you have it. To my surprise while researching it was pointed out by another weather enthusiast, these Airport ASOS stations everyone thought so accurate including myself actually have loose tolerances on thermometer (+/- 2F) so weather records can get smashed by just having poorly calibrated instruments and still be within specs.

December summary this station. Temperature normal thanks to extended cold snap end of month only plus (+0.1F), Mean temperature (23.9), average high (35), low (13). Precipitation was normal at (.39) for month. Monthly high (61.6), low (-19.5) with 29 days freezing or below and (8) Days below zero. Monthly climate report summaries here: 2017 click for summaries East Valentine station summary below with monthly highlights.

December highlights East Valentine station *Near new golf course, mean temperature (24). Precipitation (missing), Monthly high (61) low (-20).

1/01/2018 Update 8:35 : Extreme cold this New Year day morning (-26) this station, (-27) East Valentine station.

1/01/2018 Happy New Year to all, it was (-19)F in Valentine as 2018 came in.

12/31/2017 Temperatures this morning being held up slightly by clouds and light flurries. Wind is light with low wind chill at times. Lows so far (-15F) this station and (-14) east Valentine. High temperature today staying below zero and dropping near (-20) between midnight and sunrise New Years morning. Could be one of the colder News Years but not a record. Record lows -27 on 31st and -30 on Jan 1.

12/30/2017 Update: 9:30pm very light snow currently with daily total 1". Radar returns have diminished.

12/30/2017 Light snow flurries overnight and may continue off and on with better chance 60% this afternoon. At 5:30am .2" .01 moisture. Wind chill warning for tonight starting 11pm CTZ has been issued, high temperature today was at midnight (1F) with temperatures staying below zero dropping to around -17 by sunrise Sunday. Negative temperatures all day Sunday dropping into -20's Monday morning before warm-up next week with only slightly below normal temperatures.

12/29/2017 Today the arctic cold arrives with steady temperature decline down to 3F by 6pm per RAP model. Highs Saturday near zero & staying below zero Sunday, lows negative mid teens Saturday night and low -20's Monday morning. Chances of snow have trended down to 30% tonight and 40% Saturday.

12/26/2017 Light snow yesterday and overnight. Very cold morning with lows as of 7:40am (-12F) this station, (-13) East Valentine station. Another day of single digit highs around 4F. Cold forecast continues into New Year with single digit highs again possible Saturday. 4" ground soil temperature at 20F and froze to 16" depth 32F this morning.

12/25/2017 Update: Bitter cold with windchill Christmas day, high temperature 2.5F was coldest High since Dec.17 negative -2.3 (2016) this station. Light snow currently falling, low tomorrow morning forecast around (-9F) but if it clears off toward morning could go colder.

12/24/2017 Overnight temperatures below zero, this station (-3F). East Valentine just under (-0F) where wind stayed up. Very cold Christmas day forecast tomorrow with single digit high only (9F) and low (-9) with possible snow flurries, today blustery with gust as high as 30mph.

12/23/2017 11AM update : (.7") new snow today, (.05 ) water content. Next chance of snow looks small Christmas day 20%. Very cold forecast for Monday, Tuesday with reinforcing shot of Arctic air tomorrow. Forecast highs (12F) lows (-6), enjoy the White Christmas.

12/22/2017 Update: 7:20 Air temperatures below zero this morning, Lows so far (-1F) this station west Valentine, (-5F) East Valentine station. Ground soil temperature 4" depth this morning 30F with snow cover protecting somewhat from subzero air temperature. Forecasters are now seeing chance of Christmas day snow increasing so travellers check conditions.

12/21/2017 6:PM update: 2.5" new snow today on west side Valentine. Currently this station 13.5F with windchill 8F, East valentine station 13.4F windchill 3F. Still light snow falling but radar is diminishing on returns. This is last update tonight. If temperatures stay cold Valentine has good chance of white Christmas, grounds frozen to at least 4" depth currently 31.4F.

12/21/2017 6AM light snow started falling around 5am and picking up as band of snow moves into area. Wind chill near zero with air temperatures 17-18F range Sparks, Merritt Mesonet both Valentine East, West stations while Airport reporting couple degrees warmer. Accumulation could be higher than what was forecast last night with few areas around 4" thus NWS issued winter weather advisory.

12/20/2017 Snow forecast for tomorrow NWS 1-2". One model is now 4" while another 1" and couple more at 2". Also of note in NWS special weather statement mentions slight chance of light freezing drizzle in front of snow.

12/14/2017 3:28pm Light snow showers today with temperature hovering 32-33F range. (33-35 airport) Currently snow flurry moderate rate. Big change on horizon with real winter cold returning just beyond 7 day forecast. Stay tuned!

12/13/2017 4:40AM: Very windy this morning with gust hitting 50mph east Valentine station, 46mph in town west side.

12/7/2017 First below zero day this station west Valentine. (-.5). Airport reported (0) which is unusual to have warmer lows vs in town except this year its been epidemic. East Valentine station also outside of town only reached 1.4F so maybe it was the kind of night where winds stayed up slightly over open areas, IE airport and east Valentine station while in town was sheltered.

12/6/2017 1/2" new snow today. Arctic air has moved in with 23F under sunny sky, 2:30 pm windchill around 8F.

12/4/2017 2:40pm update: 1.2" new snow. .06 moisture content 20:1 ratio so very dry. Currently blowing snow. East Valentine station HW12 recorded 63 mph wind gust. Just got back from visit east side Valentine station wind was really howling making standing walking difficult. Highway visibility very low use caution also roads icy in town.

12/3/2017 Winter Weather advisory has been issued as strong cold front approaches for mainly blowing snow, latest model run 5am has Valentine at 2.1". Heaviest area of accumulation (red dot on image) just north town 3.5". These runs can vary as storm approaches. Click for snow forecast image

12/1/2017 November summary this station. Temperature well above normal (+4.0F), mean temperature (38.4). Precipitation was normal at (.66) for month. Monthly high (82) Was also all time monthly high temperature record, low (15) with 25 days freezing or below. Monthly climate report summaries here: 2017 click for summaries East Valentine station summary below with monthly highlights.

12/1/2017 November highlights East Valentine station *Near new golf course, mean temperature (39.7). Precipitation (missing), Monthly high (81) low (14). Note aspiration motor failed sometime during month so daytime temperature could be warmer than actual. Mean temperature +1.3 above in town station, question is how much was caused by motor failure. The aspiration motor issue has been repaired.

11/30/2017 Update: 1pm...All Repairs made on East side weather station. Anemometer bearings were starting to fail along with solar powered aspirating fan. Here is image of weather station positioned in open area for optimum wind and temperature data retrieval. Click for weather station image

11/8/2017 Thedford Doppler radar looks back up early this morning, well ahead of schedule.

11/7/2017 Update 11AM watch the ICEY FOG in Valentine its getting bad outside. Just got back from town roads are slippery and walking treacherous.

11/7/2017 7AM update. Dusting of snow last night (.03) snow melt. Temperatures currently in area (22F) almost everywhere except airports ASOS at (25) while this station, East Valentine station, radio station, Sparks, Merritt all (22F) with north wind.

Some 4" depth soil temperatures (37F) here and Sparks, while Merritt is (43F).

11/6/2017 Radar will be down at Thedford for upgrade and maintenance through the 9th. Rapid City will replace as alternative. Valentine is on far edge of coverage so radar returns may fade this far out.

11/6/2017 Snowfall overnight Update: Snow stopped 1.3" measured on snowboard as of 4:00 AM with (.13) snow melt 10:1 ratio. Temperature at (28F), East Valentine station at (28F) with airport sensor reading 2 degrees higher at (30F). 4" depth soil temperature this morning is (37F) down from (43) yesterday so near surface could be froze today.

11/5/2017 Rain, sleet and little snow fell last night. Amounts (.12) this station (.12) Miller Field and (.08) East Valentine station. Only traces of snow on ground this morning with ground temperature still above freezing 4" depth (43F) this station, (43F) Sparks and (44F) Merritt. 50% chance of more snow tonight with less than 1" expected for Valentine.

11/4/2017 Updated website to provide easy access to snow forecast. Also updated About tab for easier reading and included more information about the weather station.

11/2/2017 7:50 AM: 5 hour Internet outage over. Rain last night (.29) west Valentine, (.28) East Valentine station, (.26) Miller Field, (.31) reported from local radio station

11/1/2017 October summary this station. Temperature slightly below normal and 1st October not above normal in last 4 years (-.5F), mean temperature (48.0). Precipitation above normal (+.27) with (1.52") for month. Monthly high (84.7) low (10) with 11 days freezing or below. Monthly climate report summaries here: 2017 click for summaries East Valentine station summary below with monthly highlights.

11/1/2017 October highlights East Valentine station *Near new golf course, mean temperature (48.4). Precipitation (1.35"), Monthly high (85.7) low (7) with (12) days freezing or below, peak wind gust (56 mph)

10/31/2017 Coldest temperatures so far this season as of 8:00am lows around area (10F) this station, East Valentine station (7F), Miller field (9F). Warming into low-mid 40's today. Update unexpected snow flurries, High temperature was 36F.

10/30/2017 Another blustery day with wind speeds forecast to gust 40mph with mid 30's for high temperature. Received 10 minute snow shower between 7:15-7:25 this morning. 2pm update: light snow flurries occasionally going into mid afternoon. Temperature has stayed in low 30's with gusty winds and heavy cloud cover. High for today occurred at midnight 42F.

10/30/2017 Added website visitor stats for anyone interested under tab Visitor Stats. This is 1 week snapshot I'll update on occasion. Shows unique, first time and returning visitors.

10/28/2017 Cold morning with East Valentine station dropping to single digit (9F) where wind completely stopped for couple hours. This station west Valentine wind stayed up slightly 3-5 mph and got down to (12F). Miller field reported low of (11F).

10/27/2017 Very chilly morning with temperature of 20F and wind-chill around 7F at sunrise.

10/26/2017 Arctic cold front arrived today some wind gust as of 11AM today (49)mph this station, East Valentine station (56) airport (55)mph.

10/24/2017 Arctic cold front due Wednesday night bringing blustery NW winds. Temperatures could dip into teens by late Friday or early Saturday morning. Beyond 7 day some snow chances increase early November.

10/14/2017 Blustery day with temperatures in 40's and light morning rain. This station west Valentine experienced 47 MPH gust @1:41pm, Airport 40 MPH and East Valentine station 38 MPH.

10/10/2017 2pm updated airport: Hard freeze overnight with temperatures dipping below freezing yesterday evening around 9:30pm and has continued with extended time well below freezing. This station (21.9F), East Valentine station (21.1F) and airport (21.9F) also.

10/1/2017 Noisy and active thunderstorm tracked south to north, main impact just west of Valentine with heaviest rainfall reported on west side of Valentine last night. This station picked up (.33), airport (.19), East Valentine station (.17). Doppler radar shows track of storm and rainfall estimates Click for image Monthly summaries for this station and East Valentine station below.

9/24/2017 Update 5pm: Storm totals (2 day ) Airport (1.65"), East Valentine station (1.71"), this station (1.59")

9/23/2017 Updated:4:40pm Preliminary totals from rain event so far today and last night, Airport (.92), East Valentine station (.86) this station (.80).

9/22/2017 Rather unusual soaking event possible with near record PWAT (Precipitable Water ) 99%. Valentine area could pick up 2"+ through Monday. Look for first chance of rain and possible thunderstorm 40% chance to start late Friday evening with increasing rain by Saturday afternoon continuing into Monday.

9/16/2017 Another good rain with a few embedded thunderstorms overnight, continuing into this morning with (.38) west Valentine at 8am. More rain possible with south to north movement favourable for Valentine receiving moisture. Temperatures on the cool side currently 46F with high today upper 50's dropping into 30's tomorrow morning.

9/15/2017 Update final 8am: Finally something to blog about in September. Picked up (.36") rain this station west Valentine. Fast moving line of thunderstorms moved south to north through area. Other amounts reported airport 1.3 miles SW (.33), East Valentine station1.9 miles NE (.22), radio station 6/10 mile E (.40").

9/01/2017 August summary this station. Temperature below normal (-4.1F), mean temperature (68.7). Precipitation above normal (+.90) with (3.08") for month. Monthly high (95.1) low (42). Monthly climate report summaries here: 2017 click for summaries East Valentine station summary below with monthly highlights.

9/01/2017 August highlights East Valentine station *Near new golf course, mean temperature (69.3). Precipitation (3.27"), Monthly high (95.7) low (40.4), peak wind gust (46mph)

8/25/2017 Updated 9:45pm: Thunderstorm developed rapidly and hit about 6:20pm with hail. (.26) this station west side. East Valentine station (.38) far east, Airport (.08) south. Was in parking lot at high school football field when storm hit, lots of hail with heavy rain on east side of town.

8/21/2017 Eclipse partial (97.57%), Times CDT for Valentine Start 11:31:01, Max 12:54:33 End 14:20:07. Latest forecast is 72% cloud cover for Valentine.

8/18/2017 Another round of thunderstorms last evening. (.22) this station west side, (.22) East Valentine stationCocorahs east side, (.24) 130 yds. west automatic gauge, (.20) south at Miller Field ASOS. This T/S line lacking in moisture had wind with 46mph at East Valentine station, 53mph at airport. Monthly rainfall now stands at (2.65") this station with next best chance Sunday and Monday evening. Click for Doppler rainfall est. 2 images

8/16/2017 Great light show last night but nothing close to severe level in Valentine just steady rain. One big storm near Mission SD had 2" hail potential, bulk of storm passed just south of Mission. As of 5am light rain was still falling west side Valentine with (.84) since 7am yesterday morning, 2 day total (1.04). East Valentine station (.82) since 7am yesterday, 2 day total (1.06). Monthly rainfall this station stands at (2.33") which is +.12 above full (31 day) monthly average, occurred on the 16th so everything else this month is bonus rainfall and minimizing drought. Temperatures this month also running well below normal helping drought at -6F this station in town.

8/15/2017 Storms last night did their best to work around Valentine. Thunderstorm cells actually stopped the 2.5 hour eastward track and started moving north as they approached working around Valentine area. We did pick up some residual moisture as storms dissipated and skirted around (.20) this station (.17) airport and (.24) East Valentine station. Storm total estimates around area Click for 2 images Another chance of development in forecast tonight.

8/13/2017 Big storms developed primarily east of HW83 yesterday with some impressive amounts. Around Valentine not much with airport receiving a few hundredths, East Valentine station .09. Click for 2 images

8/08/2017 Update Final: Thunderstorm rain total this station (.82")... East Valentine station automatic east side of town (1.01"), East Valentine station Cocorahs (1.05), Airport (.55). Image from East Valentine station Cocorahs gauge overflowing the 1" mark. Click for image ...Some storm estimates impressive with storm almost stationary at times, exceeding 4". Click for estimates, 2 images

8/06/2017 Updated 5:50pm: Another thunderstorm with bulk of storm missing Valentine to west and south. (.12) this station on west side of town. Preliminary Airport (.22), East Valentine station reporting nothing.

8/05/2017 Update: 2 pm T/storm heavy rain mixed with pea size hail dropping (.34") in 13 minutes on west side Valentine. Rain rate reached 5.4" per/hr over short period. Other preliminary amounts East Valentine station automatic station east side town (.21), airport (.12). A look at thunderstorm and pink hail ball on radar as it exited east. Click for image

8/04/2017 Update:9am Very cool morning for early August. East Valentine station dropped to 40, in town this station 42, Airport 42F.

8/01/2017 July summary this station. Temperature above normal +4.8F, mean temperature (79.3). Precipitation well below normal (-2.43) with only (.78") for month. Monthly high (108) low (46). Some highlights include 25 days above 90F, 9 days above 100. Complete opposite of first 3 years station history where it struggled to reach above 100F. Monthly climate report summaries here: 2017 click for summaries East Valentine station summary below with monthly highlights.

8/01/2017 East Valentine station summary July:Max recorded 110F, Minimum 45F, Mean 79.6F, Precip. .89", Max wind gust 44mph, Avg speed 6.7mph,

7/30/2017 July 25th Valentine area was officially in severe drought according to drought monitor. This doesn't include rain since the 25th. Click here for link

7/28/2017 TS developed in SD moving south through area some rain amounts locally (.35) this station, (.39) Airport, (.50) East Valentine station Cocorahs official, (.50) also at East Valentine station automatic gauge located 120 yards west. Local radio station amounts reported by callers included some much higher numbers outside Valentine.

7/26/2017 Very hot yesterday with heat index reaching 105F this station. Airport temp reached 107F for high yesterday, this station 103.5, East Valentine station 104F. Some may have noticed airport temperatures occasionally running substantially above other stations this summer, also mentioned on local radio station. I researched using a site called Gladstone which tracks Madis data. Over last 28 days Madis does show mean temps +1.4 degrees at airport ASOS station. I'll include last 28 days and last 52 weeks for comparison. Click for link to data

7/25/2017 Update: 10pm light rain over last hour/half with some thunder and lightning still around area. (.31) recorded at 10pm this station west side of Valentine.

7/19/2017 Update: Thunderstorms missed Valentine again but several areas received rain. Final high temps today (111.9)F airport (New daily record) and national high temperature for populated city, (108.3)F this station all-time record, (110.2)F East Valentine station all-time record. Felt like a blast furnace outside today but temperatures have plummeted from highs, -25 degrees already.

7/16/2017 Added Nebraska Mesonet weather stations link below external link tab. Sparks station is located 19.3 miles ENE of Valentine and AKA Merritt 7.7 miles south of reservoir with hourly/daily conditions. Some high temperature examples recorded yesterday were 99F Sparks, 97F Merritt & 96F at Ainsworth Mesonet stations. These stations are high quality stations with separate network from MesoWest 'Area Observations' also located on external links.

7/01/2017 June summary this station. Temperature above normal +2.2F, mean temperature (69.7). Precipitation well below normal (-2.99) with only (.57") for month. Monthly high (98.9) low (37.8). Monthly climate report summaries here: 2017 click for summaries East Valentine station summary below with monthly highlights. This east side wx station won't have precipitation reported when frozen.

7/01/2017 East Valentine station June summary: High (99.4), Low (36.4), Mean (69.4), (.54) precipitation. Peak wind gust 46 mph... Live conditions this station: Click for link

6/30/2017 First decent rain of month coming on last day of June.(.30") fell on west side of Valentine. Other amounts reported (.19) East Valentine automatic weather station, (.24) south side Airport.

6/09/2017 First hot day with airport reporting (102F). (99F) this station, East Valentine station also (99.4F). Peak wind gust observed 39mph this station, 44mph both East Valentine station and Airport.

6/01/2017 May summary this station. Temperatures below normal -1.1, mean temperature (56.5). Precipitation above normal (+3.13") with (6.23") for month. Monthly high (89), low (30). Monthly climate report summaries here: 2017 click for summaries

5/24/2017 This morning dipped below freezing again for 1 hour 45 minutes. Looking at next 7 day forecast this probably was last freeze of season. (146) freeze days this season is 2 less than 2015-2016 and 13 less than 2014-2015 with (159). Click for more freeze data

5/21/2017 Update 6AM: Frost Advisory, temperature hovering just below freezing this morning at (30.6)F at 6:00. Remember ground level will be colder several degrees and could drop more before sunrise. East Valentine station (33)F so not everywhere is freezing. Airport also has dropped to (30)F at 6am.

5/20/2017 Update:6pm Cold rain started just after midnight. At 6pm sprinkles, this station recorded (1.17") so far today. Snow is being reported south of town with heaviest amounts around Thedford where several inches have accumulated. Road cams also confirm snowfall. Click for snow HW cam image near Brownlee

5/18/2017 Here are radar storm total estimates over Valentine and larger area for those that live out of town. Pink and red over Valentine, with this station in the higher pink zone as indicated from rainfall amounts reported. Click for link

5/17/2017 Rain stopped around 5:30pm with totals since midnight (2.34") this station. East Valentine station automatic gauge recorded (2.18"). Looking ahead NWS puts good chances in 60-70% range Thursday night through Friday with another 1-2" possible. We may get a weekend break with Saturday morning still 40% however.

5/17/2017 Overnight rain continues this morning with additional (.84) last 24 hours as of 7AM. (1.27) 2-day total this morning.

5/16/2017 Another round of thunderstorms last night. (.43) recorded in 8" SRG. Looking at forecast going ahead we can expect rain & TS activity to continue with good chances through Friday. This weekend may bring a break in activity with another chance on Monday.

5/15/2017 Valentine was hit by thunderstorm about 1:45-2am dropping dime size hail. Recorded (.34)" rain in this short period. Second storm came through later with rain total overnight .68. Open gauge collected (.68) was .02 additional hail catch over 8" standard rain gauge. Click for Image of hail pink reflection off radar last night

5/09/2017 Time-lapse videos back in service. Needed light rain today, potential for 1.3"+ over next 7 days. We are heading into most active time of year for rain and thunderstorms. Last 2 weeks of May through first 3 weeks of June are normally very active for Valentine area.

5/01/2017 April summary this station. Temperatures above normal +1.8, mean temperature (48.5). Precipitation below normal (-.85") with (1") total snowfall. Monthly high (80), low (14). Monthly climate report summaries here: 2017 click for summaries

4/26/2017 Light snow yesterday afternoon and overnight with only trace amount. Light rain fell (.09) prior to snow. Bulk of precipitation fell south of Valentine area.

4/13/2017 Dense fog this morning with dangerous highway travel conditions. Visibility tenth of mile or less.

4/10/2017 New snow (1") at 9:10am.

4/10/2017 .40 rainfall with a few embedded thunderstorms yesterday. Light snow at 5:30am this morning, temperature 31F and dropping.

4/02/2017 Snow gauge cam converted to west looking cam through October when it goes back on snow gauge.

4/01/2017 March summary this station. Temperatures above normal +2.8, mean temperature (39). Precipitation below normal (-.23") with (2.4") total snowfall. Monthly high (81.9), low (8.9). Monthly climate report summaries here: 2017 click for summaries

3/26/2017 Sensirion came out with new updated specs on Temp/humidity sensor. The (Sensirion SHT31) temperature accuracy plus/minus (.2C) or (0.36 F), humidity accuracy ( 2% humidity) between 0-100%. This station has the new sensor installed.

3/21/2017 6:20 am Heavy wet snow this morning, Measured 1.4" (.27) moisture.

3/15/2017 Freezing rain overnight, be careful this morning.

3/14/2017 .8" of snow this morning. Speaking of snow added link to time-lapse on big snow in February Click

3/01/2017 February summary this station. Temperatures started below normal with (1) day below zero but warmed 15-35 degrees above normal middle of month leaving monthly mean (+4). Precipitation was almost double normal (1.15") with 20" total snowfall, most occurring during 14" snowfall. Monthly high (75.5), low(-5.3). Mean (31.3)

2/28/2017 Patchy fog this morning on cameras. Strong snow eater south wind yesterday, lost another 2-3" with 2-3" left around area. Big warm-up this weekend. This is the last day of meteorological winter.

2/27/2017 Temperatures still cold this morning with snowpack 4-6" in and around Valentine. East Valentine station 2F this morning. In town west side 9.5F, airport south side 5F. Ground has frozen to 3" (31F) depth again slowing snow melt but sun angle will assure continued 1-2" loss per day. Once snow has diminished to less than inch temperatures expected to rise dramatically over weekend.

2/24/2017 Update 6:00am: Storm total 14" snow, Rain gauge SWE .62. 22:1 ratio. Snow has stopped. Current ground depth 13". Adjusted yearly & monthly totals to match (SRG) Standard rain gauge total. Peak observed snow rate during storm 2.8" in 1 hour. High wind gust 33 mph. Some 27" drifts measured, should be fun digging out today. Added link to time-lapse Click

2/23/2017 Major winter storm forecast for Valentine area. Using the snowfall forecast link on 7 day forecast tab. Most Likely Snowfall for Valentine 15", Least 7" and potential 18". Snowfall amounts for Valentine have backed off slightly overnight from likely 17 to 15 inches. Another thing ground is no longer frozen 34F at 3" depth so snowfall may have tendency to settle more as it falls.

2/3/2017 (1.1") new snow last night. (.08) (SRG). Temperature below zero this morning with fresh snow and clear sky. Airport -6, East Valentine station -6.5, this station -5.3. Update: Patchy fog developed around area toward sunrise warming temperatures +5, road cams all directions showing fog 7:30am.

2/1/2017 (1/2") new snow (.04) SWE from 8" SRG

1/31/2017 As of 9:30pm (1/2") new snow..... Summary for January this station temperatures below normal (-1.7F) mean (21.9) with average high (34), Low (11). Precipitation (.87) +.61 above normal, 11.0" snow including large snow of 9". (5) days below zero with monthly high temperature of (59F), low (-11F). Peak wind gust this station (42 mph).

1/25/2017 Snowfall update 6 am 9.0" total new snow. Still light snow falling, winds gusted to near 40 mph overnight causing drifting. All area road cams showing snow packed roads with areas of drift.

1/23/2017 Potential major winter snowstorm for area 5-8" forecast Tuesday-Wednesday but models still waffling on exact path. Added script thanks to Jerry Wilkins, http://www.gwwilkins.org/ from Lincoln for snowfall likelihood under 7 Day Forecast tab. Its a fun script in experimental stage currently.

1/01/2017 December this station temperatures below normal (-5) mean with average high (32), low (6). December snowfall west side Valentine (7"). December brought extreme cold with 10 subzero lows and 1 subzero high temperature, (11 total) with lowest temperature since 1994 of (-31)F along with extreme low windchill at airport (-51). Precipitation this station was (.99) or (.62) above normal. Most coming from unusual rain event Christmas day. Dec. maximum wind gust recorded this station was (55) mph, (66) mph at airport..... Full Summary 2016 look Below, +2.2 degrees above normal with +9.24" above normal precipitation. This was the 3rd consecutive year with well above normal precipitation.

Summary 2016: Mean temp- (50.2) +2.2 above normal, High Temp- (100.2) Low Temp- (-31.2) Heat Index- (113.7) High DP- (79) Lowest DP- (-36.9) Lowest humidity- (6) Highest Rain Total One Day- (4.32) inches, Yearly rainfall total-(29.28) inches, Snow-(30.5) inches, Highest Wind Gust- (66) mph, Highest Pressure- (30.94) inches, Lowest Pressure- (29.04) Airport mean (50.3) +2.3 above normal

12/28/2016 Website changes, Removed "Flash" pages no longer supported by all browsers.

12/25/2016 Christmas day storm rather wild. Starting with nearly an inch of sleet with thunderstorm turning to rain followed by cold air and light snow with 66 mph wind gust recorded at both airport and East Valentine station. As of 9pm precipitation this station (.54) mostly rain and sleet. Update 10:20pm Peak wind gust in town west side has been 55 mph.

12/18/2016 Link to NWS chat talking about the cold outbreak last night. Click for CHAT

12/18/2016 Update:5am This station has been down to -31 with wind non existent so far. Airport -31 also but more wind with windchill temperature down to -52 at times. East Valentine station air temperature crazy -37 with -40's wind chill. Temperatures forecast to start rising soon.

12/18/2016 Update:12am airport has been down to -27, this station -26, East Valentine station -30 burr..Wind chill airport -46 East Valentine station -47. Temperatures forecast to rise to around -18 toward sunrise so question is how low before they rise.

12/17/2016 Cocorahs snowboard measurement at 5:30am 3.5" new snow, water content (.24") 14:1 ratio. 4.5" total ground depth. -6 this morning at observation, windchill -27. Winter fun...

12/14/2016 Last night was again below zero temperatures occurring around 8:30am. Airport (-6), this station (-5), East Valentine station only (-1), where wind stayed up.

12/13/2016 Potential for dangerous winter storm starting Friday with sub zero daytime temperatures Saturday. High temperature Saturday will occur near midnight with temperatures dropping dangerously low with wind chill and snow.

12/13/2016 Once again temperatures plummeted into negatives around midnight before clouding up. Lowest temps reported airport being prior to midnight - airport (-8), This station (-7). Forecast temperatures Saturday high (-1) low (-17). NWS graphical model similar temperature wise but more cautious with snow forecast amounts until more certainty. Afternoon model run NWS will most likely have snow amount forecast.

12/12/2016 Temperatures around Valentine went below zero last night before coming back into single digits before sunrise. This station (-5), airport (-6) and East Valentine station (-9). Update: 11:20am Arctic cold front just arrived with reinforcing shot of cold air. Next even colder air is due this weekend with good chance of snow Friday night.

12/10/2016 Official Cocorahs 2.5" new snow at 6am. (.18) moisture content in gauge. Still snowing lightly. Updated ground temperatures freeze line has reached 16".

12/09/2016 half inch (.5") of light fluffy snow with 11 degree temperature at 10:40 am. Updated: 1PM Moisture content of snowfall (.01) under sunny skies.

12/09/2016 Temperatures bottomed -5 this station. -8 airport and East Valentine station. Models hinting of bitter cold possible next week could have single digit highs.

12/07/2016 Frigid temperatures this week. Possible below zero -0 by morning. Lack of snow cover will help prevent temperatures from tanking under strong Arctic high.

12/04/2016 Added soil temperature page ranging from 3" to 36" under Climate/Daily history tab. Will update weekly or more going into winter and later on for growing season.

12/01/2016 NWS Statement: November 2016 will go down as the fourth warmest November on record, tied with the year 1913: Airport was 7.7F above normal and this station 7.2 above normal. Toward end of month going into December temperatures have normalized. Airport recorded low temperature of 3F degrees and 4.5 this station. 4.5" snow was recorded this station.

11/27/2016 Added easy access page of some surrounding road cameras, Nebraska Dept.of Roads. Work in progress.

11/19/2016 Temperatures bottomed out at 3F airport also east side of town at East Valentine station . 4.5F on west side this station. image

11/18/2016 Cold overnight forecast (10)F so bundle up. Wouldn't be surprised if lower single digits occurred with fresh snow cover should wind stop. Not whole lot of cooling needed with highs today near 29F.

11/18/2016 Cocorahs official snowfall 4", moisture content .31" at 6:20am. 3.5" after settling. Snow stick is visual aid not official.

11/1/2016 October ended well above normal in temperature category (+5.7) above mean and also plus side (+.73 ) rainfall. Monthly weather highlights include 2" snow early in the month, 4 days at or below freezing and wind gust 54 mph on the 3rd.

10/31/2016 Added snow gauge cam. New gauge design hopefully reducing drift. Visual aid only actual snow depth is taken in several different locations and averaged.

10/20/2016 West side of Valentine received (.58") rain last 24 hours pushing yearly total (27.94") making +9" above airport historical normal. Miller Field reported (.53").

10/06/2016 Updated at 9pm..First snowfall of season measured Oct 6th with approximate 2" depth measured at 4:20pm. Much of the wet snow was settling as it fell preventing higher accumulation. Roads around Valentine got slushy for a period today. Temperature hovering just above 32 degrees so likely to see some ice by morning if clouds clear out. Cocorahs official rainfall amount (.90), 2" new snow. Adjusted tipping bucket total to reflect accurate manual gauge snowfall catch. Soil temperature sensor currently 39.8F at 2" depth.

10/04/2016 Thunderstorm line moved through area last night dropping (.46) west side valentine, airport on south side reported (.50), Cocorahs report just east of town (.51). High winds were reported yesterday afternoon. Some observed gust, west side Valentine (54mph), Airport (55mph), just east of Valentine (58mph).

10/01/2016 September 2016 ended with near normal temperatures and precipitation. Very uneventful month for weather. Monthly data is available 'climate/daily history' tab under NOAA reports or summary where yearly comparisons are available.

9/06/2016 Updated 7am : Cold front brought cluster of thunderstorms through Valentine area around 1am dropping heavy rain at times. Reports 7am (.82) west side, (.88) ASOS Miller Field, (1.23) official Cocorahs 3/4 mile east side.

9/05/2016 Thunderstorm line developed western Nebraska and moved into Valentine area around 8:40pm yesterday. Rain total (.45) west side with airport reporting (.34) on south side. East Valentine station officially (.41). Patchy fog around area can be seen in cameras this morning.

9/01/2016 August 2016 was below normal in precipitation coming up (-1.64") short and below normal temperature (-1.2) this station.

8/31/2016 Turned on night time IR on one of the cameras east of Valentine making precipitation and fog visible at night. Patchy areas of fog around Valentine this morning.

8/30/2016 Isolated thunderstorm developed just east of Valentine and skirted south side of town dropping (.51") at airport and only (.02") west side. Mother nature playing catchup for areas left behind earlier in year.

8/21/2016 Chilly morning for August with East Valentine station getting down to (42), Miller Field (45) and this station (46) as of 7am.

8/20/2016 (.07 ) additional rain after 6:35am yesterday making 2 day total (.59) Valentine west side.

8/19/2016 Active pattern with passing of cold front. Precipitation around area (.52 ) on west side Valentine @6:35am. Miller Field reporting (.49 )

8/10/2016 Thunderstorm skirted just north and west of Valentine dropping (.23) on west side of town and (.26) ENE side. Lesser amounts going south of HW 20 with Miller Field (.07). Doppler Radar rainfall estimate show path of storms. Click on LINK

8/1/2016 July summary near typical. Mean temperature was near normal 73.8 (-.7) with (10) 90+ degree days and (1) 100+ degree day this station. Precipitation 3.75" was above (+.54) leaving yearly 23.22" and well above calendar year normal (+9.29). Station record observed with highest wind gust (66) mph since station installation June 2014.

7/31/2016 Several thunderstorm lines developed near the Black Hills and moved into NC Nebraska last night. One of the storms made it into Valentine area around 1:30 AM leaving (.24") this station west side, (.32") Miller Field (.26") 1.3 ENE Cocorahs Valentine. Peak wind gust in town this station 37 mph, Miller Field 47 mph, East Valentine station 46 mph.

7/26/2016 Severe thunderstorm hit Valentine around 9pm. Very heavy rain mixed with hail up to 1" size. Very high wind gust recorded 66 mph in town, 69 mph at airport. 1.73" rain officially this station west side Valentine. Miller Field had lighter rainfall south of HW 20 with 1.18", 1.3 miles ENE Cocorahs recorded 1.10". Some broken tree limbs and street flooding reported around town. Doppler Radar shows areas with heaviest rainfall link rainfall estimates

7/15/2016 Active morning weather with thunderstorms developing across South Dakota and moving into Valentine area. (.38) moisture received west side Valentine as of 7am. Airport is reporting (.50), east side Valentine (.57) Cocorahs.

7/10/2016 Another hot day with heat index reaching 105 this station. Link for today's graph

7/8/2016 Added webcam links east side of Valentine looking WNW-WSW back toward Valentine. Also added timelapse with weather conditions overlay for camera site. (Link in Cams/Stream tab) Much thanks Merle for the hard work installing and hosting cameras & weather station. CWOP ID:EW7498 and Weather Underground ID:KNEVALEN3. Merle is also an official COCORAHS observer.

7/6/2016 Thunderstorm line with severe potential moved through Valentine area around 6:40 pm. SW Cherry county reported tornado but didn't see any severe weather or much wind on west side of town with peak gust 36mph as of 7:10 pm. Airport reported 58mph gust East Valentine station 45mph gust along with (.32) in Cocorahs gauge. Rainfall (.25)" this station on west side with rainfall rate peaking at 3.62" per hour for 3 full minutes. Much less than some of our big rains with extended 7-8" hr/rate gully washers this year.

7/2/2016 Nice prolonged soaking of unexpected rain yesterday lasting several hours going into the early morning hours. This station on July 1st has exceeded 20" on the year.

7/1/2016 Month of June this station was above normal on both temperatures and precipitation. +5.3 degrees mean temperature and +1.32 precipitation. With only 4 days of significant rain >(.10) it had abnormally long dry periods for historically wettest time of year. Highlights included wind event with thunderstorm uprooting trees & breaking large limbs along with almost 4" rain over 24 hour period. This station saw 1-100 degree day and 9-90+ days total. Lowest temperature was 42 degrees.

6/30/2016 Added time-lapse of storm rolling in yesterday from NW anemometer mast cam, shaking was unavoidable. Click here

6/29/2016 Severe thunderstorm packing high winds moved in from north. This station is protected from north during summer with large tree foliage recorded 50 mph wind. Airport saw much higher gust reaching 64mph. East Valentine station recorded 57mph wind. East weather camera caught large 12" diameter tree branch breaking off next door. Link to short video. Tree branch link .... Rainfall amount at 10:20 pm (.19), tipping bucket (.20)

6/28/2016 Update 9:25pm..Line of thunderstorms approached Valentine from west, experienced some hail with a few reaching 3/4" size but most in pea size to 1/4" range. All gauges (.74) with exception of Cocorahs with funnel top bounced hail out and only recorded .71. The open Cocorahs recorded same as NWS 8" (.74). Doppler Radar rainfall estimates usually on high side but shows where heaviest occurred. Area storm estimate and around Valentine

6/24/2016 Another hot day with temperature this station peaking at 98, DewPoint 69 with heat index 104 degrees.

6/23/2016 Just an update on weather station I've been asked about the new instruments. The station has a backup temp/hum sensor should one fail. Having redundancy also allows sensor confirmation with both tracking closely .00-.03 of one another. Another addition is 4-ground soil temperature sensors measuring temperatures 3"-36" for tracking freeze data. Soil sensors live are not online for viewing but may upload weekly graphs to Flickr and link here on news event page. Soil temperatures 5-29 through 6-23 I've linked here.. Soil temperature

6/20/2016 Set station record heat index yesterday of 108 degrees. East Valentine station heat index also reached 105. DewPoint reached 76 in town 73 and East Valentine station just before cold front moved through area dropping temperature and DewPoints back down. DewPoint is down in the upper 40's early today.

6/14/2016 Very heavy rain with line of thunderstorms last night before midnight and into early morning, on west side of Valentine 3.78" this station. 1.9 miles on east side of Valentine different Cocorahs station 3.82". Airport is reporting 3.47" on southern end Valentine. Many unofficial reports in 4"+ being reported on radio air waves. 3.85" at radio station itself. The unofficial tipping bucket this station recorded 3.81". Updated: 4:30pm rain totals .06 additional afternoon shower.

5/31/2016 Month of May similar to last year, very wet with 7.87" rain this station (+4.74"). Temperatures were near normal. Details can be seen on Climate/Daily History tab under NOAA reports, clicking on the year 2016 will show departures from normal.

5/30/2016 Thunderstorm line moved through on Memorial Day with west side this station recording .37, Airport Miller Field .62 @10pm. Rain currently stopped around Valentine. The Arabia area 11 miles SE reported 1" hail.

5/29/2016 Evening showers with main TS line 30 miles south of Valentine moving east last night. At 7am (.17) manual rain gauges, .16 tipping bucket

5/27/2016 Afternoon update .21 additional rain mid morning showers.

5/27/2016 Updated:7:40am..Trough line appeared to stall over Valentine area last evening some TS showed little movement and kept redeveloping over same areas, these areas received excess of an inch I'm certain. This station west side of town received (.54) @ 7am. East Valentine station TS hit area much harder (.80) Cocorahs at 7AM. Miller Field looks to have received less only (.42"). Key word LOOKS. 7am several ranches in area reporting 1-2" rainfall.

5/25/2016 Afternoon update: picked up dime size hail and .12" of precipitation with TS that skirted north of town.

5/25/2016 Line of thunderstorms came through last night around 11:15pm, nothing reached severe level in Valentine area. This station west side 8" dia. standard gauge recorded (.56"). Cocorahs east side town reported (.54") .

5/23/2016 Lightning cloud to ground strike from yesterdays storm caught by east webcam. Pic link Strike

5/22/2016 Intense tornadic thunderstorm hit Valentine, putting a tornado emergency alarm to seek shelter immediately. No tornado damage reports yet. 1" hail has been observed with street flooding and very heavy rain mixed with hail at times. As of 9:10 the tipping bucket is over 4.10" of rain. Still too much lightning and heavy rain to check the official 8" dia. manual gauge. Update:11 pm 4.32" in standard rain gauge.

5/16/2016 Light steady rain between 6am and 11am, recorded .34 in standard rain gauge, .33 tipping bucket gauge

5/9/2016 3 separate rain events, thunderstorm activity 8th & 9th with some pea size hail on 8th. Recalibration on tipping bucket matched 8" standard gauge both .42 on last storm.

5/5/2016 April summary: This station ended with 2.72" above normal with 1.5" of snow which included several substantial rains. Temperature ended 1.8 degrees above seasonal average. Season snow total this station, stands at 42.3".

4/01/2016 March was the 2nd month in a row with well above normal temperatures +6 above mean average. Precipitation was near normal. 5.5 inches snow was record daily event for the 23rd.

3/26/2016 New upgraded temp/hum sensor installed here and East Valentine station. (Sensirion SHT31) plus/minus( 0.5 F) ( 2% humidity) across entire range.

3/24/2016 Snow melt overnight 1.5" from warm ground even with low temperature 14F. Don't expect snow to stay around for long.

3/23/2016 Powerful Spring snowstorm full blown near blizzard conditions with 5.5" new snow at 1:00 pm. Snow depth 5.0" at 4PM.

3/11/2016 WNW and WSW cams mounted near top anemometer mask at 30'. Hills Ponderosa pine covered, NW of Valentine now visible. Cams will move with wind so still images only. Added nationwide storm report map.

3/1/2016 February summary, very dry and warm. Mean temperature 34.5F +7F above normal or March like temperatures. Precip. .18 or .30 below normal. Snowfall only 1.2".

2/29/2016 Update: Migration to new host server process near complete, if you see this message this is the new hosting site.

2/17/2016 Added north and south camera streams under camera section,

2/16/2016 Valentines Day ended the 64th day in a row with 1"+ snow on the ground at this station.

2/15/2016 Everything covered in layer of thin ice early morning .04 precipitation fell prior to midnight. Walking treacherous, rain gauges frozen, cameras were unclear type of precipitation but dusting of snow present.

2/2/2016 Light snow most of day, wind gust to 30 mph at times.

2/1/2016 January summary: This station ended with mean temperature 23F (-.4F) slightly below average and precipitation twice normal (.59) (8.5") snow. 5 days below (0F) were observed along with 31 days of (3") ground snow cover or more helping keep temperatures several degrees cooler than areas without snow pack.

1/25/2016 Snow event with accumulation (3.7") making snow pack 6-9 inches around area. This station west side Valentine has conservative 7" average ground depth. Temperatures forecast to warm well above average, nearing 49F later this week.

1/21/2016 (1.2") of snow overnight and this morning, .09 water equivalent as of 2pm. 13:1 water ratio. With new snow, this station located Valentine west side has reached 30" for season.

1/18/2016 Coldest morning of year (-13F), Miller Field observed (-16F). East Valentine station (-14F). Current snowpack between 2-5" around area. Officially 4" this station on west side Valentine, 2" Miller Field where snowpack decreases going south out of Valentine.

1/16/2016 1.3 inches of new snow with Arctic air mass. (.04) 4" diameter Cocorahs, (.05) 8" diameter NWS SRG, 26:1 water ratio snow fell between 3-9F.

1/12/2016 1.3 inches of new snow. Cocorahs snow melt .06 total, very dry snow. 21:1 water ratio

1/1/2016 Valentine Miller Field highlight for 2015 ended as 8th wettest on record. As of Jan. 1 this WX station measured 30 days of ground snow cover of 1" or more this season. December ended with above normal precipitation & snowfall. +1.9F normal temperature because of the very warm week +20F experienced early in the month.

12/18/2015 Valentine area first negative temperatures with existing snow pack 6" and clear conditions, Arctic air still in area with Wind Chill temperatures very low this morning (-20F) with ambient temperatures (-4F) this station. (-8F) Miller Field tied nationally with 4 other stations as 4th coldest. .

12/16/2015 Storm totals .01 additional overnight, (4.7) new total . (6.5) average depth, lots of drifting. Miller Field observer also reported 5" new, 7 total. (.37 moisture) Measuring powered windblown snowfall is tricky. Some reports have as much as 8" new snow reported.

12/13/2015 Storm total 3.8" ended around midnight. Official Cocorahs snow melt total was .40, SRG the same. Airport reports 4" new snow (.38) which is also a record for date.

12/12/2015 Current snow in progress, will update snow measurement amount on Snow Report page under Climate/Daily History tab. Currently at 11pm 3.2 inches. Snow moisture content looks 10:1 ratio. Storm final numbers tomorrow after doing rain gauge snow melt. Tipping bucket numbers generally come in low because of evaporation.

12/3/2015 Cold morning temperature dropped to 7F this station, 5F at East Valentine station 3/4 mile east. Airport was missing data today. Snowpack west side at 6.5" this morning.

12/2/2015 Snowpack has settled to 7.8" at 5am with temperatures staying elevated 30-31F most of night, but may drop into teens by sunrise. November ended with above normal temperature +1.9F and above normal precipitation +1.29 inches. Snowfall 11.4 inches was also above normal.

12/1/2015 Update: 4:00pm, 2.9" new snow since morning measurement putting west side Valentine at 9.4" on ground. New snow melt from 6am, .18 adjusted tipping bucket to match, evaporation took its toll today as snow melted with added wind. Today's snow, moisture content was 15:1 ration vs yesterdays 14:1.

11/30/2015 Update: 10:00pm, 6.7" new snow accumulation. (.45) snow melt 8" standard gauge. Snow moisture content was 14:1 ratio.

11/30/2015 Here is image of snow gauge as you can see its drifting around so this is ballpark visual aid only. Official measurements are off snowboards. , Snow Gauge link

11/29/2015 Repaired radar script. Thanks to Jerry pointing it out and sending corrected code.

11/22/2015 Another cold morning before warmer west winds mixed in early around 6am preventing further dropping. Temperatures bottomed Miller Field 4F, 6F this station and 7F East Valentine station .

11/21/2015 Very cold morning with fresh snowpack 3-4" in immediate area, temperatures dropped into single digits. 2F Miller field, Just East of town East Valentine station 3F and this station 5F. East Valentine station doesn't have rain gauge heater so no accurate winter precipitation reports but located in the open for great wind data. Linked on flash page here and on links tab.

11/20/2015 Started snowing last night as of 11am new snow depth peaked at 4.2" off snowboard. (.40) as of 12:45 pm snow currently stopped, snow has settled to 4.0" on snowboard after peak of 4.2"

11/18/2015 Very strong winds today and very low pressure bottomed at 29.22. Peak gust this station in town 45 mph, airport and east of town 60-59 mph.

11/17/2015 Rain changed to snow just after 5am. Received tenth of inch snow (.06 water equivalent). (.35 mix storm total 8" SRG at 12 noon) Area downgraded with little accumulation expected in updated forecast. This storm main impact is missing area to south. Looking at webcams looks like mainly rain event so far. Statewide webcams are available on the NE Roads external link and clicking on cameras.

11/5/2015 24 hour rain total @ 1320 pm, west side(.71), Miller field reporting (.64), Cocorahs East side (.74)

11/2/2015 Added full page USA color 12 hour satellite loop to Radar/Satellite tab. Very nice thanks to Jerry at Southeast Lincoln Weather...Large Satellite loop,

11/1/2015 October ended above normal in both temperature and precipitation. (+3.7) degrees mean temperature, (+.57) inch precipitation. 7 out of 10 months have experienced above normal precipitation this year, (+9.29 inches ) temperatures (+1.2F) this El Nino building year. It remains to be seen how El Nino affects Valentine this winter. Last two strong (97-98, 82-83) El Nino's brought below normal precip. & above normal temperatures. Prior two (72-73, 65-66) brought slightly above normal precip. but below normal temperatures. This years El Nino sea temperatures look similar to (72-73) at this stage, making it around 2nd or 3rd strongest in recorded history. More on El Nino, Historical sea temperature data,

10/29/2015 Valentine experienced lowest temperature this season. 21F at this station. Miller Field 20F.

10/18/2015 Snow depth gauge for visual aid added to Cameras menu. Actual snow depth measured off snowboard and various areas. <

10/16/2015 First hard freeze currently 26F at this station 6:50am, Miller Field 24. More temperatures,

10/4/2015 2 day storm total update 7am. West Valentine 1.23, East side 3/4 mile 1.02, Miller Field 1.09

10/1/2015 September was well above normal with mean temperature +4.8 above normal. Rainfall thanks to the almost 4" storm ended +3.74 above normal.

9/29/2015 Showery day yesterday, rain totals West Valentine .28, East side .28, airport (.19) continues to fall short of the other rain gauges in area.

9/24/2015 Moderate to heavy rain Yesterday, lasting almost 13 hours. Storm totals at 7:00 am (3.94)". Valentine Cocorahs East side reported (3.95"). Monthly and daily records for Miller field were also set. (3.58) was last report at Miller field. Some unofficial amounts around Valentine exceeded 9"

9/18/2015 Substantial rain after very warm start to September. At 13:20pm. 8" standard gauge (.87). Cocorahs west (.86), Miller Field (.82)

9/15/2015 Valentine Miller field was warmest in nation yesterday 101. Moved Forecast discussion from external links to menu bar with internal link.

9/4/2015 First rain with thunderstorm in 16 days. Amounts observed West side Valentine .20, East .21, Miller Field .13. First 100+ day of year of 101 at this station September 2nd.

9/1/2015 August this station had near normal temperatures and above normal precipitation +(.78) inch. 10 days >90, zero above 100.

8/27/2015 Added information about the Blizzard of 1949 under the Climate/Daily History tab.

8/18/2015 Heavy rain with embedded thunderstorms occurred with unusually cold trough.

8/16/2015 Multiple thunderstorms approached Valentine from west and turned back toward SW suddenly. .Saturday was warmest day of summer with ambient temperature of 99 and heat index of 105F.

8/15/2015 Added non flash version of NOAA Ridge Radar, special thanks to Jerry at Southeast Lincoln Weather for the script development and others for their contribution. Flash is being phased out by many browsers soon, so the necessity for development of non flash player scripts.

8/14/2015 Rain totals yesterday, Valentine West Cocorahs .03, East Cocorahs .12, Miller Field .01

8/08/2015 24 hour rain gauge totals. Cocorahs west .57, East .46, Airport .18. Doppler radar shows airport in (.30) range,(.60) range at this station, (1") just west and north of Valentine. Rain estimation link, Radio Station downtown Valentine reported (.84). Airport (Miller Field) south of town is currently lagging 3" behind west side of Valentine on yearly precipitation.

8/05/2015 Dense fog around area this morning, Time-Lapse South shows fog between 5:30-7am.

8/02/2015 July mean (73.3) was 1.2 degrees (F) below normal with 3.7" rainfall .49" above normal. Station observed 12 days above 90F, and 0 days above 100F.

8/02/2015 Rainfall totals on 1st Cocorahs East .75, West .99, Miller Field .56.

7/27/2015 Image of thunderstorm and approximate area tornado was sighted Thunderstorm, Location

7/26/2015 Tornado touched down 11 miles NE of Valentine according to NWS, the strong cell continued moving eastward. Law enforcement reported the sighting.

5/22/2015 *Anemometer now mounted at 10 meters. Pic link anemometer

4/9/2015 First substantial precipitation in 2 months.

4/1/2015 March was 2nd driest in Valentine history, and 7th warmest on record reported by NWS.

1/3/2015 Arctic storm 40 mph wind gust, blizzard conditions with 1" new snow.

12/29/2014 Arctic storm total 2.5" .18 snow melt. Average ground snow depth 4.7" 1PM temperature 6 degrees. Forecast low -14, Wind chills -30 range. 9.9" for month of Dec. so far 15.8" for season.

12/27/2014 Total storm snow 2.5". Arctic cold front moving into area Sunday night into Monday.

12/26/2014 1.5" 5AM .6" fell Christmas day. Started late afternoon.

11/17/2014 Several Arctic cold fronts moved through this last week, dumping 6" snow on 15-16th and low temperature of -12 below zero on 16th.

10/4/2014 First freeze 27 degrees, growing season officially ended most areas. Miller Field reported low of 24 degrees.

7/25/2014 Valentine Miller Field set a record rainfall total for June.

6/1/2014 station on-line afternoon of June 1, 2014, highs and lows are not complete for June 1, 2014.