1 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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 Omaha, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 18, 1:10 PM CST, 8 hours 50 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE 210 PM CDT MON AUG 18 2003 TEMPERATURES AND PRECIP CHANCES THROUGH MIDWEEK MAIN CONCERN. SYNOPSIS...SURFACE TROF LOCATED ACROSS CENTRAL NEBRASKA AT 18Z WITH SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING FROM NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS INTO NORTHEAST NEBARSKA. EXTENSIVE CLOUDS ACOSS MOST OF THE AREA FROM CONVECTION THIS MORNING THAT MOVED JUST WEST OF THE CWA. SOUTHEAST PARTS OF THE CWA REMAIN VERY HOT WITH TEMPERATURES AROUND 100 FROM OMAHA AND LINCOLN SOUTH. UPPER WAVE CONTINUES TO LINGER OVER THE CENTRAL ROCKIES WITH MAIN FLOW STILL ACROSS CANADA. WITH CONVECTION ALREADY DEVELOPING WILL INCREASE POPS ACROSS MOST OF THE AREA FOR THIS EVENING AT LEAST WITH A CONTINUED CHANCE THROUGH WEDNESDAY AS MODELS TRACK UPPER WAVE SLOWLY ACROSS CENTRAL PLAINS DURING THIS TIME. TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE TO BE A CHALLENGE AS SURFACE TROF LINGERS ACROSS CENTRAL NEBRASKA WITH TEMPERATURES DEPENDANT ON AMOUNT OF CLOUD AND PRECIP COVERAGE. WILL CONTINUE WITH CURRENT TEMPERATURE TRENDS IN FORCAST FOR TUESDAY AND BEYOND AT THIS TIME. NOT MUCH CHANGE OTHERWISE TO REMAINDER OF THE FORECAST. .OMA...NONE. FOBERT
IAZ043-055-056-069-079-080-090-091-NEZ011-012-015>018-030>034- 042>045-050>053-065>068-078-088>093-191000- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE 500 PM CDT MON AUG 18 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PARTS OF EASTERN NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT AND TUESDAY SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS MOST OF THE OUTLOOK AREA THROUGH THE EARLY EVENING HOURS AS A SLOW MOVING SURFACE AND UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM CROSSES THE AREA. THE MAIN SEVERE WEATHER HAZARDS APPEAR TO BE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. ALSO...HEAT INDICES ARE AGAIN FORECAST TO REACH 100 TO 105 DEGREES TUESDAY AFTERNOON MAINLY NEAR AND SOUTH OF THE PLATTE RIVER IN NEBRASKA AND FROM COUNCIL BLUFFS SOUTHWARD IN SOUTHWEST IOWA. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY THE CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE WEDNESDAY AS THE STORM SYSTEM MOVES ACROSS THE PLAINS. SOME THUNDERSTORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE WITH DAMAGING WINDS THE MAIN HAZARD. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE NEEDED TONIGHT. DEE
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
623 PM CDT MON AUG 18 2003
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0417 PM 1 W WILBER NE 68 MPH TSTM GUST
08/18/03 SALINE NUMEROUS TREES BROKEN
AND DOWNED. REPORTED
BY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.
0417 PM WILBER NE 68 MPH TSTM GUST
08/18/03 SALINE NUMEROUS LARGE TREE
LIMBS BROKEN, SERVERAL
LARGE TREES BLOWN DOWN
AND STREET FLOODING.
REPORTED BY EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT.
0417 PM 2 NW WILBER NE 68 MPH TSTM GUST
08/18/03 SALINE TREES UPROOTED AND
BRANCHES BLOWN DOWN.
REPORTED BY EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT.
0417 PM FRIEND NE 68 MPH TSTM GUST
08/18/03 SALINE ROOF BLOWN OFF ONE
BUSINESS IN DOWNTOWN
AREA. ROOF 60 X 60.
REPORTED BY EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT.
0427 PM WILBER NE 66 MPH TSTM GUST
08/18/03 SALINE REPORTED BY EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT.PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
627 PM CDT MON AUG 18 2003
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0613 PM 3 N TEKAMAH NE 60 MPH TSTM GUST
08/18/03 BURT REPORTED BY LAW
ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
703 PM CDT MON AUG 18 2003
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0640 PM 8 NW WHITING IA 60 MPH TSTM GUST
08/18/03 MONONA REPORTED BY PUBLIC.PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
807 PM CDT MON AUG 18 2003
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0610 PM 6 NE OAKLAND NE WIND DAMAGE
08/18/03 BURT LOTS OF 4-5 INCH
DIAMETER LIMBS
DOWN,
PLUS A PICNIC TABLE
RIPPED
UP AND BLOWN
AWAY. REPORTED BY PUBLIC.PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
807 PM CDT MON AUG 18 2003
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0610 PM 6 NE OAKLAND NE WIND DAMAGE
08/18/03 BURT LOTS OF 4-5 INCH
DIAMETER LIMBS DOWN,
PLUS A PICNIC TABLE
RIPPED UP AND BLOWN
AWAY. REPORTED BY PUBLIC.PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
1029 PM CDT MON AUG 18 2003
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0500 PM LINCOLN NE 60 MPH TSTM GUST
08/18/03 LANCASTER TREES AND POWER LINES
DOWN. REPORTED BY LAW
ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.
0545 PM WEST PT NE 60 MPH TSTM GUST
08/18/03 CUMING TREES AND POWER LINES
DOWN.
WEST POINT AND
BANCROFT. REPORTED BY
LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.
0625 PM 5 W DECATUR NE WIND DAMAGE
08/18/03 BURT LARGE TREE BLOCKING HWY
51. REPORTED BY LAW
ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A lightning strike started a fire that destroyed a 100 year-old barn north of David City.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nebraska in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Nebraska, August 2003
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: 5375222.