Hail and Damaging Wind in Nebraska, July 6 to 7, 2003

Name: Hail and Damaging Wind in Nebraska, July 6 to 7, 2003
Start: 2003-07-06T20:15
End: 2003-07-07T02:10
Location: Nebraska

July 6 to 7, 2003 · NWS GID · 16 events in 11 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 8 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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: $1.4 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 16

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.

Chainsaws once again roared as cleanup began after a third, and most damaging, night of high winds across south-central Nebraska. Once again, thunderstorms began around Holdrege, then moved northeast and dissipated. As the storms dissipated, extremely high winds were reported north of Grand Island. Winds to 70 mph caused widespread damage in Howard, Merrick, Greeley, Hamilton and Nance counties. Tree damage was most common along with reports of several power outages. Further west near Holdrege, a 10' x 20' shed was torn apart by strong winds. As was the case in previous nights, temperatures soared into the 80s and 90s as the dry and warm winds blew across the region. Earlier in the evening, the thunderstorms dumped hail up to the size of quarters on parts of the area, mainly to the southwest of Minden.

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 6, 1:43 PM CST, 6 hours 32 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 6, 1:43 PM CST, 6 hours 32 minutes before

SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA/NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
243 PM CDT SUN JUL 6 2003

FRONTAL POSITION AND SUBSEQUENT TSTM POTENTIAL THE MAIN CONCERN

PATTERN REMAINED ACTIVE ACROSS THE CONUS WITH SEVERAL WAVES EMBEDDED
IN FLOW...THE STRONGEST OF SUCH REMAINING FAR NORTH ACROSS THE
CANADIAN PROVINCES.  MORNING UPPER AIR ANALYSIS FEATURED WARM MID
LEVEL TEMPS WITH LBF AND DDC AT 15C AT H7 WITH 13C AT OAX/TOP.  18Z
SFC ANALYSIS PLACED COOL FRONT THROUGH CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA AND INTO
THE NEBRASKA PANHANDLE.  PRESSURE RISES AVERAGED 1-2MB BEHIND THE
BOUNDARY.  TEMPERATURES HAVE REACHED THE 90S ACROSS THE CWA BUT
CONVECTIVE TEMPS AOA 100F AND SKIES STILL CLEAR AT THIS POINT.

FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL SAG A LITTLE FURTHER SOUTHEAST INTO WESTERN
CWA AFT MIDNIGHT.  DO NOT EXPECT MUCH IN THE WAY OF CONVECTION
ALTHOUGH A FEW TSTMS MAY REACH WESTERN AND NORTHERN CWA LATE TONIGHT
AND WILL MAINTAIN LOW POPS.

BETTER CHCS FOR TSTMS OCCURS MONDAY AFTN/NIGHT AS FRONTAL BOUNDARY
STALLS ACROSS SOUTHERN NEBRASKA AND MID LEVEL WAVE APPROACHES FM THE
CENTRAL ROCKIES.  AGAIN...TSTMS FAVOR LOCATIONS AHEAD OF BOUNDARY IN
NEBRASKA...WITH LESSER CHCS ACROSS KS.  AFTER CONVECTION MONDAY
NIGHT...SFC BOUNDARY BECOMES MORE DIFFUSE ACROSS THE CWA...WITH
DEEPER SFC LOW DEVELOPING ACROSS EASTERN MT.  ETA DRIES THINGS OUT
FOR THE CWA AND STRENGTHENS MID LEVEL CAP.  MEANWHILE GFS MAINTAINS
CONVECTION DURING THE DAY.  OVERALL AM LEANING TOWARD CONVECTION
ACROSS THE DAKOTAS DURING THIS TIME WITH POSSIBLY STORMS PROGRESSING
EAST/SOUTHEAST ON EASTERN EDGE OF CAP.  WILL NOT GO HIGHER THAN
SLGHT CHCS ACROSS NORTHERN AND EASTERN ZONES.

MODELS DIVERGE IN FRONTAL POSITION...STRENGTH OF RIDGE AND CAP ON
WEDNESDAY.  HAVE MAINTAINED PERSISTENCE OF HOLDING STRONGER CAP WITH
DRY AND WARM FORECAST THROUGH THIS PERIOD AND THE EXTENDED.

.GID...NONE.

FAY

Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 6, 6:40 PM CST, 1 hour 35 minutes before

KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087-071200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
740 PM CDT SUN JUL 6 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND
PARTS OF NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT

A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SEVERE WEATHER WILL EXIST TONIGHT MAINLY WEST
HIGHWAY 281 ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS.
ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER THE
REMAINDER OF THE OUTLOOK AREA BUT NONE ARE EXPECTED TO REACH SEVERE
LEVELS.

A NEARLY STATIONARY FRONT ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA INTO
WESTERN KANSAS WILL ACT AS THE FOCUS FOR THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT
TONIGHT.  A VERY UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE WILL ALLOW A FEW OF THESE
STORMS TO BECOME STRONG TO SEVERE MAINLY WEST OF HIGHWAY 281.  THE
PRIMARY THREAT FROM THESE STORMS WILL BE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING
WINDS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY

THE STALLED FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL BE FOCUS FOR SCATTERED STORMS
MONDAY AND TUESDAY ACROSS THE REGION...WITH COVERAGE MORE NUMEROUS IN
SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA. THERE IS AT LEAST A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE
WEATHER BOTH DAYS.

AFTER A BRIEF COOL DOWN EARLY THIS WEEK...THE HOT WEATHER RETURN AS
HIGH TEMPERATURES FLIRT WITH...OR TOP THE CENTURY MARK BY WEEKS END.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED TONIGHT WEST OF HIGHWAY 281
ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS AND SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA.

AWJ

The radar

The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 67 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:15 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

8 high wind, 7 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Phelps

When: July 6, 8:15 PM CST
Where: Phelps County, 4 mi E of Bertrand
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 40.367, -99.233

Hail, Buffalo

When: July 6, 8:25 PM CST
Where: Buffalo County, Odessa
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 40.867, -99.967

Hail, Phelps

When: July 6, 8:58 PM CST
Where: Phelps County, 7 mi SE of Funk
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 40.433, -99.067

Hail, Kearney

When: July 6, 8:58 PM CST
Where: Kearney County, Wilcox
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 41.283, -98.683

Hail, Dawson

When: July 6, 9:15 PM CST
Where: Dawson County, Cozad
Measured: 1 in hail
Property damage: $25,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 40.583, -98.383

Hail, Kearney

When: July 6, 9:15 PM CST
Where: Kearney County, Keene
Measured: 1 in hail
Property damage: $25,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 40.507, -98.948 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hail, Howard

When: July 6, 9:50 PM CST
Where: Howard County, 5 mi W of Elba
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 41.220, -98.517 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Thunderstorm Wind, Adams

When: July 6, 10:00 PM CST
Where: Adams County, Hastings
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $25,000
Reported by: NWS EMPLOYEE(OFF DUTY)
Coordinates: 40.525, -98.501 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Phelps

When: July 6, 11:05 PM CST
Where: Phelps forecast zone
Measured: 62 kt (71 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $50,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 40.511, -99.414 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Merrick

When: July 6, 11:40 PM CST
Where: Merrick forecast zone
Measured: 62 kt (71 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $100,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 41.170, -98.038 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Hall

When: July 7, 12:00 AM CST
Where: Hall forecast zone
Measured: 70 kt (81 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $35,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 40.873, -98.502 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Howard

When: July 7, 12:05 AM CST to 12:35 AM CST
Where: Howard forecast zone
Measured: 62 kt (71 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $300,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 41.220, -98.517 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Merrick

When: July 7, 12:30 AM CST to 1:00 AM CST
Where: Merrick forecast zone
Measured: 62 kt (71 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $200,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 41.170, -98.038 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Hamilton

When: July 7, 12:30 AM CST to 1:00 AM CST
Where: Hamilton forecast zone
Measured: 62 kt (71 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $200,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 40.533, -99.550

High Wind, Nance

When: July 7, 12:40 AM CST to 2:10 AM CST
Where: Nance forecast zone
Measured: 62 kt (71 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $200,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 40.700, -99.250

High Wind, Polk

When: July 7, 12:40 AM CST to 2:10 AM CST
Where: Polk forecast zone
Measured: 62 kt (71 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $200,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 40.400, -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.
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.
High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Nebraska in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Nebraska, July 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: 5378674, 5378675, 5378676, 5379087, 5379088, 5379089, 5379090, 5379091, 5379092, 5379093, 5379094, 5379095, 5379163, 5379164, 5379165, 5379166.