A warm front and low pressure system over northern Kansas lifted northeast into southeast Nebraska and southwest Iowa as an unseasonably strong upper level low pressure system lifted from the Rockies into the northern plains. Severe storms developed over northeast Nebraska during the morning hours of June 5th and after a brief break in the severe weather, additional severe storms developed over…
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
A warm front and low pressure system over northern Kansas lifted northeast into southeast Nebraska and southwest Iowa as an unseasonably strong upper level low pressure system lifted from the Rockies into the northern plains. Severe storms developed over northeast Nebraska during the morning hours of June 5th and after a brief break in the severe weather, additional severe storms developed over southeast Nebraska and southwest Iowa by early evening. The thunderstorms formed into a bow echo as they moved into southwest Iowa and a bookend type vortex on the north end of the bow echo spun up 2 brief tornadoes with another tornado forming on the bow a bit farther east.
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 Jun 5, 1:20 PM CST, 4 hours 42 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
220 PM CDT THU JUN 5 2008
.DISCUSSION...
TIMING AND EXTENT OF CONVECTION MAIN FORECAST CONCERN IN THE SHORT TERM.
SURFACE LOW PRESSURE WAS LOCATED OVER SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA JUST
EAST OF KMCK AT 18Z WITH WARM FRONT STRETCHING INTO NORTHEAST
NEBRASKA AND NORTHERN IOWA. INITIAL BAND OF CONVECTION DEVELOPED NORTH
OF THE WARM FRONT THIS MORNING AND MOVED NORTH OUT OF THE AREA.
CURRENT RADAR AND SATELLITE TRENDS SHOW A LINE OF CONVECTION FROM
SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA INTO CENTRAL KANSAS ALONG SEMI-DRY LINE BOUNDARY.
EXPECT THIS ACTIVITY TO PUSH INTO THE CWA THIS AFTERNOON AS
SURFACE LOW TRACKS SLOWLY NORTH. HIGH POPS IN PLACE FOR TONIGHT WITH
HEADLINES FOR SEVERE OR FLOOD POTENTIAL. STRONG WIND FIELDS SUGGEST
HIGH POSSIBILITY OF TORNADIC STORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING
WITH FAST MOVEMENT NORTH. MAIN ACTION EXPECTED TO END AFTER 06Z AS
UPPER WAVE MOVES NORTH OF THE AREA. BRIEF BREAK FRIDAY FROM WEATHER
BUT ANOTHER FRONT MOVES INTO THE AREA ON SATURDAY AND LINGERS INTO
SUNDAY AS UPPER FLOW BECOMES PARALLEL TO THE SURFACE BOUNDARY
ACROSS KANSAS AND MISSOURI.
EXTENDED FORECAST LEANING TOWARD HPC GUIDANCE TODAY WITH TREND TOWARD
COOLER AND WETTER CONDITIONS THAN PREVIOUS FORECAST.
&&
.AVIATION...
FOR TAF SITES KOMA...KLNK AND KOFK THRU 06/1800Z.
MAIN THREAT OF THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED THROUGH 03Z AT EACH TAF SITE
AS UPPER WAVE AND SURFACE FRONT MOVE THROUGH THE REGION. SURFACE WINDS
ALSO EXPECTED TO REMAIN HIGH INTO THE EVENING WITH WINDS SHIFTING TO
A WESTERLY DIRECATION AFTER 06Z.
&&
.OAX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NE...FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH LATE TONIGHT FOR NEZ011-012-015>018-
030>034-042>045-050>053-065>068-078-088>093.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 10 PM CDT THIS EVENING FOR NEZ015-033-034-
043>045-050>053-065>068-078-088>093.
IA...FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH LATE TONIGHT FOR IAZ043-055-056-069-
079-080-090-091.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 10 PM CDT THIS EVENING FOR IAZ043-055-056-
069-079-080-090-091.
&&
FOBERT/DERGANHAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE 410 PM CDT THU JUN 5 2008 IAZ043-055-056-069-079-080-090-091-NEZ011-012-015>018-030>034- 042>045-050>053-065>068-078-088>093-061115- 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- 410 PM CDT THU JUN 5 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST IOWA...WEST CENTRAL IOWA...EAST CENTRAL NEBRASKA...NORTHEAST NEBRASKA AND SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT AND FRIDAY THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE FROM CENTRAL KANSAS INTO EASTERN NEBRASKA LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND BECOME WIDESPREAD ACROSS THE AREA THIS EVENING. SOME SEVERE STORMS ARE POSSIBLE WITH LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS AND ISOLATED TORNADOES POSSIBLE. THE STORMS WILL BE MOVING VERY FAST WITH SPEEDS UP TO 60 MPH. LOW PRESSURE OVER SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA WILL MOVE NORTH TONIGHT WITH A COLD FRONT MOVING INTO EASTERN NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA. EXTREME SHEAR VALUES ARE IN PLACE ACROSS THE REGION IN ASSOCIATION WITH AN UNUSALLY STRONG UPPER LEVEL LOW. SIGNIFICANT MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY WILL BE IN PLACE THIS EVENING AND COMBINED WITH THE STRONG SHEAR WILL INCREASE THE POTENTIAL FOR STRONG...LONG TRACKED TORNADOES. HEAVY RAIN IS ALSO LIKELY. ALTHOUGH THE STORMS WILL HAVE A FAST STORM MOVEMENT...BECAUSE OF THE ONGOING FLOODING AND SATURATED SOILS...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH HAS BEEN CONTINUED THROUGH TONIGHT. PLEASE REFER TO INDIVIDUAL RIVER AND FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS FOR SPECIFIC FLOODING DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE FOR PARTS OF THE OUTLOOK AREA SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF EASTERN NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA UNTIL 700 PM CDT. SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE REQUIRED THIS EVENING. FOBERT
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NEBRASKA
302 PM CDT THU JUN 05 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1015 PM HAIL 3 E MALMO 41.27N 96.66W
06/04/2008 E0.88 INCH SAUNDERS NE CO-OP OBSERVER
&&
DFOBERTPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NEBRASKA
600 PM CDT THU JUN 05 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0555 PM HAIL 1 S LIBERTY 40.07N 96.48W
06/05/2008 E0.88 INCH GAGE NE TRAINED SPOTTER
&&
KURTZPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NEBRASKA
638 PM CDT THU JUN 05 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0633 PM TORNADO 1 S JOHNSON 40.40N 96.00W
06/05/2008 NEMAHA NE EMERGENCY MNGR
LOCATED AT THE INTERSECTION OF HWY 136 AND 105
&&
KURTZPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NEBRASKA
644 PM CDT THU JUN 05 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0626 PM HAIL 4 W CLEARWATER 42.17N 98.27W
06/05/2008 E0.75 INCH ANTELOPE NE LAW ENFORCEMENT
&&
KURTZPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NEBRASKA
652 PM CDT THU JUN 05 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0648 PM HAIL SHUBERT 40.24N 95.68W
06/05/2008 M1.00 INCH RICHARDSON NE TRAINED SPOTTER
&&
KURTZPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NEBRASKA
657 PM CDT THU JUN 05 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0652 PM HAIL 2 W CENTER 42.61N 97.92W
06/05/2008 M0.75 INCH KNOX NE LAW ENFORCEMENT
&&
KURTZThe Omaha radar (KOAX), 86 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:04 UTC.
3 tornado, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A brief tornado touchdown was reported near I-29 and mile marker 10. The tornado was only on the ground a minute or two and caused no apparent damage.
A bookend vortex spun up another brief tornado in between Sidney and Randolph. The tornado was only on the ground a minute or two and did no apparent damage. Emergency management spotted this tornado from his office in Sidney and stated that there possibly could have been 2 or 3 funnels or tornadoes from this particular supercell at this time.
A weak tornado caused damage to a barn, garage and other outbuildings on a farmstead southeast of Essex according to emergency management. Tree damage consistent with tornadoes was also noted in the area.
A trained spotter estimated thunderstorm wind gusts of around 60 mph.
Lightning apparently struck a house causing a fire that totally destroyed it.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Iowa in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Iowa, 2008Warnings in Iowa, June 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: 116066, 116067, 113912, 97205, 118358.