The 10 Cities In Nebraska With The Best Weather


The cities with the best weather in Nebraska for 2024 are Kearney, Beatrice, and Lexington. Find out where your city or town ranks.

Everyone wants a bit of a blissful breeze or a scoop of sunny sanctuary when looking for a place to live in Nebraska.

The more sun, the more you can go outside. The more you go outside, the more you’ll feel at peace. The more you’ll feel at peace, the more you’ll enjoy where you live.

So it makes sense to try and find the places with the best weather in Nebraska. We used Saturday Night Science to compare the number of sunny days, total precipitation, and the deviation from the ideal 70-degree weather for 17 places in Nebraska over 10,000 people.

Grab your shades and put away your raincoat as we look at the cities with the best weather in Nebraska.


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Table


The 10 Cities With The Best Weather In Nebraska For 2024

  1. Kearney
  2. Beatrice
  3. Lexington
  4. North Platte
  5. Hastings
  6. Lincoln
  7. Grand Island
  8. Scottsbluff
  9. Bellevue
  10. Columbus

Best Weather In Nebraska Map

What city has the best weather in Nebraska, with more than 10,000 people? The city with the best weather in Nebraska is Kearney with 23.9 sunny days and an average high of 62.5 degrees.

Read on below to see where your city ranked.

And if you already knew these places were beautiful, check out the best places to live in Nebraska or the cheapest places in Nebraska.

The 10 Snowiest Cities In Nebraska For 2024

Kearney, NE

Source: Public domain

Population: 32,217
Average Annual High: 62.5 degrees
Average Annual Low: 38.3 degrees
Average Annual Snowfall: 23.9 inches
Average Annual Precipitation: 25.3 inches
Sunny Days: 318.5 days
More on Kearney: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Beatrice, NE

Source: Public domain

Population: 12,355
Average Annual High: 63.6 degrees
Average Annual Low: 40.8 degrees
Average Annual Snowfall: 19.3 inches
Average Annual Precipitation: 31.2 inches
Sunny Days: 311.8 days
More on Beatrice: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Lexington, NE

Source: Public domain

Population: 10,152
Average Annual High: 62.6 degrees
Average Annual Low: 37.3 degrees
Average Annual Snowfall: 22.3 inches
Average Annual Precipitation: 23.5 inches
Sunny Days: 314.8 days
More on Lexington: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

North Platte, NE

Source: Public domain

Population: 24,420
Average Annual High: 62.8 degrees
Average Annual Low: 35.6 degrees
Average Annual Snowfall: 29.4 inches
Average Annual Precipitation: 20.6 inches
Sunny Days: 318.3 days
More on North Platte: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Hastings, NE

Source: Public domain

Population: 24,973
Average Annual High: 62.4 degrees
Average Annual Low: 39.4 degrees
Average Annual Snowfall: 26.6 inches
Average Annual Precipitation: 27.7 inches
Sunny Days: 313.4 days
More on Hastings: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Lincoln, NE

Source: Wikipedia User Hanyou23 | CC BY-SA 4.0

Population: 269,726
Average Annual High: 62.6 degrees
Average Annual Low: 40.2 degrees
Average Annual Snowfall: 25.9 inches
Average Annual Precipitation: 30.5 inches
Sunny Days: 312.3 days
More on Lincoln: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Grand Island, NE

Source: Wikipedia User Zancar | CC BY-SA 4.0

Population: 50,582
Average Annual High: 62.2 degrees
Average Annual Low: 39.3 degrees
Average Annual Snowfall: 27.7 inches
Average Annual Precipitation: 27.0 inches
Sunny Days: 314.5 days
More on Grand Island: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Scottsbluff, NE

Source: Wikipedia User Bobak Ha’Eri | CC BY 3.0

Population: 14,955
Average Annual High: 63.4 degrees
Average Annual Low: 34.5 degrees
Average Annual Snowfall: 41.6 inches
Average Annual Precipitation: 14.8 inches
Sunny Days: 324.9 days
More on Scottsbluff: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Bellevue, NE

Source: Public domain

Population: 54,067
Average Annual High: 61.4 degrees
Average Annual Low: 40.5 degrees
Average Annual Snowfall: 25.6 inches
Average Annual Precipitation: 31.8 inches
Sunny Days: 308.1 days
More on Bellevue: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Columbus, NE

Source: Public domain

Population: 22,584
Average Annual High: 61.2 degrees
Average Annual Low: 38.6 degrees
Average Annual Snowfall: 27.6 inches
Average Annual Precipitation: 29.2 inches
Sunny Days: 314.4 days
More on Columbus: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

How We Determined The Cities In Nebraska With The Best Weather

To rank the most fair weather cities in Nebraska, we used Saturday Night Science and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) database, to see which cities in the Cornhusker State get the best weather.

We used the following criteria to find the best weather:

  • Number of sunny days
  • Highest average low
  • Average high deviation from 70 degrees
  • Least amount of rain
  • Least amount of snow

We ranked each city of over 10,000 people in Nebraska from best to worst on each criterion. We then averaged each ranking into a weather quality index. The city with the best index, Kearney, was anointed the city with the best weather in Nebraska.

Before we get too far, here are the annual precipitation rates for major cities:

  • Omaha — 31.3 inches
  • Lincoln — 30.5 inches
  • Bellevue — 31.8 inches

The cities with the best weather in Nebraska are Kearney, Beatrice, Lexington, North Platte, Hastings, Lincoln, Grand Island, Scottsbluff, Bellevue, and Columbus.

There’s a complete chart at the bottom.

If you’re curious, here are the places with the worst weather in Nebraska:

  1. Chalco
  2. Fremont
  3. Omaha

For more Nebraska reading, check out:

Detailed List Of Places With The Best Weather In Nebraska

Rank City Population Sunny Days Avg. High Precipitation (Inches) Snow (Inches)
1 Kearney 32,217 318.5 62.5 25.3 23.9
2 Beatrice 12,355 311.8 63.6 31.2 19.3
3 Lexington 10,152 314.8 62.6 23.5 22.3
4 North Platte 24,420 318.3 62.8 20.6 29.4
5 Hastings 24,973 313.4 62.4 27.7 26.6
6 Lincoln 269,726 312.3 62.6 30.5 25.9
7 Grand Island 50,582 314.5 62.2 27.0 27.7
8 Scottsbluff 14,955 324.9 63.4 14.8 41.6
9 Bellevue 54,067 308.1 61.4 31.8 25.6
10 Columbus 22,584 314.4 61.2 29.2 27.6
11 Norfolk 24,393 315.3 60.1 28.2 28.2
12 Papillion 19,463 307.6 61.5 31.6 31.2
13 La Vista 16,895 309.1 61.3 31.4 31.8
14 South Sioux City 13,315 318.3 59.9 28.5 32.8
15 Omaha 440,034 307.5 61.2 31.3 30.0
16 Fremont 26,483 306.4 61.3 30.4 31.3
17 Chalco 11,258 306.3 61.4 31.0 36.7
About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.