Tornadoes and Hail in Nebraska, May 23, 2003

Name: Tornadoes and Hail in Nebraska, May 23, 2003
Start: 2003-05-23T17:15
End: 2003-05-23T23:13
Location: Nebraska

May 23, 2003 · NWS LBF · 9 events in 3 counties and zones

7 hail, 2 tornado, 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: $6,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 9

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 North Platte, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 23, 2:23 PM CST, 2 hours 52 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 23, 2:23 PM CST, 2 hours 52 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
323 PM CDT FRI MAY 23 2003

...CONVECTION THE MAIN CONCERNS TONIGHT...

UPPER LEVEL WINDS HAVE WEAKENED THIS AFTN.  PERHAPS MAKING FOR A
MORE FAVORABLE THUNDERSTORM ENVIRONMENT.  BEST INSTABILITY ACROSS
NEB PANHANDLE AND ERN WY...NE CO.  DISTURBANCE IS SWEEPING DOWN THRU
WRN SD THIS AFTN.  EXPECT THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY TO BECOME SCATTERED
THRU EARLY EVENING WITH A STORM OR TWO REACHING SVR LIMITS.  SPC
CONFERENCE CALL UNDERWAY FOR PANHANDLE.  IF THE ACTIVITY SHOULD
SPREAD EWD A SECOND WATCH WILL BE ISSUED FOR WRN AND NCNTL NEB.

WAVE MOVES THRU TONIGHT WITH CLEARING MOST AREAS BY MORNING.
THEREAFTER...SAT AND ONWARD.  WARMING AND DRIER WEATHER.  NO
OBVIOUS RAIN THREAT IS EXPECTED SATURDAY THROUGH FRIDAY.

.LBF...NONE.

CDC

Hazardous weather outlook, May 23, 9:58 AM CST, 7 hours 17 minutes before

NEZ004>010-022>029-035>038-056>059-069>071-094-232045-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
1058 AM CDT FRI MAY 23 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL
NEBRASKA.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT
ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE OUTLOOK AREA. THIS AREA IS GENERALLY ALONG
AND WEST OF A LINE FROM MERRIMAN...IN NORTHWESTERN CHERRY
COUNTY...TO BROKEN BOW...IN CENTRAL CUSTER COUNTY.

EAST AND SOUTHEASTERLY WINDS WILL STRENGTHEN TODAY AHEAD OF AN
APPROACHING COLD FRONT. THIS WILL ALLOW PLENTY OF LOW LEVEL MOISTURE
TO STREAM INTO THE OUTLOOK AREA THIS AFTERNOON.

BY LATE AFTERNOON...A COUPLE OF UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES WILL DIVE
OUT OF THE NORTHERN ROCKIES INTO EASTERN WYOMING AND THE PANHANDLE
OF NEBRASKA. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL INITIATE IN THESE
LOCATIONS LATER THIS AFTERNOON...MOVING SOUTHEAST INTO PORTIONS OF
WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA. THE GREATEST SEVERE WEATHER
HAZARD THIS AFTERNOON WILL BE FROM LARGE HAIL. LOOK FOR
THUNDERSTORMS TO BECOME MORE NUMEROUS OVERNIGHT AS THE COLD FRONT
BEGINS TO PUSH INTO THE OUTLOOK AREA. AS THUNDERSTORMS
ORGANIZE...THE MAIN THREAT OVERNIGHT WILL BE FROM LARGE HAIL AND
DAMAGING WINDS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

A STRONG RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL ANCHOR ITSELF ACROSS THE
CENTRAL ROCKIES OVER THE NEXT WEEK. THIS WILL INHIBIT SEVERE WEATHER
FROM DEVELOPING SO NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED LATER THIS AFTERNOON WEST OF A LINE
FROM MERRIMAN TO BROKEN BOW.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY.

BUTTLER

The radar

The North Platte radar (KLNX), 113 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:15 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

7 hail, 2 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Cherry

When: May 23, 5:15 PM CST
Where: Cherry County, Kilgore
Measured: 1.5 in hail
Property damage: $3,000
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 42.933, -100.967

Tornado, Cherry

When: May 23, 5:45 PM CST to 5:47 PM CST
Where: Cherry County, 4 mi N of Crookston
Rating: F0
Path length: 0.5 mi
Path width: 15 yd
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 42.983, -100.750

A weak tornado touched down in open rangeland and produced no damage.

Hail, Cherry

When: May 23, 5:55 PM CST
Where: Cherry County, 15 mi SSW of Valentine
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 42.667, -100.667

Hail covered the ground.

Tornado, Cherry

When: May 23, 6:28 PM CST to 6:32 PM CST
Where: Cherry County, 14 mi SW of Valentine
Rating: F0
Path length: 1 mi
Path width: 15 yd
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 42.717, -100.750

The tornado touched down in open rangeland.

Hail, Blaine

When: May 23, 8:05 PM CST
Where: Blaine County, 13 mi N of Dunning
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 42.000, -100.117

Hail, Cherry

When: May 23, 8:10 PM CST
Where: Cherry County, 4 mi NW of Brownlee
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 42.317, -100.667

Hail, Cherry

When: May 23, 8:30 PM CST
Where: Cherry County, Brownlee
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 42.283, -100.617

Hail, Custer

When: May 23, 9:55 PM CST
Where: Custer County, 1 mi E of Merna
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Property damage: $3,000
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 41.483, -99.750

The jagged hail tore bark off trees.

Hail, Custer

When: May 23, 11:13 PM CST
Where: Custer County, 14 mi SW of Callaway
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 41.150, -100.117

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

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 The tornado archive for Nebraska, 2003 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: 5355892, 5355893, 5355894, 5355895, 5355896, 5355897, 5355898, 5355899, 5355900.