4 hail, 1 lightning, 1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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 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 North Platte, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 28, 1:08 AM MST, 37 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE 308 AM CDT WED AUG 28 2002 ...MAIN CHALLENGE REMAINS CONVECTION AND TEMPERATURES... AVN AND MESO ETA SEEM FAIRLY SIMILAR THROUGH FIRST 60 HRS WITH H5 PATTERN. THE TIMING OF WAVES MOVING OUT OF THE CLOSED LOW OVER GREAT BASIN IS THE KICKER. SFC PATTERN NOT CHANGING MUCH THROUGH 48 HRS. AVN HAD BETTER HANDLE ON AREA OF CONVECTION MOVING INTO THE PANHANDLE EARLY THIS MORNING. PRECIPITIBLE WATER OVER THE HIGH PLAINS GENERALLY 130 PERCENT OF NORMAL WITH MOST AREAS ABOVE 1 INCH EAST OF GGW TO DDC AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS IN PLACE. PLENTY OF PACIFIC AND SUBTROPICAL MIDLEVEL MOISTURE FEEDING INTO THE CENTRAL AND HIGH PLAINS AS SEEN ON WATER VAPOR IMAGERY. SIMILAR PATTERN TO YESTERDAY HAS DEVELOPED OVERNIGHT AS BAROCLINIC LEAF ROUNDING UPPER LOW INITIATED CONVECTION THIS AFT OVER FRONT RANGE AND MOVES EAST ACROSS STATE INTO MOIST UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE. AS IT ENCOUNTERS BOUNDARIES LEFT OVER FROM PREVIOUS CONVECTION SHOULD BE ENOUGH TO KEEP SYSTEM GOING OVER FA THROUGH EARLY AFTERNOON WITH BETTER CHANCES OVER NORTHERN TIER. TEMPERATURES WILL AGAIN BE TRICKY WITH CLOUD COVER BUT SHOULD CLEAR OFF OVER WEST SOON ENOUGH TO REBOUND NICELY. WITH HIGH P/WS WILL LIKELY MENTION LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN POSS. ANOTHER VORT MAX MOVING INTO PANHANDLE TONIGHT FROM UNDER UPPER HIGH OVER NEW MEXICO. DOESNT SEEM TO BE AS VIGOROUS A WAVE THOUGH BUT SHOULD BE SUFFICIENT ENOUGH TO SET UP ANOTHER ROUND OF LATE NIGHT INTO LATE MORNING CONVECTION SCENARIO. AND STILL ANOTHER ROUND AS VORTICIES OUT OF THE UPPER LOW OVER THE GREAT BASIN AND THE UPPER HIGH OVER NM MOVE INTO THE PANHANDLE LATE THURSDAY AFT. NOTHING THAT I HAVE SEEN SHOWS ANY MONUMENTAL SYSTEM THAT WILL SCOUR OUT MOISTURE OVER THE FA THROUGH SUN. STILL QUESTIONABLE ON FRONT MOVING THROUGH AREA ON SUNDAY WILL LET DAY SEE NEXT RUN TO DECIDE WETHER TO PUT POPS IN. REST OF EXT LOOKS OK. POWER .LBF...NONE. POWER
The North Platte radar (KLNX), 102 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:27 UTC.
4 hail, 1 lightning, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck the TV antenna on a house and then traveled through the wiring in the house. The house received extensive fire, heat and smoke damage.
The River Road south of Oshkosh washed out in numerous locations due to fast flowing water rushing over the road.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nebraska in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Nebraska, August 2002
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: 5309547, 5309478, 5309479, 5309480, 5309545, 5309546.