Hail in Nebraska, June 15, 2002

Name: Hail in Nebraska, June 15, 2002
Start: 2002-06-15T08:45
End: 2002-06-15T13:05
Location: Nebraska

June 15, 2002 · NWS GID · 11 events in 6 counties and zones

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: $45,000
Crop damage: $2.9 million
Events: 11

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.

Morning thunderstorms brought some rain to the drought stricken area southwest of Holdrege, but also an unwanted hailstorm. Hail ranged from dimes to golf balls in size, but was driven by 50 mph winds. Several million dollars in crop damage was noted, with some fields a total loss. The most significant damage occurred along a patch from about 10 miles north of Oxford to around Orleans. A few farmers were expected to replant.

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 Jun 15, 1:45 AM CST, 7 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 15, 1:45 AM CST, 7 hours before

SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA/NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
245 AM CDT SAT JUN 15 2002

PRECIP CHANCES MAIN CONCERN FOR THIS FORECAST PACKAGE.

SATELLITE/ANALYSES SHOWED NW/SE JET ACROSS UPPER MIDWEST WITH A
COUPLE OF THUNDERSTORM CLUSTERS ACROSS THE DAKOTAS. A WEAK SURFACE
BOUNDARY ACROSS SDAK SHOULD BE FORTIFIED AND PUSHED SOUTHWARD AS A
RESULT TODAY.  MEANWHILE...A COUPLE OF H7 WAVES OVER THE ROCKIES
WILL BE COMING OVER THE WRN US RIDGE AND SUPPLIED ADDITIONAL ENERGY
BY GREAT BASIN JET. MOISTURE IS QUITE LIMITED BUT MODELS PERSIST IN
GENERATING PCPN OVER MUCH OF THE CWFA TODAY.

BELIEVE THE LATTER MENTIONED SYSTEM HAS THE BETTER DYNAMICS AND
MOISTURE TO WORK WITH.  ADDITIONALLY...PROGGED LAPSE RATES APPEAR
BEST IN THE WEST THIS AFTERNOON. THEREFORE WILL ADD A SLGT CHC POP
TO THE WRN CWFA TODAY...BUT DAY SHIFT SHOULD KEEP AN EYE ON NORTHERN
STREAM ACTIVITY.

APPEARS THAT MOST OF THE MID LEVEL ENERGY WILL BE DOWNSTREAM OF GID
CWFA BY TONIGHT...ALTHOUGH A WEAK BOUNDARY MAY REMAIN.  WITH BEST
CONVECTION FOCUSED TO THE SOUTH...WILL REMOVE THUNDER MENTION HERE
TONIGHT.  NEXT WAVE...ALTHOUGH HARD TO TIME IN NW FLOW...SHOULD
AFFECT AREA BEGINNING SUNDAY AFTERNOON AS PER PREVIOUS FORECAST.
PERHAPS THERE WILL BE A BIT MORE MOISTURE TO WORK WITH BY THEN.
AGREE WITH PREVIOUS FORECAST THAT BEST CHANCE FIGURES TO BE SUNDAY
NIGHT AS COLD FRONT PUSHES THROUGH.  MAY BE SOME LINGERING SHOWERS
SE MONDAY MORNING BUT WILL LET NEXT SHIFT REFINE THIS WORDING.

TEMPERATURES SHOULD BE ABLE TO WARM TO NEAR FRIDAYS LEVELS WITH A
SLIGHTLY WARMER START.  HOWEVER...BACKDOOR FRONT IN THE NORTHEAST
AND INCREASING CLOUDS OVER THE SW MAY HOLD TEMPS A BIT IN CHECK.
LOWER 80S IN GENERAL.  SIMILAR MAX TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED FOR THE
NEXT FEW DAYS...WHILE SOME MODERATION FROM CHILLY OVERNIGHT LOWS IS
EXPECTED AS MOISTURE WORKS BACK INTO THE AREA.

WILL CONTINUE CHANCES FOR TSTMS WEDNESDAY/NIGHT WITH DECENT FRONT
COMING THROUGH AREA.  WILL LEAVE THU/FRI DRY FOR NOW ALTHOUGH MRF
HINTING AT FLATTENING UPPER FLOW AND A POSSIBLE STALLING OF THE
FRONTAL BOUNDARY.

.GID...NONE.

DROZD

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jun 15, 3:38 AM CST, 5 hours 7 minutes before

KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087-161200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
438 AM CDT SAT JUN 15 2002

...SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED TODAY OR TONIGHT ACROSS
NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS OR SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA...

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THIS MORNING
AND EARLY THIS AFTERNOON WEST OF HIGHWAY 183.  HOWEVER...DUE TO
LIMITED MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY...THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO
BECOME SEVERE.

DROZD

Local storm report, Jun 15, 6:04 AM CST, 2 hours 41 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
704 AM CDT SAT JUN 15 2002

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0657 AM    2 N PALCO                 KS   .75 INCH HAIL
06/15/02   ROOKS                          REPORTED BY STORM
                                          SPOTTER.

The radar

The North Platte radar (KLNX), 137 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 14:42 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

11 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Dawson

When: June 15, 8:45 AM CST
Where: Dawson County, 4 mi S of Cozad
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Crop damage: $250,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 40.817, -99.967

Hail, Harlan

When: June 15, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Harlan County, 4 mi N of Mascot
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Crop damage: $250,000
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 40.317, -99.533

Hail, Furnas

When: June 15, 10:15 AM CST
Where: Furnas County, 5 mi NE of Edison
Measured: 1.5 in hail
Property damage: $25,000
Crop damage: $500,000
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 40.333, -99.700

Hail, Phelps

When: June 15, 10:45 AM CST
Where: Phelps County, 10 mi NW of Atlanta
Measured: 1 in hail
Property damage: $5,000
Crop damage: $300,000
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 40.467, -99.600

Hail, Gosper

When: June 15, 10:45 AM CST
Where: Gosper County, 13 mi SE of Smithfield
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Property damage: $15,000
Crop damage: $300,000
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 40.450, -99.550

Hail, Phelps

When: June 15, 11:15 AM CST
Where: Phelps County, 1 mi W of Atlanta
Measured: 1 in hail
Crop damage: $300,000
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 40.367, -99.483

Hail, Furnas

When: June 15, 11:45 AM CST
Where: Furnas County, Cambridge
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 40.283, -100.167

Hail, Harlan

When: June 15, 11:52 AM CST
Where: Harlan County, Orleans
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Crop damage: $300,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 40.133, -99.450

Hail, Furnas

When: June 15, 12:05 PM CST
Where: Furnas County, Hendley
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Crop damage: $300,000
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 40.133, -99.967

Hail, Harlan

When: June 15, 12:10 PM CST
Where: Harlan County, Alma
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Crop damage: $300,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 40.100, -99.350

Hail, Franklin

When: June 15, 1:05 PM CST
Where: Franklin County, 6 mi N of Naponee
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Crop damage: $100,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 40.167, -99.150

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, June 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: 5306245, 5306246, 5306247, 5306248, 5306249, 5306250, 5306251, 5306252, 5306253, 5306254, 5306255.