Hail and Heavy Rain in Nebraska, May 23 to 24, 2003

Name: Hail and Heavy Rain in Nebraska, May 23 to 24, 2003
Start: 2003-05-23T23:30
End: 2003-05-24T02:11
Location: Nebraska

May 23 to 24, 2003 · NWS GID · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

Isolated severe thunderstorms dumped heavy rain and hail across a part of south-central Nebraska. The strongest storm dumped golf ball size hail near Gothenburg.

Where it happened

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.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $125,000
Crop damage: $300,000
Events: 4

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.

Isolated severe thunderstorms dumped heavy rain and hail across a part of south-central Nebraska. The strongest storm dumped golf ball size hail near Gothenburg. Minor damage to houses was reported. Hay and wheat fields in the area sustained heavy damage. Up to 5 inches of rain was reported northwest of Elm Creek. Runoff caused minor overflows of the Elm Creek on the northwest side of town. The flooding, compounded by construction of a bridge along the creek, resulted in a temporary diversion which could not withstand the volume of water.

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 May 23, 1:19 PM CST, 10 hours 11 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 23, 1:19 PM CST, 10 hours 11 minutes before

SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA/NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
219 PM CDT FRI MAY 23 2003

WATER VAPOR SATL PIX AND NETWORK PROFILERS REVEALING A SHORT WAVE
TROF PASSING THROUGH SOUTHERN KANSAS INTO OKLAHOMA HELPING TO KICK
OFF A COMPLEX DOWN THERE. OTHERWISE...UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE WAS
FOUND OVER THE GREAT LAKES WITH A HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE ACROSS THE
WESTERN CONUS. AT THE SURFACE...A WEAK LOW PRESSURE TROF WAS
SITUATED ACROSS WESTERN KANSAS WITH HIGH PRESSURE NUDGING IN FROM
THE NORTHEAST.

THE MAIN CONCERN LAY IN THE NEAR TERM FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
TO DEVELOP LATE TODAY AND BECOME MORE ORGANIZED OVER THE WESTERN
PLAINS...AS DEPICTED FROM LATEST SPC SWODY1. NO REAL UPPER LEVEL
SUPPORT ADVERTISED OVERNIGHT TO ENHANCE CONVECTION...BUT UPSLOPE
MOTION IS EXPECTED TO AID. LOW CLOUDS THOUGH STILL HANGING TOUGH IN
AREA OF CONCERN...BUT RECENT VIS SATL PIX SHOWING CLOUD BREAK UP
WITHIN DDC CWA AND EXPANDING. DAYTIME HEATING SHOULD KICK IN TO
ENHANCE INSTABILITY. CURRENT FORECAST HAS HIGHEST POPS SOUTHWEST...
AND SEE LITTLE REASON TO MODIFY DEFINED BOUNDARY IN GRIDS. BUT WILL
PROBABLY BUMP UP POPS FROM LIKELY TO CATEGORICAL.

FOR DAYS 2 THROUGH 7...PATTERN NOT LOOKING TOO CONDUCIVE FOR PCPN.
LOW CONFIDENCE WITH EXTENDED MODELS AS LATEST GFS HAS DIFFICULT TIME
RESOLVING PATTERN ACROSS THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL PLAINS DAY 6 AND 7.
OLDER RUNS ADVERTISE HEALTHY RIDGING ACROSS THE PLAINS...BUT THE RUNS
AS OF LATE ARE DAMPENING THE PATTERN TO SHOW MORE OF A ZONAL TYPE
FLOW. LOW CONFIDENCE OF GFS CONFIRMED BY POOR ENSEMBLE RELATIVE
MEASURE OF PREDICTABILITY. SO DRY FOR NOW.

.GID...NONE.

DEE

Hazardous weather outlook, May 23, 6:14 PM CST, 5 hours 16 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
714 PM CDT FRI MAY 23 2003

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT.

THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME MORE WIDESPREAD BY LATE
EVENING AND LAST THROUGH THE NIGHT ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA
AND NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS.

THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA WILL SPILL INTO
SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA BY LATE EVENING AS THEY SHIFT SOUTH INTO
AN AXIS OF LOW LEVEL MOISTURE. AFTER 10 PM...ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENT
IS LIKELY ACROSS SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA AND NORTHWEST KANSAS...AS
STRONGER LOW LEVEL WINDS SET UP IN THAT REGION. THOSE THUNDERSTORMS
WILL MOVE EAST AND SOUTHEAST...AND ACROSS MUCH OF SOUTH CENTRAL
NEBRASKA AND NORTH CENTRAL OVERNIGHT. THE MAIN HAZARD WILL BE HAIL
TO THE SIZE OF QUARTERS...AND LOCALLY STRONG DOWNBURST WINDS TO
ABOUT 60 MPH.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH FRIDAY.

LINGERING THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS FAR SOUTHERN NEBRASKA AND NORTH
CENTRAL KANSAS COULD PRODUCE HAIL TO THE SIZE OF NICKELS THROUGH MID
MORNING. THOSE THUNDERSTORMS WILL END BY NOON. NO OTHER HAZARDOUS
WEATHER IS EXPECTED THROUGH FRIDAY

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

WIDESPREAD SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED OVERNIGHT. HOWEVER
LOCAL OR INDIVIDUAL SPOTTER GROUPS SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR BRIEF
DEPLOYMENT...IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES THEIR COMMUNITY OR
AREA.

MORITZ

The radar

The North Platte radar (KLNX), 120 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 05:27 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 hail, 1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Dawson

When: May 23, 11:30 PM CST
Where: Dawson County, 2 mi E of Gothenburg
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Property damage: $100,000
Crop damage: $200,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 40.933, -100.117

Heavy Rain, Buffalo

When: May 23, 11:30 PM CST to May 24, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Buffalo County, 4 mi N of Elm Creek
Property damage: $25,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 40.855, -99.075 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hail, Furnas

When: May 24, 1:03 AM CST
Where: Furnas County, 5 mi N of Oxford
Measured: 1 in hail
Crop damage: $50,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 40.317, -99.633

Hail, Harlan

When: May 24, 2:11 AM CST
Where: Harlan County, Oxford
Measured: 1 in hail
Crop damage: $50,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 40.250, -99.633

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Heavy Rain: Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.

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, May 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: 5365002, 5365003, 5365004, 5365296.