This was the third consecutive day, and the last, in a stretch of pulse-type severe thunderstorms that occurred across eastern Nebraska and western Iowa. A cool northwesterly upper level wind flow prevailed during this stretch, with several embedded disturbances, while warm and unstable conditions were observed at the surface.
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.
This was the third consecutive day, and the last, in a stretch of pulse-type severe thunderstorms that occurred across eastern Nebraska and western Iowa. A cool northwesterly upper level wind flow prevailed during this stretch, with several embedded disturbances, while warm and unstable conditions were observed at the surface.
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 21, 12:53 PM CST, 58 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE 153 PM CDT SAT JUN 21 2008 .DISCUSSION... CONVECTION HAD BEGUN TO DVLP JUST NW OF THE CWA AT 1730Z IN LOW LVL CONVERGENT AREA WHERE H85 MOISTURE HAD BEGUN TO RETURN IN WAKE OF A POCKET OF DRIER AIR THAT HAD SPREAD SWD ALONG MO RIVER THIS AFTN. THIS DRIER AIR HAD KNOCKED SFC DWPTS DOWN SOME 5-10 DEG F LOWER OVR MUCH OF THE CWA COMPARED TO YDA ATTM. HOWEVER...THRU EARLY EVENING SOME LOW LVL MOISTURE SHOULD RETURN TO MUCH OF THE REGION WHICH SHOULD ALLOW FOR CONVECTION TO SPREAD E AND SE ACROSS THE CWA. IN ADDITION...JET SEGMENT MORNING UA AND LATEST RUC ANLYS SHOWED PUNCHING TWD SERN SD COULD AID IN LIFT ACROSS THE CWA INTO THIS EVENING. ZERO-6KM SHEAR WAS INDICATED TO BE STRONGER THAN YDA AND 1000-850 MB LAPSE RATES SIMILAR...SPCLY NRN ZONES. WOULD EXPECTED SVR STORMS NRN SECTIONS WHERE MLCAPES WERE A BIT HIGHER WITH STRENGTH FTHR SWD A LTL MORE INDETERMINATE BASED ON HOW MUCH LOW LVL MOISTURE/CAPE CAN RETURN. BASED ON CURRENT DWPTS UPSTREAM AND SAT AM LOWS...TRIMMED BACK LOWS A BIT CNTRL/N. AS AN EMBEDDED WAVE WRAPS AROUND SRN CANADA UPPER TROUGH/LOW TNGT... AN H5 THERMAL TROUGH WILL SWING DOWN ALONG AND E OF THE MO RIVER ON SUNDAY. THIS COULD AID IN AFTN TSTM DVLPMENT AGAIN WHERE LOWER LVL MOISTURE PERSISTS. ATTM INCLUDED SMALL POPS SRN SECTIONS AS WIND FIELDS FM SFC-H85 WERE FCST TO REMAIN FAIRLY WEAK MUCH OF THE DAY WITH DRYING POSSIBLY MINIMAL. MOST AREAS COULD POSSIBLY BE A DEG OR TWO COOLER THAN TDA BASED ON SLIGHTLY COOLER H85 TEMPS. WITH SFC HIGH CONTG TO FEED SWD SUN NGT...WOULD EXPECT MON AM TO BE EVEN COOLER THAN SUN WITH A LARGE FETCH OF SFC DWPTS IN THE 40S CURRENTLY OBSERVED N THRU ND INTO CANADA. LOOKS SOMEWHAT DOUBTFUL WITH ESERLY FLOW AND SIMILAR H85 TEMPS THAT MONDAY MAX TEMPS WOULD BE MUCH WARMER...IF ANY...THAN SUNDAY. NEXT SIGNIFICANT CHC OF TSTMS APPEARS IT WILL ARRIVE IN MON NGT/TUE PD AS A STRONGER TROUGH WILL RIDE OVR UPPER RIDGE COINCIDENT WITH OR AIDING IN LOW LVL MOISTURE RETURN. PREV FCST APPEARS TO HANDLE THIS WELL. BEYOND THAT PD KEPT SMALL POPS IN REMAINDER OF FCST. UPPER HGTS DO ATTEMPT TO BUILD WHICH COULD TEND TO LIMIT ANY CONVECTIVE COVERAGE OVER THE CWA ALONG WITH INCREASING TEMPS. && .AVIATION... FOR TAF SITES KOMA...KLNK AND KOFK...THROUGH 22/18Z. VFR CONDITIONS EXPECTED THROUGH THE ENTIRE FCST PD. THERE IS A POSSIBILITY OF MVFR CONDITIONS DEVELOPING WITH RESPECT TO VISIBILITIES ACROSS ALL THREE TAF SITES BY 21Z THRU 22/01Z...DUE TO POTENTIAL FOR THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY. SFC WINDS WL REMAIN LIGHT THROUGH THE PERIOD. SCATTERED CU WITH BASES NEAR 7K FT ARE STARTING TO FORM ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE FCST AREA. BY MID AFTERNOON...CU WILL LIKELY BECOME MORE WIDESPREAD WITH CHANCES FOR THUNDERSTORMS INCREASING AS WELL. && .OAX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NE...NONE. IA...NONE. && CHERMOK/REESE
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE 1128 AM CDT SAT JUN 21 2008 IAZ043-055-056-069-079-080-090-091-NEZ011-012-015>018-030>034- 042>045-050>053-065>068-078-088>093-220630- 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- 1128 AM CDT SAT JUN 21 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 A REPEAT OF THE LAST COUPLE OF DAYS WITH STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVER EASTERN NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA THIS AFTERNOON. AS THE DAY CONTINUES TO HEAT UP... INSTABILITY WILL INCREASE ACROSS THE AREA. NORTHWEST WINDS ALOFT WILL PROVIDE WIND SHEAR NECESSARY FOR SEVERE WEATHER. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE THE PRIMARY HAZARDS...BUT AN ISOLATED TORNADO CANNOT BE RULED OUT. THE THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY SHOULD DECREASE WITH LOSS OF HEATING LATER THIS EVENING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY THUNDERSTORMS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE MUCH OF NEXT WEEK...WITH STRONG OR SEVERE STORM CHANCES HIGHEST MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY AND ALSO THURSDAY NIGHT. A RELATIVELY UNSETTLED WEATHER PATTERN WILL PERSIST NEXT WEEK...AS THE REGION REMAINS ON THE EDGE OF THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE ASSOCIATED WITH THE JET STREAM...THAT HAS PERSISTED OVER THE SOUTHWESTERN AND SOUTHERN UNITED STATES. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... STORM SPOTTERS WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...MAINLY FROM 3 PM TO 10 PM. 69
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
8 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Hail around 3/4 inch in diameter lasted for about 15 minutes northwest of Elgin.
Hail up to quarter-size fell for about 10 minutes in the St. Edward area. The hail covered the ground several inches.
Hail up to nickel-size covered the ground white from northwest of Orchard through south of town.
Thunderstorm wind gusts from a decaying thunderstorm were estimated at around 60 mph. The winds blew down a few tree branches up to a couple of inches in diameter.
Hail up to golfball-size was driven by thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at 60 mph. The combination caused areas of house and vehicle damage in Creighton and crop damage near town, especially in the Winnetoon area which is just northwest of Creighton.
Thunderstorm winds estimated at 60 mph were accompanied by hail up to golfball-size. The winds and hail caused vehicle and house damage in Creighton and crop damage near town, especially in the Winnetoon area northwest of Creighton.
Hail up to dime-size covered the ground southeast of Brunswick.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nebraska in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Nebraska, 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: 99517, 99519, 99521, 99527, 99535, 99529, 99530, 99532, 99541, 99533.