Despite some dry months in ‘21, average moisture levels return

    Moisture levels are always a discussion topic in agricultural communities.
    The year 2021 was no different, and will be remembered as one of extremes.
    However, 2021 saw moisture totals that were more average after the extremely dry 2020 with just 11.22” recorded.
    June and July had near record-setting dry months, only to be followed with a deluge of rain in August.
    Temperatures also brought extremes in 2021 with bone-chilling low temperatures in February that set and tied records, but also nine days at 100 above, the most extreme hitting 105 degrees in June.
    Though June and July saw just over a combined 2 inches of rain during those important months for crops, last year’s moisture total of 20.4” was above Imperial’s 125-year average of just under 20”.
    June and July were among some of the driest months ever since Imperial temperatures have been recorded.
    May proved to be the wettest month of 2021 with 5.83” of rain. It wasn’t as noticeable as the rain in late August, because May saw 12 days when there was recordable rainfall, and a couple more with traces of moisture.
    August’s 4.60” of rainfall in Imperial will be most remembered because all but .10” came on one day—Aug. 19—when it flooded and damaged roads west of Imperial where some areas recorded 6” of rain.
    The month of March came in with the third highest moisture total of 2.68.” Nearly all of it came in a 3-day span in mid-March.
    The final month of the year, December was the driest month in 2021 with just .10” of moisture. And, that came from rain not snow on Dec. 15.
A very cold February
    During 2022, local residents do not want a February like last year.
    One cold record was set and another tied with mid-February’s frigid readings.
    The National Weather Service in North Platte recorded a -27F on Feb. 15, while local weather watcher Mike Francis measured a -29F on the same day.
    Both broke the old record of -13F on Feb. 15 by whopping margins.
    The NWS’s -27F degrees on Feb. 15 is the second coldest temperature on record for Imperial for the entire month of February. A reading of -35F degrees on Feb. 12, 1899 is the all time record-holder.
    Temperatures on Feb. 14, 2021 also set a record in Imperial when the -17F reading late that evening broke the -16 record set on that date in 1895.
    Ten days in February saw temperatures at 0 or colder. Two other days, Jan. 25 and 27, recorded low readings of 0. Those were the only months with 0 or lower temperatures.
    Only three months had snow last year, the most coming in January 2021 with 13”. Another 5.75” fell in February and 1” in November, as the year ended with 19.75” of snow.
    On the warm side, nine days last year recorded readings at 100 degrees or higher.
    Most of the heat came in July with four days of 100 degrees or higher. The warmest day of 2021 arrived June 15 at 105 degrees.