Hail and Damaging Wind in Nebraska, June 23, 2003

Name: Hail and Damaging Wind in Nebraska, June 23, 2003
Start: 2003-06-23T20:00
End: 2003-06-23T23:05
Location: Nebraska

June 23, 2003 · NWS GID · 15 events in 11 counties and zones

Yet another night of wild weather was had across south-central Nebraska. Severe thunderstorms west of U.

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: $775,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 15

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.

Yet another night of wild weather was had across south-central Nebraska. Severe thunderstorms west of U. S. Highway 183 kicked out strong winds ahead of their passage. Wind gust to 70 mph were common, with one report of 78 mph at the NTV television studios near Axtell. The winds progressed through Grand Island and points north. Damage in Buffalo county was countywide with trees down, minor property damage and power outages. Reports of similar damage were had from Greeley, Howard, Phelps, and Dawson counties. In Dawson county, a 107 mph wind gust was recorded on a Davis weather instrument system northwest of Gothenburg. The instrument was on a 67 foot communications tower, but the wind caused the tower to collapse. The tower had sustained several 80 to 90 mph wind events prior to it falling on the 23rd.

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 23, 1:30 PM CST, 6 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 23, 1:30 PM CST, 6 hours 30 minutes before

SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA/NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
230 PM CDT MON JUN 23 2003

...ANOTHER POSSIBLE CHANCE FOR SEVERE STORMS...

OVERALL...NO CHANGES OTHER THAN MINOR TWEAKS TO CURRENT AS IT
CONTINUES TO LOOK GOOD.

LOTS OF WARM AIR MOVING OVER TOP TODAY. SOMEWHAT OF ELEVATED MIXED
LAYER WESTERN NE...AND SFC ELEVATION AND HEAT...WILL HELP
DESTABILIZE AND BLOW CAP WEST.  HUGE AMOUNTS OF ENERGY OVR OUR AREA
KEEP US IN PRECARIOUS POSITION...IF CAP BLOWS WATCH OUT...IF
NOT...HOT AND SWEATY. CAN NOT BELIEVE I AM SAYING THIS...BUT AFTER
YESTERDAY I HOPE FOR THE LATTER. ONE BUG IN THE MIX HOWEVER WILL BE
50 TO 60 KT LL JET PUSHING OVERHEAD OVERNIGHT WHICH WILL MAINTAIN
CONVECTION TO THE EAST...WITH BEST CHC OVR NRN CWA. RIGHT NOW MAIN
BOUNDARY CUTS THROUGH KS PORTION OF CWA...AND CURVES UP THROUGH
GOSPER COUNTY...WITH BEST SFC FORCING W AND N OF NORTH PLATTE. WILL
PLAY WAIT AND WATCH GAME THROUGH REST OF AFTERNOON WATCHING REGION
BETWEEN HDE AND LBF AND POINTS WEST FOR INDICATIONS OF INITIATION.
REGION TO SOUTH AND EAST OF THIS...PARTICULARLY KS COUNTIES LIKELY
MUCH TOO CAPPED TO BUST EVEN WITH HELP OF CONVERGENT TROUGH. IF IT
GOES...HAIL/WIND LIKELY SEVERE BEST BETS...WITH TORNADO CHC...IF
ANY...BEST FAR NW QUAD BETWEEN DAWSON AND VALLEY. WILL CONTINUE CHC
TO SCHC WORDING FOR THIS EVENING BASED ON SEVERE POTENTIAL.

BEYOND TODAY...DECENT CHANCES FOR STORMS THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS
WITH BEST CHANCES CONTINUING FROM PM TUE THROUGH AM THU. FOCUS FOR
BEST PRECIP WILL LAY OVER NRN HALF CWA WHERE SFC FRONT AND UPR
SHORTWAVE STRENGTH WILL BE THE BEST.  OTHERWISE...COOLING FOR WED
AND THU...THEN SLOW WARMING TREND FRI THOUGH MON WITH NEXT WEAK UPR
LVL SHORTWAVE THROUGH ON SUNDAY. NOT ENOUGH CONFIDENCE IN TIMING OF
THIS WAVE TO PUT CHC IN AT THIS TIME.

.GID...FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES TIL 530 PM FOR THAYER AND JEWELL
COUNTIES.

10

Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 23, 5:04 PM CST, 2 hours 56 minutes before

KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087-241200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
604 PM CDT MON JUN 23 2003

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

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE AGAIN POSSIBLE THIS EVENING ACROSS
SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA...MAINLY TO THE NORTH OF HIGHWAY 6.  SHOULD
THESE STORMS DEVELOP...THEY ARE EXPECTED TO RAPIDLY BECOME
SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL UP TO BASEBALL SIZE...DAMAGING WIND...AND
POSSIBLY TORNADOES.  HOWEVER...A COLD FRONT ACROSS WESTERN NEBRASKA
IS EXPECTED TO BE THE PRIMARY FOCUS AREA FOR THUNDERSTORMS AND WARM
TEMPERATURES IN THE MIDDLE LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE WILL LIMIT
INITIAL DEVELOPMENT.

VERY HEAVY RAIN IS AGAIN POSSIBLE WITH THUNDERSTORMS THAT DO
DEVELOP.  THIS MAY PROMPT ADDITIONAL FLASH FLOODING OVER PARTS
OF SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA.

EMERGENCY MANAGERS SHOULD CONTINUE TO MONITOR THIS DEVELOPING SEVERE
WEATHER SITUATION THROUGHOUT THE REMAINDER OF THIS EVENING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

EXTREMELY UNSTABLE CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO REDEVELOP AGAIN LATE
TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING OVER PARTS OF SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA...
WITH ANOTHER OUTBREAK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE. LARGE HAIL...
DAMAGING WINDS AND ISOLATED TORNADOES WOULD BE POSSIBLE.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION COULD BE NEEDED THIS EVENING.

9

The radar

The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 146 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:00 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

8 strong wind, 6 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Furnas

When: June 23, 8:00 PM CST
Where: Furnas County, Cambridge
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 40.283, -100.167

Hail, Gosper

When: June 23, 8:30 PM CST
Where: Gosper County, 5 mi NW of Elwood
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 40.650, -99.917

Strong Wind, Buffalo

When: June 23, 8:30 PM CST to 9:30 PM CST
Where: Buffalo forecast zone
Measured: 60 kt (69 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $250,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 40.855, -99.075 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong Wind, Phelps

When: June 23, 8:40 PM CST
Where: Phelps forecast zone
Measured: 56 kt (64 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)

Strong Wind, Kearney

When: June 23, 8:45 PM CST
Where: Kearney forecast zone
Measured: 67 kt (77 mph) measured gust
Property damage: $25,000
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA
Coordinates: 40.507, -98.948 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hail, Furnas

When: June 23, 8:49 PM CST
Where: Furnas County, Cambridge
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 40.283, -100.167

Thunderstorm Wind, Dawson

When: June 23, 9:28 PM CST
Where: Dawson County, 5 mi NW of Gothenburg
Measured: 92 kt (106 mph) measured gust
Property damage: $50,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 40.983, -100.217

Hail, Buffalo

When: June 23, 9:30 PM CST
Where: Buffalo County, 3 mi W of Kearney
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 40.700, -99.133

Hail, Polk

When: June 23, 9:38 PM CST
Where: Polk County, 11 mi NW of Shelby
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 41.317, -97.583

Strong Wind, Dawson

When: June 23, 9:55 PM CST
Where: Dawson forecast zone
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $100,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 40.870, -99.820 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hail, Valley

When: June 23, 9:57 PM CST
Where: Valley County, Ord
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 41.600, -98.933

Strong Wind, Hall

When: June 23, 10:35 PM CST
Where: Hall forecast zone
Measured: 62 kt (71 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $75,000
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 40.873, -98.502 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong Wind, Howard

When: June 23, 10:45 PM CST
Where: Howard forecast zone
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $75,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 41.220, -98.517 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong Wind, Greeley

When: June 23, 10:55 PM CST
Where: Greeley forecast zone
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $75,000
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 41.567, -98.521 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong Wind, Greeley

When: June 23, 11:05 PM CST
Where: Greeley forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $75,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.567, -98.521 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Strong Wind: Non-thunderstorm winds below high wind criteria that nonetheless caused damage or casualties.
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

Every storm in Nebraska in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Nebraska, June 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: 5366241, 5366242, 5366246, 5366243, 5366244, 5366245, 5366247, 5366248, 5366249, 5366250, 5366251, 5366252, 5366253, 5366329, 5366330.