Nebraska, 2003

Hail in Nebraska, August 4, 2003

August 4, 2003 · NWS GLD · 3 events in 1 county or zone

3 hail, 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
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
3

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 Goodland, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 4, 1:19 PM MST, 2 hours 16 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 4, 1:19 PM MST, 2 hours 16 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
219 PM MDT MON AUG 4 2003

THE MAIN FORECAST CHALLENGE IS TIMING AND EXTENT OF POPS THIS
EVENING.

VISIBLE SATELLITE AT 18Z SHOWING A LINE OF SOME MOD CU/ISOLATED TCU
EXTENDING ACROSS NORTHWEST KANSAS...OTHERWISE THE SKY WAS MOSTLY
CLEAR EAST OF THE ROCKIES. LINE APPEARS TO BE THE SURFACE TROUGH
AXIS AS INDICATED BY THE 17Z SURFACE CHART. AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE
EXTENDED FROM WESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA SOUTH INTO SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO.
WATER VAPOR IMAGERY INDICATING CONSIDERABLY DRIER AIR OVER WESTERN
COLORADO AND SHIFTING EAST.

THE UPPER RIDGE AXIS WILL GRADUALLY SHIFT EAST FROM THE ROCKIES INTO
THE PLAINS DURING THIS FORECAST PACKAGE. AT THE SURFACE...THE AREA
OF LOW PRESSURE MENTIONED ABOVE WILL SHIFT EAST AND BE REPLACED BY
HIGH PRESSURE. A LEE TROUGH WILL DEVELOP ON THE PLAINS WED NIGHT AND
CONTINUE THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT. FOR EARLY THIS EVENING...CURRENT
CONVECTION WILL NEED TO BE MONITORED FOR INCLUSION IN GRIDS AND
ZONES. DYNAMICS ARE NOT IMPRESSIVE WITH THIS LINE. ALSO DRYING
ATMOSPHERE SHOULD LIMIT THE ACTIVITY. SCATTERED POPS LOOK GOOD FOR
MOST OF THE KANSAS ZONES EXCEPT FAR NORTHWEST. WILL INCLUDE RED
WILLOW COUNTY NEBRASKA WITH SCATTERED POPS AS WELL. OTHERWISE...THE
REST OF THE FORECAST THROUGH DAY 3 LOOKS DRY AS UPPER
RIDGE/SUBSIDENCE BEGINS TO BUILD OVER THE PLAINS.

850 MB TEMPERATURES WARM UP BY WEDNESDAY AND CONTINUE THURSDAY AS
THE RIDGE AXIS MOVES EAST OF THE ROCKIES. MAX TEMPERATURES SHOULD BE
IN THE MID AND UPPER 90S BY WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY WITH 100 POSSIBLE
IN THE HILL CITY AREA.

DAYS 4-7...THE RIDGE RETROGRADES FROM THE PLAINS INTO THE ROCKIES BY
DAY 6. SHORTWAVES ROTATING THROUGH THE RIDGE WILL BRING A SLIGHT
CHANCE OF -TSRA ALONG SURFACE TROUGH OVER THE FORECAST AREA DAYS
4/5. SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE WILL FOLLOW ON DAYS 6/7 ALONG WITH COOLER
850 TEMPERATURES.

.GLD...NONE.

FS
Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 4, 12:30 PM MST, 3 hours 5 minutes before
COZ090>092-KSZ001>004-013>016-027>029-041-042-NEZ079>081-051200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
130 PM MDT MON AUG 4 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHWEST KANSAS...EXTREME
SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA...AND EAST CENTRAL COLORADO.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

A DEFINITIVE DRYLINE HAS FORMED AND EXTENDS FROM BENKELMAN NEBRASKA
TO CHEYENNE WELLS COLORADO AT 1 PM MDT. A FEW THUNDERSTORMS HAVE
FORMED ALONG THE LINE AND MORE ARE EXPECTED. THESE STORMS WILL MOVE
TO THE SOUTHEAST AT NEAR 10 MPH. BRIEF PERIODS OF MODERATE
RAINFALL...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND SMALL HAIL IS POSSIBLE WITH THESE
STORMS. A FEW OF THESE STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL UP
TO ONE INCH IN DIAMETER AND WINDS GUSTING TO NEAR 50 MPH THE MOST
LIKELY THREATS. THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WILL SLOWLY DIMINISH BEHIND
THE DRYLINE AS THE WIND SHIFTS TO THE NORTHWEST AND ALL THUNDERSTORM
ACTIVITY SHOULD BE ENDED BY MIDNIGHT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

DRIER AIR WILL MOVE INTO THE REGION LATE TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY
MORNING AS HIGH PRESSURE IN THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE RETURNS TO THE
MOUNTAINS OF THE WEST AND MOVES TOWARDS THE HIGH PLAINS.  BY
THURSDAY AFTERNOON...ENOUGH MOISTURE WILL HAVE RETURNED TO THE
TRI-STATE AREA THAT THUNDERSTORMS WITH ROUGHLY 20 PERCENT COVERAGE
WILL BE EXPECTED EACH AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM THURSDAY INTO THE
WEEKEND.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

RJC

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 4, 3:15 PM MST, 20 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
415 PM MDT MON AUG 04 2003

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

0359 PM    7 W OBERLIN               KS   .75 INCH HAIL
08/04/03   DECATUR                        REPORTED BY PUBLIC.

0359 PM    7 W OBERLIN               KS   60 MPH TSTM GUST
08/04/03   DECATUR                        REPORTED BY PUBLIC.
                                          ESTIMATED THE WIND
                                          GUSTS UP TO 60 MPH

The radar

The Goodland radar (KGLD), 131 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:35 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Red Willow

When
August 4, 3:35 PM MST
Where
Red Willow County, Mc Cook
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
40.200, -100.617

Hail, Red Willow

When
August 4, 3:41 PM MST
Where
Red Willow County, Mc Cook
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
40.200, -100.617

Hail, Red Willow

When
August 4, 3:45 PM MST
Where
Red Willow County, 5 mi NW of Mc Cook
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
40.250, -100.683

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

More

Every storm in Nebraska in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Nebraska, August 2003

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: 5367475, 5367476, 5367477.