Name: Hail in Nebraska, May 4, 2003
Start: 2003-05-04T13:05
End: 2003-05-04T13:05
Location: Nebraska

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: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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 Omaha, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 4, 1:05 AM CST, 12 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 4, 1:05 AM CST, 12 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
205 AM CDT SUN MAY 4 2003

DISCUSSION SHORT BECAUSE OF ONGOING STORMS THIS MORNING.  SITUATION
SETUP FOR A SEVERE WEATHER OUTBREAK ACROSS THE CENTRAL U.S. TODAY.
STORMS THIS MORNING MAINLY ELEVATED...BUT THE LARGE BOW ECHO THAT
FORMED EARLY THIS MORNING FARTHER TO THE WEST IS A HYBRID.  THIS WAS
ORIGINALLY SFC BASED....BUT HAS MODIFIED AS IT MOVED EWD.  HIGH
HELICITY...NEAR 400 M2/S2 THIS MORNING OVER SERN NE WITH 50-60 KT
LOW LEVEL JET.  UPPER LEVEL JET STREAK OF OVER 120 KTS WILL BE
TRANSLATING NEWD TODAY PUTTING SERN NE AND SWRN IA IN LEFT FRONT
QUADRANT...WITH STRONG UPPER LEVEL DIVERGENCE.  SFC LOW SHOULD TRACK
ENE FROM NWRN KS THIS MORNING AND ACROSS SERN NE THIS AFTN ACCORDING
TO 00Z MESOETA.  THIS SEEMS REASONABLE.  SO FAR SERN NE WILL GET
INTO THE WARM SECTOR...AND HIGHS MAY REACH 75-80.  FARTHER N...
EXPECT MAINLY 60S FOR NERN NE.  SO THERE WILL BE A RATHER SHARP
TEMPERATURE GRADIENT THRU CNTRL ZONES TODAY.

STORMS LIKELY TO REINTENSITY THIS AFTN AND MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE
WEATHER IN SPC DAY 1 OTLK LOOKS ON TARGET...AND WILL WORD THE HWO
ACCORDINGLY.  TORNADO THREAT SHOULD MAINLY BE CONFINED TO SERN NE
AND SWRN IA FROM 1 PM TO 6 PM...IN VICINITY OF SFC LOW.  DEWPOINTS
SHOULD REACH THE MID TO UPPER 60S FROM ERN KS AND MO NWD INTO SERN
PART OF FCST AREA...WITH AFTN CAPE VALUES 2500-4000 J/KG IN AREA
WITH HIGHEST SFC DEWPOINTS.

ACTION EXPECTED TO SHIFT OUT OF THE AREA EARLY IN THE EVENING...
BUT MAY HAVE SOME LINGERING NON SEVERE PCPN FOR A WHILE.  MAY HAVE
SOME INSTABILITY SHOWERS MON AFTN...THEN DRY WEATHER FOR TUE.  THE
00Z GFS BRINGS A DECENT SHORTWAVE TROF NEWD THRU THE CNTRL PLAINS
WED AND WED NGT...SOME INTRODUCED CHANCE OF TSTMS.  THEN WENT DRY
ON THU.  GFS TEMPS IN THE 4-7 DAY PERIOD GENLY ACCEPTED.

.OMA...NONE.

MILLER

Hazardous weather outlook, May 4, 11:30 AM CST, 1 hour 35 minutes before

IAZ043-055-056-069-079-080-090-091-NEZ011-012-015>018-030>034-
042>045-050>053-065>068-078-088>093-042315-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
1230 PM CDT SUN MAY 4 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PARTS OF EASTERN NEBRASKA
AND SOUTHWEST IOWA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

A POTENT SEVERE WEATHER SITUATION IS DEVELOPING ACROSS THE AREA
TODAY WITH THE LIKELIHOOD OF TORNADOES AND WIDESPREAD SEVERE
WEATHER ACTIVITY.
A TORNADO WATCH HAS ALREADY BEEN ISSUED FOR PARTS OF SOUTHEAST
NEBRASKA.  AN INTENSE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OVER NORTH CENTRAL
KANSAS WILL MOVE NORTHEAST ACROSS SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING.	ABUNDANT LOW LEVEL MOISTURE...STRONG
VERTICAL WIND SHEAR...AND INSTABILITY WILL ALLOW FOR THE
DEVELOPMENT OF SUPERCELL STORMS.

THE GREATEST THREAT FOR TORNADOES IS EXPECTED TO BE SOUTH OF A
COLUMBUS TO WAHOO TO BELLEVUE.	THIS IS A DANGEROUS SITUATION
WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGING TORNADOES IN THIS AREA.
NORTHWEST OF THIS LINE...SOME SEVER THUNDERSTORMS WITH LARGE HAIL
AND DAMAGING WINDS ARE POSSIBLE.

THE SEVERE WEATHER ACTIVITY WILL BEGIN TO SUBSIDE AFTER 8 OR 9 PM
TONIGHT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS COULD MOVE BACK INTO WEDNESDAY THROUGH
FRIDAY...AND THEN AGAIN SATURDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS LIKELY TODAY...SPOTTERS SHOULD BE
READY TO DEPLOY THIS AFTERNOON DUE TO THE POTENT NATURE OF THIS
SEVERE WEATHER SITUATION.

SMITH

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 4, 8:41 AM CST, 4 hours 24 minutes before

IAZ055-056-069-079-080-090-091-041500-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA NE
941 AM CDT SUN MAY 4 2003

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH #230 THAT WAS IN EFFECT FOR...FREMONT...
PAGE...MONTGOMERY...MILLS...HARRISON...SHELBY AND POTTAWATTAMIE
COUNTIES...HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

SMITH

Local storm report, May 4, 9:48 AM CST, 3 hours 17 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
1048 AM CDT SUN MAY 04 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1035 AM    PLATTE CENTER             NE   .88 INCH HAIL
05/04/03   PLATTE                         REPORTED BY STORM
                                          SPOTTER.

Local storm report, May 4, 11:55 AM CST, 1 hour 10 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
1255 PM CDT SUN MAY 04 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1225 PM    9 SE STANTON              NE   .88 INCH HAIL
05/04/03   STANTON                        REPORTED BY EMERGENCY
                                          MANAGEMENT.

Local storm report, May 4, 12:50 PM CST, 15 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
150 PM CDT SUN MAY 04 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0121 PM    PLATTE CENTER             NE   .75 INCH HAIL
05/04/03   PLATTE                         REPORTED BY EMERGENCY
                                          MANAGEMENT.

Local storm report, May 4, 1:04 PM CST, 1 minute before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
204 PM CDT SUN MAY 04 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0200 PM    LEIGH                     NE   .75 INCH HAIL
05/04/03   COLFAX                         REPORTED BY STORM
                                          SPOTTER.

The radar

The Omaha radar (KOAX), 98 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:06 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Platte

When: May 4, 1:05 PM CST
Where: Platte County, 2 mi W of Duncan
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 41.400, -97.533

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

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: 5357011.