ABSTRACT
The Nebraska environment—climate, land, and water—can only be understood by considering its extremes alongside its averages and by examining the internal complexity of the state. Nebraska’s climate is characterized by seasonal temperature extremes common to continental interiors, by subhumid to semiarid conditions, highly variable precipitation, and by several prominent natural hazards. The distribution of precipitation in Nebraska is a function of distance from the Gulf of Mexico and of the barrier effect of the Rocky Mountains. Other aspects of the harsh Nebraska climate have lent themselves more readily to adjustments that mitigate potential economic and other losses. Among these are savage winter storms, tornadoes, and hail. The most distinctive topographic region in the state is the Sandhills. Nebraska surface water is put to a wide variety of consumptive and instream uses. In-stream uses are those that utilize water without withdrawal or diversion or that return all or most of the withdrawn water.
