A weak stationary front along the Kansas and Nebraska border, combined with an upper level disturbance and low level jet, helped fuel isolated early morning severe thunderstorms over southeast Nebraska. Due to slow movement of the thunderstorms, a few of them dropped heavy rain over parts of Saline county, which caused the Blue River to flood.
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 weak stationary front along the Kansas and Nebraska border, combined with an upper level disturbance and low level jet, helped fuel isolated early morning severe thunderstorms over southeast Nebraska. Due to slow movement of the thunderstorms, a few of them dropped heavy rain over parts of Saline county, which caused the Blue River to flood.
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 24, 1:54 AM CST, 1 hour 46 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE 254 AM CDT TUE JUN 24 2008 .DISCUSSION... CONVECTION CURRENTLY ONGOING ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA AS NOSE OF LOW LEVEL JET CONTINUES TO STRENGTHEN AND VEER. SFC PATTERN COMPLEX WITH ONGOING CONVECTION...HOWEVER WMFNT DOES APPEAR DRAPED ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS INTO FAR NERN KS. RESIDUAL BOUNDARIES AND POSSIBLE REMNANT MCV WL COMPLICATE FORECAST OVR NEXT 24 HOURS. DEVELOPING MCS ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA IS EXPECTED TO EXPAND EWD THROUGHOUT THE MORNING HOURS ALONG NOSE OF STRENGTHENING AND VEERING LLVL JET. STORMS ARE LIKELY ACROSS AT LEAST THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE CWA THROUGHOUT THE MORNING HOURS WHERE STRONGEST ISENTROPIC ASCENT IS ONGOING. HAIL/WIND TREAT POSSIBLE THROUGHOUT THE MORNING HOURS. THIS AREA IS IN AXIS OF DEEP LAYER MOISTURE FLUX CONVERGENCE SO BESIDES A HAIL/WIND THREAT...HEAVY DOWNPOURS ARE ALSO QUITE LIKELY. FAIRBURY HAD ALREADY RECEIVED JUST SHY OF AN INCH BY 2 AM WHERE PWS ARE NEAR 1.50. SFC WMFNT WL REMAIN DRAPED ACROSS NRN KS AND NRN MO THRU MUCH OF THE DAY AND WL LIKELY BE THE FOCUS FOR REDEVELOPMENT LATER IN THE DAY/EVENING. AS MENTIONED PREVIOUSLY...DIFFICULT TO DETERMINE IF CONVECTION WL COMPLETLY DIMINISH ACROSS SERN NEB/SWRN IA TODAY DUE TO RESIDUAL BOUNDARIES AND POTENTIAL MCV. SWRLY LLVL JET STRENGTHENS THIS EVENING AND SHOULD SERVE AS ONE OF THE MAIN FORCING MECHANISMS ACROSS SERN NEB/SWRN IA FOR TSTMS OVERNIGHT. WEDNESDAY DAYTIME LOOKS RELATIVELY DRY AND HOT AHEAD OF WEAK FRONT MOVING OUT OF THE NRN PLAINS. CONVECTION FORECAST TO FIRE ALONG THIS FRONT AS IT MOVES SLOWLY SOUTH ACROSS THE CWA WED EVENING. NOCTURNAL TSTMS MAY CONTINUE INTO EARLY THURSDAY MORNING HOURS. WITH RESIDUAL BOUNDARIES IN THE AREA...THUNDERSTORM CHANCES CONTINUE THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY. LEFT REMAINDER OF FORECAST MOSTLY AS IS WITH STRONGER CDFNT MOVING INTO THE AREA FRIDAY NIGHT AS DEEP UPPER TROF DIGS ACROSS THE NRN PLAINS. DID LOWER TEMPS A FEW DEGREES OVER THE WEEKEND BEHIND THE COLD FRONT. && .AVIATION... FOR TAF SITES KOMA...KLNK AND KOFK...THROUGH 25/12Z. THUNDERSTORM CHANCES REMAIN IN THE FORECAST THROUGH ABOUT 14Z...THEN JUST MENTIONED SHOWERS WITH A CB CLOUD GROUP THROUGH ABOUT 17Z AS CONVECTION LIKELY GOES THROUGH A TYPICAL DIURNAL CYCLE. MORE STORMS MAY REDEVELOP FROM LATE AFTERNOON THROUGH THE EVENING...BUT DUE TO UNCERTAINTIES REGARDING COVERAGE AND TIMING...ONLY MENTIONED A PROB30 GROUP FOR NOW FROM ABOUT 21Z-03Z. OTHERWISE...MOSTLY VFR CONDITIONS EXPECTED THROUGH THE PERIOD...BUT COULD BRIEFLY SEE MVFR CIGS DURING HEAVIEST INTENSITY OF DOWNPOURS THIS MORNING. && .OAX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NE...NONE. IA...NONE. && GRIFFIS/DEWALD
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE 430 PM CDT MON JUN 23 2008 IAZ043-055-056-069-079-080-090-091-NEZ011-012-015>018-030>034- 042>045-050>053-065>068-078-088>093-241130- 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- 430 PM CDT MON JUN 23 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 TUESDAY THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT...MAINLY AFTER MIDNIGHT. SOME STORMS MAY REACH SEVERE LEVELS IN PARTS OF SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA ALONG THE KANSAS BORDER AS STORMS MOVE INTO THE AREA FROM THE WEST. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE THE PRIMARY HAZARDS. THUNDERSTORMS MAY LINGER INTO TUESDAY MORNING WITH REDEVELOPMENT POSSIBLE TUESDAY AFTERNOON. THERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE STORMS AGAIN TUESDAY AFTERNOON. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY THE CHANCE OF SEVERE STORMS WILL EXTEND INTO TUESDAY EVENING. OTHERWISE...THERE WILL BE A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS FROM WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO FRIDAY AS A SERIES OF WEAK UPPER LEVEL SYSTEMS MOVE ACROSS THE REGION. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED IN PARTS OF SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA LATER TONIGHT. FOBERT
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 hail, 1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Pea to penny-size hail was reported east of Lincoln. The hail lasted for about 20 minutes.
Heavy rain from thunderstorms early on June 24th caused the Big Blue River to flood in Saline county beginning around noon CDT on 6/24. Additional heavy rain producing thunderstorms later that afternoon added to the flooding and kept the Blue River around the Crete area above flood stage until just before midnight on the 26th. The river at Crete crested at 19.5 feet for about 24 hours centered near midnight on the 25th. Flood stage is 18 feet. The flooding affected mainly agricultural lowlands, but also closed a few county roads in the area.
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: 100172, 100173, 100174, 100184.