Hail in Nebraska, July 30, 2002

Name: Hail in Nebraska, July 30, 2002
Start: 2002-07-30T09:55
End: 2002-07-30T11:26
Location: Nebraska

July 30, 2002 · NWS GID · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Hail to the size of golf balls was reported in Shelby from some early afternoon severe storms passing through the region. Up to 2 inches of rain fell in southeast Polk county.

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: $100,000
Crop damage: $650,000
Events: 2

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.

Hail to the size of golf balls was reported in Shelby from some early afternoon severe storms passing through the region. Up to 2 inches of rain fell in southeast Polk county.

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 Jul 30, 1:46 AM CST, 8 hours 9 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 30, 1:46 AM CST, 8 hours 9 minutes before

SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA/NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
246 AM CDT TUE JUL 30 2002

WARM TEMPS THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS AND TSTM CHCS ARE THE MAIN CONCERNS

EVENING UPPER AIR ANALYSIS PLACED 120KT H3 JET ACROSS BRITISH COLUMBIA.
OVERALL FLOW WAS ZONAL ACROSS THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE CONUS WITH HIGH
PRESSURE IN THE SOUTHWEST US...AND A LOW IN THE FAR SOUTH.  SHORTWAVE
TROF TRANSLATING ACROSS THE NORTHERN PLAINS WILL BRING SFC BOUNDARY
INTO NORTHERN NEBRASKA THIS AFTERNOON.  THERE IS A SLIGHT CHC OF TSTM
DEVELOPMENT ALONG THE BOUNDARY THIS AFTN/EVENING IN OUR NORTHEAST CWA
WHILE WARM H7 TEMPS OF 14-16C SHLD INHIBIT STORMS TO THE WEST.  LATEST
SWODY1 HAS PLACED OUR NORTHEAST COUNTIES IN THE SLIGHT RISK CATEGORY.
IF STORMS DEVELOP...MAIN HAZARD WOULD BE WIND WITH HAIL A SECONDARY
CONCERN.  OTHERWISE...TEMPS SHLD BE RATHER WARM AGAIN WITH HIGHS
GENERALLY UPPER 90S TO AROUND 100F.

THE HOT TEMPS WILL PERSIST THROUGH WEDNESDAY AHEAD OF COOL FRONT.  ETA
H85 TEMP PROGS 28-33C E/W ACROSS THE CWA WHICH SUGGESTS HIGHS IN THE
TRIPLE DIGITS.  THIS IS ALREADY REFLECTED IN FCST WITH MAX TEMPS
100-105F.  AVN DEVELOPS PCPN WED NIGHT AS BOUNDARY BEGINS TO SAG
SOUTH...HOWEVER BELIEVE WARM MID LEVEL TEMPS WILL AGAIN SUPPRESS ANY
TSTM ACTIVITY UNTIL THURSDAY AS UPPER ENERGY TRANSLATES FURTHER
SOUTH...AND HEIGHTS LOWER...ALLOWING CAP TO WEAKEN.  WITH BETTER UPPER
SUPPORT AND NOW MORE CONSISTENCY IN MODELS WITH FRONTAL POSITION
THURSDAY NIGHT...WILL INCREASE POPS THURS NIGHT TO 30 PCNT.

AVN IS TRENDING WETTER WITH FCST INTO THE WEEKEND...SHOWING A SERIES OF
SHORTWAVE TROFS LIFTING OUT OF THE SOUTHERN ROCKIES AND ONTO THE
PLAINS.  AT THIS POINT...WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR TRENDS OF THIS AND
MAINTAIN A DRY FORECAST.  THE LATEST MRF HAS DONE AN ABOUT FACE WITH
THE PREVIOUS RUN SHOWING A MORE AMPLITUDE PATTERN WITH A RIDGE OVER THE
ROCKIES AND TROF FROM THE GREAT LAKES THRU THE OHIO VALLEY.
SUBSEQUENTLY...THE LATEST NUMERICAL GUIDANCE HAS TRENDED COOLER IN THE
EXTENDED.  AT THIS POINT WILL NOT FLIP FLOP AND WILL LEAVE THE EXTENDED
AS IS AND WATCH FOR LATER TRENDS.

.GID...NONE.

FAY

The radar

The Omaha radar (KOAX), 115 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 15:55 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Nance

When: July 30, 9:55 AM CST
Where: Nance County, Genoa
Measured: 1 in hail
Property damage: $50,000
Crop damage: $250,000
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 41.450, -97.733

Hail, Polk

When: July 30, 11:26 AM CST
Where: Polk County, Shelby
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Property damage: $50,000
Crop damage: $400,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 41.200, -97.433

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

Every storm in Nebraska in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5314413, 5314414.