Nebraska, 2003

Flash Flooding and Flood in Nebraska, September 10 to 12, 2003

September 10 to 12, 2003 · NWS GID · 8 events in 4 counties and zones

Severe thunderstorms with hail and torrential rainfall hammered a section of south-central Nebraska. Though there were some reports of large hail, flash flooding and river flooding caused the most disruption.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 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
$625,000
Crop damage
$2.8 million
Events
8

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.

Severe thunderstorms with hail and torrential rainfall hammered a section of south-central Nebraska. Though there were some reports of large hail, flash flooding and river flooding caused the most disruption. U. S. Highway 81 in Fillmore county was closed for a time due to water over the road. There were numerous reports of flooding and water over the roads in Fillmore and Thayer counties. Rainfall of 3 to 8 inches was reported to have fallen. The Big Sandy Creek in Thayer county was out of its banks from Carleton downstream to Alexandria. The Big Sandy crested around 15 feet south of Alexandria which resulted in minor flooding in eastern Thayer county.

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 Sep 10, 1:29 PM CST, 2 hours 51 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 10, 1:29 PM CST, 2 hours 51 minutes before
SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA/NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
229 PM CDT WED SEP 10 2003

SFC MAP THIS AFTN MUCH LIKE YDA. INTENSE SFC LOW CNTR OVR WRN SD
W/TRAILING COLD FNT INTO NE CO AND SECONDARY WV IN REFLECTION OF
STG UPR TROF CROSSING DIVIDE ATTM. MID LVL DRY SLOT OVERTOPPING CWA
IN WAKE OF MORNING SW MOVING INTO MN ATTM.

FOREMOST SHRT TERM CONCERN CONTS W/SVR CONVN CHCS LT THIS AFTN AND
FIRST HALF OF TONIGHT. TOR WATCH COMING SHORTLY. DESTABILIZATION
GREATLY HAMPERED SO FAR TKS TO GRUNGE SC CLD LYR BUT ERODING QUICKLY
ESP SW IN BTWN JET STREAKS. EMERGING JET STREAK EMANATING FM SE CO
AND DVLPG ACCAS FIELD NR KDEN/KAKR A SIGN OF THINGS TO COME. LACK OF
INHIBITION AND INCREASING LG SCALE UVV/S SHLD KEEP DISCRETE SUPERCELL
WINDOW SHRT W/PRIMARY EVENT TIED TO SURGING COLD FRONT AND LIKELY LG
LINEAR SEGMENT ALG IT. COULD BE QUITE A WIND EVENT AND NOT DOUBT A
TOR THREAT GIVEN MAGNITUDE OF SHEAR/LOW LFC/S AND DEEP BL MSTR. 0-1KM
BTR ATTM OVR ERN NE BUT SUSPECT LL FLW TO REALLY BACK AS CO WV AND
ASSOCD JET STREAK DUMBBELL OUT LTR THIS AFTN. AS SUCH...CAT POPS IN
ORDER OVERNIGHT.

FOR THU...HOLD OVER RISK OF MORE RAIN INVOF OF MID LVL TROF AND
KEPT POPS IN MOST OF DAY ACRS CWA...HWVR CLRG XPCD LT AS SYS PINCHES
SWD INTO SRN PLAINS AND LG SCALE SUBSIDENCE OVERSPREADS CWA BEHIND
CO WV. EWD EXTENT OF CLRG LINE BIT TRICKY ON FRI AS UPR LOW CLOSES
OFF OVR TX PANHANDLE WHICH MAY HAVE AN IMPACT ON MAX TEMPS SE CWA
AND MORE SO ON SAT. CONTINUITY HERE LACKING AS UPSTREAM KICKER
DROPPING OUT OF SW CANADA NOW MUCH SLWR. GLARING CONSENSUS AT THIS
POINT IS TO KEEP UPR SYS STACKED TO OUR SW WHICH WOULD WRAP AT LEAST
MID LVL MSTR BACK INTO AREA AND WARRANT A SLGT POP IN ADV OF
SECONDARY COLD FRONT THEN. SLIP IN TIMING NECESSITATES SOME
ADJUSTMENT IN TEMPS SAT BUT OTHERWISE COOLING TREND ON TRACK THROUGH
SUN.

.GID...NONE.

T
Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 10, 11:00 AM CST, 5 hours 20 minutes before
KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087-111200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
1200 PM CDT WED SEP 10 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 OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL
NEBRASKA AND NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS THROUGH TONIGHT. ISOLATED SHOWERS
AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE THIS AFTERNOON MAINLY EAST OF HIGHWAY
281 AS AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE MOVES INTO NORTHEASTERN NEBRASKA.
THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...THUNDERSTORMS WILL REDEVELOP AREA
WIDE NEAR A PRE FRONTAL TROUGH THAT RUNS FROM SOUTH CENTRAL SOUTH
DAKOTA...THROUGH CENTRAL NEBRASKA...AND INTO CENTRAL KANSAS. WARM
MOIST SURFACE AIR STREAMING INTO THE EASTERN HALF OF KANSAS AND
NEBRASKA...TOGETHER WITH STRONG UPPER LEVEL WIND SHEAR WILL HELP
SUPPORT STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS ACROSS THE OUTLOOK AREA...ESPECIALLY
EAST OF HIGHWAY 183...WITH LARGE HAIL...STRONG DAMAGING WINDS...AND
ISOLATED TORNADOES A POSSIBILITY THROUGH 9 PM. THE AREA WITH THE
GREATEST TORNADO THREAT WILL LIE TO THE NORTH OF INTERSTATE 80 AND
EAST OF HIGHWAY 281.

LATER THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT...MULTIPLE STORMS WILL GROUP
TOGETHER INTO A LINE OF STORMS...MOVING WITH OR JUST AHEAD OF A
COLD FRONT THAT WILL PUSH THROUGH THE REGION OUT OF NORTHWESTERN
NEBRASKA. THESE STORMS WILL LIKELY BRING PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN...
LARGE HAIL AND STRONG DAMAGING WINDS AS THEY MOVE EASTWARD THROUGH
THE FORECAST AREA OVERNIGHT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY

THUNDERSTORMS WILL LINGER ALONG THE COLD FRONTAL BOUNDARY THURSDAY...
MAINLY EAST OF HIGHWAY 14...HOWEVER CHANCES DIMINISH BEHIND THE FRONT
BY THURSDAY AFTERNOON. DRY AND COOL WEATHER IS FORECAST THROUGH THE
WEEKEND...BEFORE A SLOW WARMING TREND NEXT WEEK.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

STORM SPOTTERS MAY BE NEEDED LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...
AND SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR RAPID DEPLOYMENT IF SEVERE APPROACHES
THEIR AREA.

10

The radar

The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 61 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:19 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 hail, 2 flash flood, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Franklin

When
September 10, 4:20 PM CST
Where
Franklin County, 4 mi SW of Bloomington
Measured
1.75 in hail
Property damage
$25,000
Crop damage
$250,000
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
40.067, -99.083

Hail, Thayer

When
September 10, 5:25 PM CST
Where
Thayer County, Davenport
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
40.317, -97.800

Hail, Clay

When
September 10, 5:52 PM CST
Where
Clay County, Edgar
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
40.367, -97.967

Hail, Fillmore

When
September 10, 5:55 PM CST
Where
Fillmore County, Shickley
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
40.417, -97.717

Thunderstorm Wind, Thayer

When
September 10, 6:24 PM CST
Where
Thayer County, Carleton
Measured
52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
40.300, -97.667

Flash Flood, Thayer

When
September 10, 7:30 PM CST to September 11, 12:30 AM CST
Where
Thayer County, Countywide
Property damage
$250,000
Crop damage
$1.0 million
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
40.176, -97.595 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Fillmore

When
September 10, 7:30 PM CST to September 11, 12:30 AM CST
Where
Fillmore County, Countywide
Property damage
$250,000
Crop damage
$1.0 million
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
40.525, -97.596 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Thayer

When
September 11, 6:00 AM CST to September 12, 12:00 AM CST
Where
Thayer forecast zone
Property damage
$100,000
Crop damage
$500,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
40.176, -97.595 (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.
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.
Flash Flood
Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
Flood
Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Nebraska in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Nebraska, September 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: 5338101, 5338102, 5338103, 5338104, 5338105, 5338106, 5338107, 5338108.