Nebraska, 2002

Damaging Winds in Nebraska, June 2, 2002

June 2, 2002 · NWS GID · 4 events in 2 counties and zones

Thunderstorms in Phelps and Kearney counties produced strong winds which downed power lines, overturned a couple of pivots and caused minor roof damage to a few homes. The town of Wilcox lost power for a time.

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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$290,000
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 happened

The episode as NWS GID wrote it up.

Thunderstorms in Phelps and Kearney counties produced strong winds which downed power lines, overturned a couple of pivots and caused minor roof damage to a few homes. The town of Wilcox lost power for a time.

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 2, 1:00 PM CST, 7 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 2, 1:00 PM CST, 7 hours 30 minutes before
SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA/NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
200 PM CDT SUN JUN 2 2002

TSRA CHCS WL RMN THE CONCERN THRU TUE WITH SFC FRONT GRADUALLY
PROGRESSING SWD AS RIDGE OVR THE CNTRL CONUS IS FLATTENED.  50H HTS
HAVE FALLEN ABOUT 40 M OVR THE PAST 24 HRS WITH 500 MB TEMPS A CPL
DEGREES COOLER OVR NM/CO/WY.  OTHERWISE...MID LVL TEMPS WHICH
MAINTAINED CONTROL OF SAT EVE CONVECTION...RMN WARM OVR THE CNTRL
PLNS.  18Z SFC LOW WAS CNTRD JUST N OF HLC WITH WARM FRONT ANALYZED
ACRS THE NRN GID CWA.  DP AXIS WAS POINTING INTO THE SPC MOD RISK
AREA OVR NERN NEB.

META PROGS 50-55KT AT 850 MB BY 06Z WITH DECENT FORCING ALNG THE
WARM/STATIONARY FRONT OVR CNTRL NEB.  LLVL JET ORIENTATION IS NOT AS
GOOD AS LAST EVE WHEN SOME SHRA/TSRA BUBBLED OVR THE AREA...BUT WITH
SOME LGT RADAR RTNS ALREADY IND OVR THE SWRN CWA AND NR THE NRN
PERIMETER ...SLGT CHC TO CHC TSRA WL BE REINSERTED FOR TNGT.

TSRA CHC FOR LATE MON AFTN/EVE LK BTR...AS DOES THE SVR THREAT WITH
FRONT SOMEWHERE NR THE KS/NEB BRDR...UNDR MUCH WEAKER CAP.  COOLER
TEMPS AND QUICKER DRY FORECAST AS PER PREVIOUS MID WEEK FORECAST LK
FINE.

MAIN ALTERATIONS TO THE WEEKS FORECAST WL BE A MORE LIBERAL
MODERATION OF TEMPS FOR LATE WEEK AS SOME RIDGING IS
EXPECTED/PROGGED IN ADVN OF NXT TROF.  UKMO/CANADIAN/MRF ARE IN GENL
AGRMT WITH THE APPRCH OF THAT FEATURE BY THE WEEKEND...SO A RA
MENTION WL BE ADDED FOR DAYS 6 AND 7.

.GID...NONE.

09

The radar

The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 80 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:29 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Phelps

When
June 2, 8:30 PM CST
Where
Phelps County, Holdrege
Measured
51 kt (59 mph)
Property damage
$60,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
40.450, -99.367

Thunderstorm Wind, Phelps

When
June 2, 8:45 PM CST
Where
Phelps County, Funk
Measured
51 kt (59 mph)
Property damage
$30,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
40.467, -99.250

Thunderstorm Wind, Kearney

When
June 2, 8:50 PM CST
Where
Kearney County, Wilcox
Measured
51 kt (59 mph)
Property damage
$100,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
40.367, -99.233

Thunderstorm Wind, Kearney

When
June 2, 9:10 PM CST
Where
Kearney County, Axtell
Measured
61 kt (70 mph)
Property damage
$100,000
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
40.483, -99.117

What these are

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

More

Every storm in Nebraska in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5306121, 5306122, 5306123, 5306124.