The driver of a pickup with a trailer full of irrigation pipe lost control of his vehicle about 2 miles southwest of Holdrege, and crashed while driving in winds up to 40 mph. The driver sustained minor injuries.
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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.
The episode as NWS GID wrote it up.
The driver of a pickup with a trailer full of irrigation pipe lost control of his vehicle about 2 miles southwest of Holdrege, and crashed while driving in winds up to 40 mph. The driver sustained minor injuries.
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 12, 2:14 AM CST, 8 hours 31 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 315 AM CDT WED MAY 12 2004 .DISCUSSION...INITIAL CONCERN THIS MORNING IS THE WIND. CURRENTLY WINDS ARE BELOW CRITERIA...SO THE ADVISORY WILL BE ALLOWED TO EXPIRE. SOME CONCERN WITH THE PASSAGE OF THE FRONT THIS MORNING. KMCK HAD GUSTS TO 48 KTS WITH FROPA. WILL WATCH AS THE FRONT MOVES INTO THE CWA AND COVER WITH NOWCAST. AT THIS TIME DO NOT PLAN TO ISSUE ANY HEADLINES DUE TO THE RELATIVELY NARROW EXTENT. A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE FORECAST AREA TODAY...AND IS FORECAST TO STALL IN KANSAS TONIGHT. THE LOCATION OF THE FRONT WHEN IT STALLS IS OF CONCERN...THE FURTHER SOUTH IT GOES...THE LESS CHANCE THERE IS OF PRECIPITATION. ALONG WITH THIS FRONT...AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL MOVE THROUGH THE PLAINS. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE TODAY THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT AS WARM MOIST AIR IS PUSHED OVER THE COOLER AIR AT THE SURFACE. TEMPERATURES BEHIND THE FRONT ARE SIGNIFICANTLY COOLER. TEMPERATURES ON THURSDAY WILL BE ALMOST 20 DEGREES COOLER THAN TODAY. SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS INTO THE REGION THURSDAY. THIS WILL HELP BRING AN END TO THE PRECIPITATION. THE RETURN OF SOME SUNSHINE WILL ALLOW FOR A WARMING TREND FOR THE LATTER PART OF THE WEEK. VARIABILITY IN THE EXTENDED MODELS CONTINUE WITH AN UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM THAT IS POSSIBLE FOR EARLY NEXT WEEK. NOT PLANNING TO MAKE ANY CHANGES TO THE EXTENDED GRIDS DUE TO THE UNCERTAINTY IN THE MODELS. && .GID WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NE...NONE. KS...NONE. && JCB
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 1139 AM CDT WED MAY 12 2004 KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087-131200- ADAMS-BUFFALO-CLAY-DAWSON-FILLMORE-FRANKLIN-FURNAS-GOSPER-GREELEY- HALL-HAMILTON-HARLAN-HOWARD-JEWELL-KEARNEY-MERRICK-MITCHELL-NANCE- NUCKOLLS-OSBORNE-PHELPS-PHILLIPS-POLK-ROOKS-SHERMAN-SMITH-THAYER- VALLEY-WEBSTER-YORK- 1139 AM CDT WED MAY 12 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND PARTS OF NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS NORTHERN KANSAS SOUTH OF HIGHWAY 36 ALTHOUGH THEY ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE SEVERE. ADDITIONAL MORE WIDESPREAD THUNDERSTORMS WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN ARE EXPECTED TO REDEVELOP LATER TONIGHT AS AN INTENSE UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE OVER THE CENTRAL ROCKIES SWINGS OUT ACROSS KANSAS AND NEBRASKA TONIGHT. A FEW STORMS COULD PRODUCE HAIL UP TO ONE INCH MAINLY SOUTH OF A SUPERIOR TO PHILLIPSBURG LINE AFTER 10 PM CDT. HOWEVER NO WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY AN UNSEASONABLY COLD AIR MASS WILL BE IN PLACE THURSDAY NIGHT...WITH SOME POTENTIAL FOR SUB FREEZING TEMPERATURES NORTHWEST OF A YORK TO PHILLIPSBURG LINE TOWARD DAYBREAK FRIDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION SHOULD NOT BE NEED THIS AFTERNOON OR TONIGHT. T
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nebraska in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Nebraska, May 2004
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: 5401927.