General Awareness
Temperatures were in the the upper 80s with dew points in the 30s and 40s in the morning and 50s in the afternoon through May 14, then moderated to the upper 70s by the 15th. No rain here until May 18 overnight into May 19, with 0.70 inches. Total rainfall for May is 1.
15 inch, which is 1.55 inches below normal, using the normal value at Omaha NWS Valley approximately 5 miles to the west of my CoCoRAHs station). Year to date precipitation here (my CocCoRAHS rain gauge) is 7.53 inches (1.94 inches  below normal using Omaha NWS Valley normal). By comparison, the Valley NWS has received 5.20 inches year to date, which is 4.27 inches below normal.  Before the rainfall on May 18th/19th, I would have classified the conditions as moderately dry, but this rainfall helped push it up to mildly dry. 

Plants and wildlife. 
Soil was drying out and hard until the May 18th/19th rain. Now the soil is moist in the upper 3 to 4 inches. Grass and other vegetation is green in many areas but is browning and stressed out in areas of full sun. Approximately 20 species of birds (about 100 birds total) and several squirrels are using my bird bath on a daily basis. There are not as many mosquitos as usual for this time of year in the yard and adjacent woods. The garden needed water daily until this morning. 

Water
Water level in Standing Bear Lake (approximately 0.2 mile to the east of here) is approximately 2 feet below normal level. Area creeks and ponds are also about 1.5 to 2 feet below normal.