Hail, Valley
- When
- August 16, 11:47 PM CST
- Where
- Valley County, North Loup
- Measured
- 0.75 in hail
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 41.500, -98.783
Hail and Damaging Wind in Nebraska, August 16 to 17, 2002
3 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind, 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 4
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 forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Hastings, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 16, 8:57 PM CST, 2 hours 50 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 16, 8:57 PM CST, 2 hours 50 minutes before
SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA/NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 957 PM CDT FRI AUG 16 2002 JUST A SHORT UPDATE TO THROW OUT A WIND ADVISORY AS BUFFER ZONE FOR NORTHWEST CWFA. FRONT IS DRIVING ITS WAY TOWARD THE CWFA AND SHOULD ARRIVE NEAR MIDNIGHT NORTHWEST SECTIONS. STRONG ISALLOBARIC COMPONENT WITH PRESSURE RISES WILL AID IN HIGHER WIND SPEEDS. ADVISORY CRITERIA APPEARS AT LEAST A CERTAINTY IN THOSE AREAS FOR 2 TO 5 HOURS MAYBE ACROSS AREAS FURTHER SOUTHEAST. NO MAJOR CHANGES OTHERWISE. PROVIDED SOME TIMING OF STORMS AS FRONT IS STILL EXPECT TO OVERCOME STRONG CAP...BUT POSSIBLY JUST A BIT FURTHER SOUTHEAST. .GID...WIND ADVISORY FOR THE OVERNIGHT HOURS NORTH OF A HOLDREGE TO GRAND ISLAND TO POLK LINE. MORITZ
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Aug 16, 10:42 PM CST, 1 hour 5 minutes before
KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087-171200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 1142 PM CDT FRI AUG 16 2002 ...SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE REQUIRED TONIGHT OVER SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS... AS EXPECTED...AN ERUPTION OF THUNDERSTORMS IN CENTRAL NEBRASKA WILL LEAD TO A LINE OF STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS OVERNIGHT. A COLD FRONT PLOWING INTO A VERY UNSTABLE AIRMASS ACROSS THE REGION WILL MOVE RAPIDLY SOUTHEAST OVERNIGHT. A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH...AND HAIL TO THE SIZE OF GOLF BALLS...WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA. BETWEEN MIDNIGHT AND 2 AM...AREAS NORTH OF INTERSTATE 80 IN SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA WILL HAVE THE BEST SHOT AT SEVERE WEATHER. BETWEEN 2 AND 5 AM...THE RISK FOR SEVERE STORMS WILL SPREAD SOUTH TO THE KANSAS BORDER...AND EVENTUALLY INTO NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS BY DAWN. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA UNTIL 5 AM. IT IS LIKELY SOME SPOTTER GROUPS WILL NEED TO BE DEPLOYED TONIGHT. ALL RESIDENTS OF SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS... SHOULD CONTINUE TO REMAIN VIGILANT TO THE POSSIBILITY OF SEVERE WEATHER DURING THE NIGHT. THIS FAST MOVING COLD FRONT WILL EXIT THE REGION EARLY SATURDAY MORNING...LEAVING A MUCH COOLER AND DRYER AIRMASS IN PLACE. MORITZ
The radar
The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 134 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 05:49 UTC.
Event by event
3 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Hail, Dawson
- When
- August 16, 11:51 PM CST
- Where
- Dawson County, Lexington
- Measured
- 0.75 in hail
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 40.783, -99.733
Hail, Gosper
- When
- August 17, 1:00 AM CST
- Where
- Gosper County, 8 mi S of Elwood
- Measured
- 0.75 in hail
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
- Coordinates
- 40.483, -99.850
Thunderstorm Wind, Furnas
- When
- August 17, 1:32 AM CST
- Where
- Furnas County, Oxford
- Measured
- 52 kt (60 mph)
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 40.250, -99.633
What these are
- Hail
- Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
- 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.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- High Wind in Washington, August 16, 2002
- Tornado and Hail in Minnesota, August 16, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Iowa, August 16, 2002
- High Wind in Iowa, August 16 to 17, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Iowa, August 16 to 17, 2002
- Hail in Nebraska, August 16, 2002
- Flash Flood and Damaging Winds in New York, August 16, 2002
- Damaging Wind and Lightning Strike in New Hampshire, August 16, 2002
- High Wind in Iowa, August 16, 2002
- Flash Flood in Pennsylvania, August 16, 2002
- Wildfire in Washington, August 16 to 20, 2002
- Lightning Strike in New York, August 16, 2002
More
Every storm in Nebraska in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Nebraska, August 2002
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: 5314867, 5314868, 5314869, 5314870.