Thunderstorms developed on the edge of an instability axis over northeast Nebraska and western Iowa during the mid afternoon hours of July 15th. Surface temperatures in the 90s and dewpoint temperatures of 65 to 70 degrees were common in the more unstable air just south of where the convection developed, compared to slightly hotter but drier air just to the north.
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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 OAX wrote it up.
Thunderstorms developed on the edge of an instability axis over northeast Nebraska and western Iowa during the mid afternoon hours of July 15th. Surface temperatures in the 90s and dewpoint temperatures of 65 to 70 degrees were common in the more unstable air just south of where the convection developed, compared to slightly hotter but drier air just to the north. One storm produced wind damage over far western Iowa before the activity became more focused over eastern Nebraska. There the thunderstorms produced strong winds...areas of heavy rain and isolated large hail...as they congealed into a bow echo and moved southeast across the Omaha and Lincoln areas before weakening.
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 Jul 15, 3:07 PM CST, 1 hour 37 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE 407 PM CDT TUE JUL 15 2008 .DISCUSSION... MID LVL MOISTURE MOVING ESE THROUGH NORTHEAST NEB IS BEGINNING TO MAKE CONTACT WITH SFC BASED AIR AND TSTMS SHOULD CONTINUE TO DEVELOP. IMMEDIATE AREA HAS ONLY TCU SO FAR...BUT COULD DVLP TOWARD EVE...OR TSTMS COULD MOVE IN FROM WNW. EXPECT LITTLE OR NO ACTIVITY SOUTH OF I-80 CORRIDOR TONIGHT...WITH FRONT WELL TO THE N...AND BEST LLJ PROGGED TO DVLP CENTRAL NEB ONLY OF MDT INTENSITY. RICH SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE WILL CONTINUE TO MAKE ITS WAY NORTH FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS. HOWEVER...EXPECT WED THROUGH EARLY THUR AFTN TO BE DRY WITH POSSIBLE EXCEPTION OF NEAR SD BORDER...AS WARM DRY CAP ALOFT STRENGTHENS. THIS SHOULD BRING A HOT DAY WED WITH AFTN CU HOLDING BACK TEMPS A COUPLE DEG. BEST CHC FOR STRONG TSTMS WILL BE THU EVE THROUGH FRIDAY. MODELS ARE COMING INTO BETTER AGREEMENT THAT A SHORT WAVE IN THE WESTERLIES WILL DRIVE A WEAK FRONT THROUGH THE AREA. AIRMASS AHEAD OF THE FRONT WILL BE QUITE MOIST...AND INSTABILITY SHOULD BE STRONG BY LATE THU AFTN ONCE THE CAP BREAKS. EXPECT TSTMS TO DRIVE SE THU NIGHT WITH MORE DEVELOPMENT FRI LASTING INTO FRIDAY NIGHT...MORE LIKELY IN THE SE BY SAT MORN. HEAVY RAIN ALSO POSSIBLE WITH BEST CHC THU NIGHT WITH GOOD LLJ INTO AREA. EXPECT SOME SORT OF A BREAK IN CONVECTION DURING THE WEEKEND AS UPPER RIDGING PROVIDES SOME SUPPRESSION...BUT TOUGH TO BE SURE AS BOUNDARIES REMAIN IN THE AREA. AS HAS BEEN THE CASE RECENTLY...OP MODELS ARE IN POOR AGREEMENT BY DAYS 6 AND 7. GFS CONTINUES TO DIG A STRONG UPPER TROUGH OR CLOSED LOW INTO THE N CENTRAL STATES...WHILE ECMWF BUILDS A RIDGE AND MOVES IT EAST. BEST GUESS AT THIS POINT IS THAT WE WILL BE IN WEAKER NW FLOW WITH RIDGE RUNNERS PROVIDING SOME CHC OF EVE AND OVERNIGHT TSTMS. TEMPS WILL GENERALLY BE WARM TO HOT. FRIDAY COULD END UP THE COOLEST AS CONVECTION CONTINUES DURING THE DAY...BUT TEMPS ANY DAY WILL DEPEND ON POSITION OF BOUNDARIES. GFS ENSEMBLES GIVE A PRELIMINARY SIGNAL THAT STRONG UPPER RIDGE SETS UP OVER THE AREA ARND JULY 25 AND STICKS AROUND...SO THIS MAY BE A PRELUDE TO A STRONG SUMMER HEAT WAVE. && .AVIATION... FOR TAF SITES KOMA/KLNK/KOFK THRU 16/18Z VFR CONDITIONS EXPECTED AT KOMA AND KLNK THROUGH THE PERIOD. KOFK MAY SEE SOME TRW AFTER 00Z AS WEAK SURFACE BOUNDARY MOVES INTO THE AREA BUT NO MENTION AT THIS TIME DUE UNCERTAINTY IN TIMING. && .OAX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NE...NONE. IA...NONE. && POLLACK/FOBERT
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE 1125 AM CDT TUE JUL 15 2008 IAZ043-055-056-069-079-080-090-091-NEZ011-012-015>018-030>034- 042>045-050>053-065>068-078-088>093-160630- MONONA-HARRISON-SHELBY-POTTAWATTAMIE-MILLS-MONTGOMERY-FREMONT- PAGE-KNOX-CEDAR-THURSTON-ANTELOPE-PIERCE-WAYNE-BOONE-MADISON- STANTON-CUMING-BURT-PLATTE-COLFAX-DODGE-WASHINGTON-BUTLER- SAUNDERS-DOUGLAS-SARPY-SEWARD-LANCASTER-CASS-OTOE-SALINE- JEFFERSON-GAGE-JOHNSON-NEMAHA-PAWNEE-RICHARDSON- 1125 AM CDT TUE JUL 15 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST IOWA...WEST CENTRAL IOWA...EAST CENTRAL NEBRASKA...NORTHEAST NEBRASKA AND SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THIS EVENING MAINLY NORTH OF INTERSTATE 80...WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. MOISTURE WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE TODAY...ADDING TO INSTABILITY ACROSS THE AREA. A WEAK FRONTAL BOUNDARY WAS LOCATED FROM SOUTHERN MINNESOTA INTO SOUTHERN SOUTH DAKOTA AND IS EXPECTED TO SINK SLOWLY SOUTH THIS AFTERNOON TO NEAR THE NEBRASKA BORDER. THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ALONG THIS BOUNDARY LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING... THEN MOVE SOUTHEASTWARD THROUGH THE NIGHT. SOME STORMS MAY PRODUCE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP AGAIN ON WEDNESDAY EVENING IN NORTHERN NEBRASKA AND NORTHERN IOWA AS A SLOW-MOVING FRONT DROPS SOUTHWARD OUT OF THE DAKOTAS AND MINNESOTA. STORMS WILL MOVE SOUTHEASTWARD AGAIN THROUGH THE NIGHT...AFFECTING MAINLY AREAS NORTH OF INTERSTATE 80. MORE WIDESPREAD THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ON THURSDAY AND FRIDAY AS THE SLOW-MOVING FRONT MOVES THROUGH EASTERN NEBRASKA AND WESTERN IOWA. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED THIS EVENING...MAINLY NORTH OF INTERSTATE 80. FOBERT
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NEBRASKA
532 PM CDT TUE JUL 15 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0525 PM TSTM WND GST HERMAN 41.67N 96.22W
07/15/2008 E60 MPH WASHINGTON NE TRAINED SPOTTER
LARGE TREE BLOWN DOWN.
&&
CZAPOTOCThe Omaha radar (KOAX), 61 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:44 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A thunderstorm wind gust estimated at around 60 mph downed a few 12 to 18 foot tree limbs.
A spotter estimated thunderstorm wind gusts of 60 mph west of Pacific Jct.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Iowa in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, July 2008
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: 102684, 102686.