Hail, Hall
- When
- June 22, 5:00 PM CST
- Where
- Hall County, Grand Is
- Measured
- 1.25 in hail
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 40.650, -98.150
Thunderstorms erupted during the evening in south-central Nebraska. One storm near Aurora produced very large hail.
Every event with a place to put it; 6 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 episode as NWS GID wrote it up.
Thunderstorms erupted during the evening in south-central Nebraska. One storm near Aurora produced very large hail. One stone measured by an NWS Storm Survey team was determined to be the largest sized stone to fall in the United States. It measured 7 inches in diameter and 18.75 inches in circumference. Many other large stones were noted on the northern side of Aurora. Given the lack of wind, damage was limited to roofs, a few windows and some crop land near town. The storm also produced a couple of brief small tornadoes as it slowly moved through northern Hamilton county.At nearly the same time, another very slow moving storm produced several tornadoes, hail and extremely heavy rains in Thayer county. One tornado moved through the town of Deshler going from the southeast side of town to the west. One man was killed in his garage before he was able to get to shelter. Over 400 homes in Deshler were damaged with four being completely demolished. Nearly 100 homes were moderately to severely damaged. Six businesses in town were considered a complete loss and 25 others reportedly suffered moderate to severe damage. Seven people were injured, most were minor and were from broken glass. Later in the evening, a tornado was reported north of Bradshaw in York county. Storm spotters about 1 mile west of the tornado saw debris being flung through the air. A farmstead was hit with most of the damage done to an old barn.Despite ongoing drought conditions, widespread flooding was reported in Thayer and southern Fillmore counties. The flash flood along the Rose Creek at Hubbell provided some of the worst damage. Water was flowing into houses and businesses on main street to the tune of up to 5 feet deep. Boats were the only mode of travel through the business district. Up to 15 residents had to be evacuated by the local Dive and Rescue team using jet skis. The flooding was caused by extremely heavy rainfall in nearby Republic County, Kansas.Flooding and flash flooding was also a problem throughout Thayer county. Rainfall of over 12 inches was reported about 5 miles north of Deshler. Residents reported nearly 5 hours of constant, wind-driven rain. Windows were blown out and the rain just poured into homes. Widespread agricultural damage was done due to the rain. The runoff in the Snake and Spring creeks ravaged Deshler, the town which had already been hammered by tornadoes that evening. Flooding was concentrated in the southern part of town and most widespread near the park and fairgrounds.Major river flooding was reported along the Little Blue River from just west of Hebron to the Jefferson county line. One man at his farmstead near Gilead had to be air lifted to safety by the National Guard as flooding waters rose on his property. Dozens of county roads and bridges were damaged or destroyed. U. S. Highway 81 was restricted to one lane travel at Hebron due to the high water on the road. Portions of Highways 81, 136 and 9 were closed for a time due to high water. The Big Sandy Creek flowed out of its banks at Alexandria and crested at 14.5 feet. Water was flowing over the highway near town and filling back into the town's sewer drains. In all, several million dollars in damage was done by the flooding alone. Some locals said this was the worst flooding in the area in 55 years.
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 22, 1:00 PM CST, 4 hours earlier.
SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA/NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 200 PM CDT SUN JUN 22 2003 NOT MUCH HAS CHANGED FOR CURRENT FCST BUT TO UP LOWS A BIT OVR NEXT FEW DAYS AND LOWER HIGHS SOMEWHAT THU...OTHERWISE THINKING PRETTY MUCH THE SAME. RIGHT NOW...WATCHING MOISTURE DISCONTINUITY IN FORM OF FINE LINE MOVE EWD OUT OF LBF TERRITORY. THIS WOULD BE LIKELY FIRST INITIATION POINT FOR CONVECTION TODAY...OVR NRN CWA IN VALLEY SHERMAN GREELEY OR HOWARD COUNTIES...POSSIBLY BUILDING SWD SOMEWHAT OVR TIME. LOTS OF JUICE IN THE FORM OF SFC DPTS UPR 60S TO LOW 70S EAST OF LINE...AND WITH SUN STARTING TO BREAK THROUGH GENERATING LOADS OF LL CAPE. SHOULD REACH CONVECTIVE TEMPS ALSO RATHER EASILY...ESPECIALLY NEAR AND S OF I80 CORRIDOR. LL SHEAR QUITE GOOD...HOWEVER MID TO UPR LVLS HAVE SOMETHING TO BE DESIRED. OVERALL...BEST CHC FOR TSRA WILL BE OVR NRN HALF OF CWA ALONG DEV WARM FRONT...WITH BEST CHC FOR SEVERE N OF I80 AND E OF HIGHWAY 281. STRONG OR ISOLATED SEVERE CANNOT BE RULED OUT OVR REST OF CWA...HOWEVER MUCH MORE STABLE CONDITIONS ENCROACHING UPON SWRN PORTION OF CWA. FOR NOW KEEPING WITH SCATTERED MENTION...40 POPS NE...30S EVERYWHERE ELSE BUT SWRN CWA WITH 20 POPS. FOR MON...CONTINUES TO LOOK QUITE HOT AND FAIRLY MOIST...HOWEVER MUCH TOO CAPPED OVR MOST OF OUR CWA...WITH INSTABILITY AXIS PUSHING FURTHER TO THE EAST. LEFT SMALL 20 POPS E AND NE CWA FOR AFT/EVE PERIOD FOR POINTS IN NERN ZONES...ESPECIALLY WITH LEFT OVR CONVECTIVE BOUNDARY(S) HAVING THE CHANCE TO PUSH INTO THIS AREA. HOWEVER...NOT MUCH OF CHANCE REALLY. BEYOND...NO REAL CHANGES EXCEPT ABOVE MENTIONED LOWERING OF TEMPS A BIT MORE THU BEHIND FRONT AS RELATIVELY COOL DRY AIR MOVES BACK FOR A DAY OR SO. .GID...NONE. 10
KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087-231200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 255 PM CDT SUN JUN 22 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND PARTS OF NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT THERE IS A MODERATE RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO THE EVENING OVER PARTS OF SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS. IT APPEARS THE MOST LIKELY AREA FOR SEVERE STORMS WILL BE MAINLY NORTH AND EAST OF A GOTHENBURG TO RED CLOUD TO MANKATO KANSAS LINE. THIS WOULD INCLUDE THE TRI CITIES AREA. THE ATMOSPHERE HAS BECOME MORE UNSTABLE THIS AFTERNOON AS MORNING CLOUDS GAVE WAY TO INCREASED SUNSHINE. STRONG SOUTHERLY WINDS CONTINUE TO TRANSPORT AMPLE LOW LEVEL MOISTURE INTO THE REGION. IN ADDITION...A COLD FRONT THAT WAS LOCATED FROM JUST EAST OF AINSWORTH TO NEAR GOTHENBURG AND THEN SOUTH THROUGH MCCOOK SHOULD PUSH SLOWLY EASTWARD. OTHER BOUNDARIES THAT WERE PRODUCED FROM THUNDERSTORMS LAST NIGHT AND THIS MORNING WILL ALSO HELP TO INITIATE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT. ONE BOUNDARY WAS LOCATED NORTH OF FULLERTON AND ORD... WHILE ANOTHER WAS JUST WEST OF YORK AND EXTENDED SOUTH TO CONCORDIA KANSAS. IN ADDITION...WIND SHEAR PARAMETERS REMAIN FAVORABLE FOR GENERATING SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE REGION. THE COMBINATION OF ALL THESE FACTORS POINT TO THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT WITH SOME STORMS PRODUCING LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS AND TORNADOES. EMERGENCY MANAGERS SHOULD CONTINUE TO MONITOR THIS SITUATION THROUGHOUT THE AFTERNOON. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY EXTREMELY UNSTABLE CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO REDEVELOP LATE MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING OVER PARTS OF SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA...WITH SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE...MAINLY ALONG AND NORTH OF INTERSTATE 80. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND ARE POSSIBLE...AS ARE ISOLATED TORNADOES. THUNDERSTORM CHANCES FOR PARTS OF THE AREA WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MID WEEK WITH ADDITIONAL SEVERE WEATHER POSSIBLE BY TUESDAY AFTERNOON OR EVENING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED BY LATE THIS AFTERNOON INTO THE EVENING. EWALD
The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 44 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:58 UTC.
26 hail, 8 thunderstorm wind, 7 tornado, 2 heavy rain, 2 lightning, 1 flash flood, 1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
The first of several tornadoes to occur in Thayer county. This tornado remained in open county and most damage was to pivots and power poles.
A strong tornado set down on the southeast side of Deshler near the fairgrounds and moved west through the south side of Deshler. The slow moving tornado lifted a couple of miles west of town.
A short lived tornado was video taped on a law enforcement car camera as they were watching the stronger tornado move through Deshler.
A heavy precipitation (HP) supercell dumped 10 to 15 inches of rain in western and northern Thayer County. At times, rain rates of 3 to 5 inches per hour were depicted by Doppler radar.
Record setting hail occurred on the north side of Aurora.
A brief touch down occurred just west of Aurora and was observed by an off duty NWS meteorologist.
The last of four tornadoes to occur near Deshler. Damage was primarily to crops and pivot systems.
A brief tornado reported by storm chasers.
A brief tornado in western York county.
Heavy rainfall in the southern part of Fillmore county forced water over the highway in Strang. Low lying fields were inundated with water.
A narrow swath of crop damage from southwest of Fullerton to south of Fullerton produced widespread corn and soybean damage.
Crop damage from hail and wind was confined to a 6 square mile area of beans and corn.
Lightning struck a paint store and resulting fire caused $73,000 in damage.
Just minutes after one lightning ignited fire, the Kearney Volunteer Fire Department was called to another lightning started fire. This time the fire was at a detached garage and resulted in $22,000 in damage.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lightning, Buffalo | 2003-06-22 | 47 | Male | Permanent Home | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nebraska in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Nebraska, 2003Warnings in Nebraska, June 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: 5365398, 5365399, 5365400, 5365401, 5364721, 5364720, 5364722, 5364723, 5364724, 5365100, 5364726, 5364725, 5364727, 5365101, 5364728, 5364729, 5365102, 5365103, 5365104, 5365105, 5365106, 5365107, 5365108, 5365109, 5365110, 5365111, 5365112, 5365113, 5365114, 5365115, 5365116, 5365117, 5365118, 5365119, 5365121, 5365120, 5365122, 5365123, 5365124, 5366233, and more.