Hail, Phelps
- When
- August 2, 3:50 PM CST
- Where
- Phelps County, Holdrege
- Measured
- 1 in hail
- Property damage
- $10,000
- Crop damage
- $75,000
- Coordinates
- 40.450, -99.370
Hail in Nebraska, August 2, 1996
A large severe thunderstorm moved south across a portion of south central Nebraska. The hardest hit area was in Harlan county with significant property damage and devastating crop damage.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $10,000
- Crop damage
- $75,000
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS GID wrote it up.
A large severe thunderstorm moved south across a portion of south central Nebraska. The hardest hit area was in Harlan county with significant property damage and devastating crop damage. Hail to the size of golfballs and winds of 70 to 90 mph were reported. Over 80,000 acres of land were damaged in a 6 mile wide corridor from north of Orleans to the Kansas border. Rainfall in excess of five inches in 40 minutes caused significant erosion and washed out several county roads. In Orleans, a basement wall caved in due to the heavy rain. At least 3 grain bins were destroyed and a mobile home was moved 30 feet by the high winds. Rural farmsteads reported downed power lines, extensive tree damage and broken windows.
The radar
The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 80 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:48 UTC.
Event by event
1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Hail
- Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Damaging Wind in Kansas, August 2, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Nebraska, August 2, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Kansas, August 2, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Kansas, August 2, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Kansas, August 2, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Kansas, August 2, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Kansas, August 2, 1996
- Lightning Strike in Nebraska, August 2, 1996
- Lightning Strike in North Dakota, August 2, 1996
- Hail in North Dakota, August 2, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Nebraska, August 2, 1996
- Hail in Nebraska, August 2, 1996
More
Every storm in Nebraska in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in Nebraska, August 1996
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5568726.