Nebraska, 2002

Tornadoes and Hail in Nebraska, July 24, 2002

July 24, 2002 · NWS LBF · 12 events in 5 counties and zones

10 hail, 2 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$15,000
Crop damage
$18,000
Events
12

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 North Platte, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 24, 2:06 PM CST, 1 hour 59 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 24, 2:06 PM CST, 1 hour 59 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
306 PM CDT WED JUL 24 2002

...FORECAST CHALLENGE TO BE TEMPS AND CHANCES OF PCPN...

ATM BECOMING MORE MOIST AS TROPICAL INFLUENCES INVADE THE HOT RIDGE
OF 2002.  THUS 700MB AND 500 MB TEMPS ARE COOLING SLIGHTLY MAKING
THE ENVIRONMENT MORE FAVORABLE FOR CONVECTION.  THIS AFTN...MID
LEVEL SUBSIDENCE INVERSION APPEARS TO CAPPING ATM PRECLUDING TSRA
DEVELOPMENT.  ISOLD TSRA MAY DEVELOP THIS EVENING NR KONL AREA.

NEXT SLIGHT CHANCE OF TSTMS IS THURSDAY NIGHT AS A SHORT WAVE TROF
MOVES THRU.  A WEAK COLD FRONT IS SUPPOSE TO MOVE THRU TONIGHT WITH
MOISTURE WRAPPING NW THROUGHOUT THE DAY THURSDAY...THE ETA APPEARS
TO BE TOO FAST WITH THE FRONT AS THE DAKOTA BLOWER HAS REMAINED
ANCHORED OVER SD THIS AFTN AND WILL REMAIN SO UNTIL LATE TONIGHT
WHEN A SHORT WAVE MOVES WELL NORTH OF FCST AREA PER 1941Z SWOMCD.

THE THURSDAY NIGHT DISTURBANCE PERSUMABLY SENDS A COLD FRONT INTO SW
NEB-NEWD THRU NE NEB ON FRIDAY WHICH COULD PRODUCE AN ISOLD LATE
AFTN/EVE TSRA ACROSS FAR ERN ZONES.

TEMPERATURES ARE A COMPROMISE BETWEEN THE VERY WARM ETA AND OVERLY
COOL AVN.

BEYOND...FOLLOWED AVN WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OF TSRA SUNDAY NIGHT AS
ANOTHER RIPPLE MOVES THROUGH.  OVERALL THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE IS
FLATTENING AND BECOMING MORE MOIST.  THE TROPICAL INFLUENCES ARE
READILY VISIBLE ON SATELLITE AND 700MB RAOB ANALYSIS.  A PAIR OF
HURRICANES IN THE EASTERN PAC ARE ALSO CONTRIBUTING TO MORE MOIST
AND UNCERTAIN UPPER LEVEL CONDS.

OUTER PERIODS HAVE BEEN KEPT DRY FOR NOW WITH SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL
TEMPERATURES.

.LBF...NONE

CDC

The radar

The North Platte radar (KLNX), 165 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:03 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

10 hail, 2 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Holt

When
July 24, 4:05 PM CST
Where
Holt County, 2 mi W of O Neill
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
42.433, -98.683

Hail, Holt

When
July 24, 4:17 PM CST to 4:27 PM CST
Where
Holt County, 6 mi NW of Inman
Measured
1 in hail
Crop damage
$2,000
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
42.433, -98.633

Hail ranged from nickel to quarter size.

Hail, Rock

When
July 24, 4:30 PM CST
Where
Rock County, 9 mi ESE of Rose
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
42.150, -99.300

Hail, Holt

When
July 24, 4:31 PM CST
Where
Holt County, 1 mi S of O Neill
Measured
1.75 in hail
Crop damage
$2,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
42.417, -98.650

Hail, Loup

When
July 24, 4:47 PM CST
Where
Loup County, 5 mi NNE of Taylor
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
41.833, -99.350

Hail, Garfield

When
July 24, 5:00 PM CST
Where
Garfield County, 1 mi S of Burwell
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
41.767, -99.133

Hail, Garfield

When
July 24, 5:00 PM CST
Where
Garfield County, 6 mi W of Burwell
Measured
4.5 in hail
Property damage
$5,000
Crop damage
$10,000
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
41.783, -99.250

Hail, Holt

When
July 24, 5:20 PM CST
Where
Holt County, 6 mi NE of Chambers
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
42.267, -98.667

Hail, Garfield

When
July 24, 5:25 PM CST to 5:30 PM CST
Where
Garfield County, 1 mi S of Burwell
Measured
1 in hail
Crop damage
$2,000
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
41.767, -99.133

Hail ranged from nickel to quarter size.

Tornado, Holt

When
July 24, 5:37 PM CST
Where
Holt County, 6 mi SE of Chambers
Rating
F0
Path length
0.1 mi
Path width
10 yd
Property damage
$10,000
Reported by
FIRE DEPT/RESCUE SQUAD
Coordinates
42.133, -98.667

Tornado touched down briefly and downed power lines.

Hail, Wheeler

When
July 24, 6:10 PM CST
Where
Wheeler County, 7 mi N of Bartlett
Measured
1.75 in hail
Crop damage
$2,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
41.983, -98.550

Tornado, Wheeler

When
July 24, 7:05 PM CST
Where
Wheeler County, 6 mi SE of Bartlett
Rating
F0
Path length
0.1 mi
Path width
5 yd
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
41.817, -98.467

Tornado touched down briefly with no damage.

What these are

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

More

Every storm in Nebraska in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Nebraska, 2002Warnings in Nebraska, July 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: 5303989, 5303990, 5303992, 5303991, 5303993, 5303994, 5303995, 5303996, 5303997, 5303998, 5303999, 5304000.