Hail and Damaging Winds in Nebraska, June 21, 2005

Name: Hail and Damaging Winds in Nebraska, June 21, 2005
Start: 2005-06-21T02:15
End: 2005-06-21T05:00
Location: Nebraska

June 21, 2005 · NWS GID · 8 events in 4 counties and zones

Intense thunderstorms spread hail, strong winds and heavy across a section of south central Nebraska early this June morning. Wind gusts over 60 mph dropped a large part of a tree onto a car in St.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $35,000
Crop damage: $100,000
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.

Intense thunderstorms spread hail, strong winds and heavy across a section of south central Nebraska early this June morning. Wind gusts over 60 mph dropped a large part of a tree onto a car in St. Paul. Heavy rain of 3 to 4 inches left ditches and low lying areas full of water in the Dannebrog area. Hail knocked the windows out of building in Dannebrog.

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 Jun 20, 2:15 PM CST, 12 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 20, 2:15 PM CST, 12 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
315 PM CDT MON JUN 20 2005

.DISCUSSION...UPDATED FORECAST TO INCREASE CLOUD COVER AND POPS.

.PREV DISCUSSION...
MAIN PROBLEMS CONTINUE TO BE SMALL RAIN CHANCES AS WELL AS HOW HOT
TO GO.

12Z UPPER AIR ANALYSIS HAS THE ANTICYCLONIC CIRCULATION ANCHORED
FROM 500 MB UP TO 250 MB OVER THE GID CWA.  500 MB HEIGHTS WERE 5950
METERS AT BOTH OAX AND LBF.  THUS TROPOSPHERE REMAINS QUITE
WARM...WITH +15C AT 700MB AT NORTH PLATTE.  HOT UPPER RIDGE PATTERN
HAS CHANGED LITTLE OVER PAST SEVERAL DAYS.

ONE SLIGHT CHANGE IN THE PATTERN IS MORE MOISTURE AT THE SURFACE
TODAY...WITH 19Z SURFACE ANALYSIS REVEALING MID 70S DEWPOINTS
SCATTERED THROUGHOUT THE PLAINS...75 AT ORD AND AINSWORTH...AND
UPPER 70S OVER CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA.  SURFACE TROF LINE EXTENDED
FROM NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA TO NEAR MC COOK...AND IN THE PAST HOUR
CONVECTION HAS DEVELOPED ALONG THIS TROF OVER THE NORTHERN PANHANDLE
AS WELL AS FROM EASTERN SOUTH DAKOTA INTO MINNESOTA.  THIS
CONVECTION DOES HAVE EXTREME INSTABILITY TO SUPPORT VERY STRONG
UPDRAFTS...HOWEVER BULK SHEAR AND EFFECTIVE HELICITY VALUES DO NOT
SUPPORT LONG LIVED SUPERCELLS.  ANOTHER WEAK BOUNDARY EXISTS BETWEEN
BROKEN BOW AND AINSWORTH WITH A WIND SHIFT...AND SLIGHTLY THICKER
CUMULUS HAS DEVELOPED JUST NORTH OF ORD...BUT UNDER THE CAP.

AS IN RECENT DAYS...THE MODELS TRY TO TAKE THIS CONVECTION AND MOVE
IT SOUTH...DEEP INTO THE UPPER RIDGE CIRCULATION...BUT THUS FAR THAT
HAS NOT HAPPENED.  UPPER FLOW IS WEAK...AND THE STORMS WOULD BE
MOVING INTO THE WARMER MID LEVEL TEMPERATURES.  THUS DO NOT HAVE ANY
CHANCES OF THUNDERSTORMS MENTIONED UNTIL FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY.

FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY...THERE HAS BEEN GOOD MODEL CONSISTENCY
WITH BRINGING MORE SHORTWAVE ENERGY THROUGH SOUTHERN CANADA WHICH
RESULTS IN LOWERING HEIGHTS OVER THE PLAINS.  COLD FRONT DROPPING
SOUTH AND HANGING UP OVER NEBRASKA MAY BE SUFFICIENT FOR TRIGGERING
STORMS AND INSTABILITY SHOULD BE HUGE.  HIGH MOISTURE VALUES AND
FRONTAL POSITION MAY SET UP HEAVY RAIN CONDITIONS SOMETIME OVER THE
WEEKEND...BUT DETAILS WILL NEED TO BE DETERMINED WITH TIME.

FOR HIGHS...USED A BLEND OF MOS PLUS WARMING 850 TEMPERATURES
ADIABATICALLY...WHICH GIVES NORTHERN KANSAS A FEW READINGS OF AROUND
100.  RAISED DEWPOINTS UP INTO THE UPPER 60S AND LOWER 70S THROUGH
WEDNESDAY...WHICH PUTS THE HEAT INDEX VALUES CLOSE TO DAYTIME
ADVISORY CRITERIA.  NIGHTTIME LOWS SHOULD COOL TO NEAR 70 FOR SOME
RELIEF.

&&

.GID WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NE...NONE.
KS...NONE.

&&

NIETFELD/HEINLEIN

Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 21, 12:45 AM CST, 1 hour 30 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTED FOR MISPELLING OF LOUP CITY
NOAA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
145 AM CDT TUE JUN 21 2005

KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087-211200-
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-
145 AM CDT TUE JUN 21 2005

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

.DAY ONE...REST OF TONIGHT

THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT.  THERE IS AN ISOLATED
CHANCE OF HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF QUARTERS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS SATURDAY NIGHT MAINLY NORTH
OF A LINE FROM LOUP CITY TO YORK.  LATER OUTLOOKS WILL BETTER
DEFINE THE SEVERE POTENTIAL.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTERS WILL NOT LIKELY BE NEEDED TONIGHT.

&&

MORE INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE FOLLOWING WEB PAGE:
   HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/HASTINGS  (ALL LOWER CASE)

GRIFFIS/NICHOLSON/HEINLEIN

The radar

The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 71 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 08:13 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

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

Hail, Buffalo

When: June 21, 2:15 AM CST
Where: Buffalo County, 2 mi W of Kearney
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 40.700, -99.117

Hail, Howard

When: June 21, 2:45 AM CST
Where: Howard County, 1 mi NE of Boelus
Measured: 1 in hail
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 41.100, -98.700

Thunderstorm Wind, Buffalo

When: June 21, 3:00 AM CST
Where: Buffalo County, Shelton
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 40.783, -98.733

Thunderstorm Wind, Howard

When: June 21, 3:00 AM CST
Where: Howard County, St Paul
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $25,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 41.217, -98.467

Heavy Rain, Howard

When: June 21, 3:00 AM CST to 5:00 AM CST
Where: Howard County, Dannebrog
Property damage: $5,000
Crop damage: $100,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 41.220, -98.517 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hail, Howard

When: June 21, 3:06 AM CST
Where: Howard County, Dannebrog
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.117, -98.550

Thunderstorm Wind, Polk

When: June 21, 4:15 AM CST
Where: Polk County, Polk
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.083, -97.800

Thunderstorm Wind, Nance

When: June 21, 4:45 AM CST
Where: Nance County, 2 mi W of Genoa
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.450, -97.767

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.
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 2005 Every state in 2005 This day in weather history Warnings in Nebraska, June 2005

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: 5452388, 5452389, 5452390, 5452391, 5452393, 5452392, 5452394, 5452395.