Tornado and Hail in Nebraska, May 21, 1998

Name: Tornado and Hail in Nebraska, May 21, 1998
Start: 1998-05-21T03:40
End: 1998-05-21T21:55
Location: Nebraska

May 21, 1998 · NWS LBF · 31 events in 8 counties and zones

28 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $228,000
Crop damage: $756,000
Events: 31

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.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

28 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Perkins

When: May 21, 3:40 AM MST
Where: Perkins County, 2 mi E of Venango
Property damage: $1,000
Coordinates: 40.770, -102.000

Thunderstorm winds blew large tree limbs down.

Hail, Perkins

When: May 21, 5:10 AM MST
Where: Perkins County, 4 mi NE of Madrid
Measured: 1 in hail
Coordinates: 40.880, -101.480

Hail, Hayes

When: May 21, 6:30 AM CST
Where: Hayes County, 16 mi NW of Hayes Center
Measured: 1 in hail
Coordinates: 40.680, -101.230

Hail, Perkins

When: May 21, 5:50 AM MST
Where: Perkins County, 11 mi NNE of Elsie
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Coordinates: 41.000, -101.300

Hail, Lincoln

When: May 21, 6:55 AM CST
Where: Lincoln County, 11 mi SE of Wallace
Measured: 1 in hail
Coordinates: 40.720, -101.020

Hail, Frontier

When: May 21, 7:20 AM CST
Where: Frontier County, Maywood
Measured: 2.75 in hail
Property damage: $10,000
Crop damage: $30,000
Coordinates: 40.670, -100.620

Large hail damaged crops and vehicles as well as houses and other property.

Hail, Frontier

When: May 21, 7:40 AM CST
Where: Frontier County, Eustis
Measured: 1 in hail
Property damage: $5,000
Crop damage: $10,000
Coordinates: 40.670, -100.030

Thunderstorms dropped large hail which damaged crops and other property.

Hail, Frontier

When: May 21, 7:45 AM CST
Where: Frontier County, 2 mi E of Curtis
Measured: 1 in hail
Coordinates: 40.630, -100.480

Hail, Lincoln

When: May 21, 7:45 AM CST
Where: Lincoln County, 10 mi E of Wellfleet
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Property damage: $3,000
Coordinates: 40.750, -100.550

Hail, Frontier

When: May 21, 8:32 AM CST
Where: Frontier County, 7 mi SSW of Eustis
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Property damage: $10,000
Crop damage: $10,000
Coordinates: 40.570, -100.080

Golfball size hail damaged crops and property in the Eustis area.

Hail, Arthur

When: May 21, 1:10 PM MST
Where: Arthur County, 9 mi S of Arthur
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Coordinates: 41.430, -101.700

Hail, McPherson

When: May 21, 2:20 PM CST
Where: McPherson County, 19 mi NW of Tryon
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Property damage: $1,000
Coordinates: 41.750, -101.230

Thunderstorm winds caused damage to trees.

Thunderstorm Wind, Hooker

When: May 21, 2:30 PM CST
Where: Hooker County, 22 mi SSE of Mullen
Measured: 60 kt (69 mph)
Coordinates: 41.750, -100.870

Thunderstorm winds broke a large tree limb.

Hail, Frontier

When: May 21, 5:56 PM CST
Where: Frontier County, 12 mi SSW of Stockville
Measured: 1 in hail
Coordinates: 40.370, -100.470

Hail, Frontier

When: May 21, 6:13 PM CST
Where: Frontier County, 8 mi SE of Stockville
Measured: 2.75 in hail
Property damage: $5,000
Crop damage: $15,000
Coordinates: 40.450, -100.280

Hail, Frontier

When: May 21, 6:15 PM CST
Where: Frontier County, 10 mi WSW of Stockville
Measured: 2.75 in hail
Property damage: $1,000
Crop damage: $21,000
Coordinates: 40.480, -100.570

Baseball size hail destroyed 160 acres of wheat and broke out windows in a house.

Hail, Frontier

When: May 21, 6:20 PM CST
Where: Frontier County, Moorefield
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Property damage: $50,000
Coordinates: 40.680, -100.330

Hail, Perkins

When: May 21, 5:30 PM MST
Where: Perkins County, Venango
Measured: 1.25 in hail
Coordinates: 40.770, -102.030

Hail, Lincoln

When: May 21, 6:30 PM CST
Where: Lincoln County, 22 mi S of Brady
Measured: 1.25 in hail
Coordinates: 40.720, -100.370

Hail, Frontier

When: May 21, 6:45 PM CST
Where: Frontier County, 18 mi SE of Stockville
Measured: 2 in hail
Property damage: $10,000
Crop damage: $30,000
Coordinates: 40.350, -100.130

A thunderstorm dropped up to two inch diameter hail which caused damage to crops and property.

Tornado, Perkins

When: May 21, 5:45 PM MST
Where: Perkins County, 11 mi SW of Grant
Rating: F0
Path length: 0.1 mi
Path width: 20 yd
Coordinates: 40.730, -101.870

A tornado touched down briefly in open country and did little if any damage 11 miles southwest of the community of Grant.

Hail, Chase

When: May 21, 6:00 PM MST
Where: Chase County, 7 mi NNE of Lamar
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Property damage: $5,000
Crop damage: $200,000
Coordinates: 40.670, -101.920

Large hail damaged up to 3000 acres of wheat.

Hail, Perkins

When: May 21, 6:00 PM MST
Where: Perkins County, 10 mi SSW of Grant
Measured: 1 in hail
Coordinates: 40.720, -101.780

Hail, Hayes

When: May 21, 8:05 PM CST
Where: Hayes County, Hayes Center
Measured: 4.5 in hail
Property damage: $100,000
Crop damage: $200,000
Coordinates: 40.520, -101.020

Hail, Perkins

When: May 21, 7:05 PM MST
Where: Perkins County, 7 mi SSW of Grant
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Property damage: $4,000
Coordinates: 40.750, -101.770

Hail, Lincoln

When: May 21, 8:37 PM CST
Where: Lincoln County, Wellfleet
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Coordinates: 40.750, -100.730

Hail, Frontier

When: May 21, 8:45 PM CST
Where: Frontier County, 17 mi WSW of Stockville
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Property damage: $3,000
Crop damage: $10,000
Coordinates: 40.430, -100.680

Hail, Frontier

When: May 21, 9:20 PM CST
Where: Frontier County, 8 mi SE of Stockville
Measured: 2.5 in hail
Property damage: $8,000
Crop damage: $20,000
Coordinates: 40.450, -100.280

Hail as large as tennis balls caused significant damage to crops and property east of Stockville.

Hail, Frontier

When: May 21, 9:45 PM CST
Where: Frontier County, 4 mi E of Stockville
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Property damage: $7,000
Crop damage: $10,000
Coordinates: 40.530, -100.300

Hail, Chase

When: May 21, 9:30 PM MST
Where: Chase County, 2 mi WSW of Champion
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Property damage: $5,000
Crop damage: $200,000
Coordinates: 40.450, -101.780

Large hail destroyed up to 2000 acres of wheat.

Hail, Chase

When: May 21, 9:55 PM MST
Where: Chase County, 3 mi W of Enders
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Coordinates: 40.450, -101.580

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Nebraska in 1998 Every state in 1998 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Nebraska, 1998 Warnings in Nebraska, May 1998

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: 5644534, 5644535, 5644536, 5644538, 5644537, 5644539, 5644540, 5644541, 5644542, 5644543, 5644544, 5644545, 5644546, 5644547, 5644549, 5644855, 5644548, 5644550, 5644551, 5644552, 5644554, 5644553, 5644555, 5644847, 5644848, 5644850, 5644849, 5644851, 5644852, 5644853, 5644854.