An upper level disturbance that tracked across southeast Nebraska during the overnight hours of May 9th brought areas of heavy rain to the area. Twenty-four hour rainfall totals ending at 7am CDT on the 9th were around 2 inches east of Beatrice.
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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.
An upper level disturbance that tracked across southeast Nebraska during the overnight hours of May 9th brought areas of heavy rain to the area. Twenty-four hour rainfall totals ending at 7am CDT on the 9th were around 2 inches east of Beatrice. This caused flooding in southern Pawnee county along Turkey Creek and its tributaries.
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 May 9, 2:34 AM CST, 6 hours 26 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE 334 AM CDT FRI MAY 9 2008 .DISCUSSION... MAIN CONCERN IS THE CHANCE FOR PCPN DURING THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. PATTERN SUGGESTS TENDENCY FOR A LONGWAVE TROUGH OVER THE CENTRAL PART OF THE U.S. THE NEXT 48 HOURS OR SO. SHORTWAVE TROUGH MOVING THROUGH THE NATIONS MID SECTION THIS MORNING SHOULD CONTINUE TO PRODUCE RAIN OR SHOWERS FOR A WHILE...ESPECIALLY OVER SWRN IA. TIMING SUGGEST PCPN SHOULD BE OUT OF THE AREA BY 18Z...BUT CLOUD COVER WILL LINGER LONGER. EXPECT HIGHS FAIRLY CLOSE TO AVAILABLE MOS GUIDANCE...IN THE LOWER AND MID 60S. THE NEXT SHORTWAVE TROUGH WILL MOVE IN TONIGHT...AND HAVE POPS INCREASING DURING THE NIGHT. AT LEAST THE WESTERN HALF OF THE FORECAST AREA SHOULD HAVE A DECENT SHOT AT PCPN. USED A BLEND OF 00Z NAM AND 00Z GFS...BUT TENDED TO LEAN CLOSER TO THE NAM. WIND SHIFT COMBINED WITH DECENT MOISTURE AND UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT WILL YIELD A HIGH CHANCE FOR PCPN. GENERALLY HAVE 12 HOUR POPS FROM 70 TO 90 PERCENT AND EXPECT RAINFALL AMOUNTS OVER HALF AN INCH... WITH SOME AMOUNTS NORTH OVER ONE AND A HALF INCHES POSSIBLE. HAVE HIGHS IN THE 50S NORTHWEST ZONES AND 60 TO 65 SOUTHEAST. THE PCPN SHOULD LINGER THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT AND END EARLY SUNDAY MORNING. EXPECT LOWS SUNDAY MORNING TO DROP INTO THE 30S WEST TO AROUND 40 SOUTHEAST. BRISK NORTH/NORTHWEST WINDS SHOULD OCCUR ON THE BACKSIDE OF SYSTEM AND THIS WILL PULL COLD AIR SOUTHWARD. THICKNESS VALUES ARE COLD ENOUGH TO THINK ABOUT FROZEN PCPN... BUT SOUNDINGS SHOW ALL RAIN. RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE AT THE SURFACE WILL TRY TO BUILD IN DURING THE DAY...BUT WINDS SHOULD STAY UP FOR A WHILE. HAVE SUNDAY IN THE LOWER AND MID 60S. WARM ADVECTION PATTERN STRENGTHENS SUNDAY NIGHT AND CONTINUES MONDAY...BUT WITHOUT A FOCUS LEFT OUT MENTION OF PCPN. FRONT DOES MOVE IN BY MONDAY NIGHT. THIS WILL MOVE THROUGH SLOWLY MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY...WITH A CHANCE FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. MODELS ARE NOT IN VERY GOOD AGREEMENT WITH LARGE SCALE FEATURES OR TIMING BY MID PART OF NEXT WEEK. WILL TEND TO FOLLOW THE ECMWF WHICH IS FAVORED BY HPC. && .AVIATION... FOR TAF SITES KOMA...KLNK AND KOFK FOR FORECAST VALID THROUGH 10/06Z. SHOWERS ENDING 12Z-15Z AS MID LEVEL WAVE MOVES THROUGH BUT MVFR CIGS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP 09Z-12Z AND LINGERING THROUGH THE MORNING BEFORE BECOMING VFR AFT 18Z. && .OAX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NE...NONE. IA...NONE. && DISCUSSION...MILLER AVIATION...FOBERT
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE 505 AM CDT FRI MAY 9 2008 IAZ043-055-056-069-079-080-090-091-NEZ011-012-015>018-030>034- 042>045-050>053-065>068-078-088>093-092300- ANTELOPE-BOONE-BURT-BUTLER-CASS-CEDAR-COLFAX-CUMING-DODGE-DOUGLAS- FREMONT IA-GAGE-HARRISON IA-JEFFERSON-JOHNSON-KNOX-LANCASTER-MADISON- MILLS IA-MONONA IA-MONTGOMERY IA-NEMAHA-OTOE-PAGE IA-PAWNEE-PIERCE- PLATTE-POTTAWATTAMIE IA-RICHARDSON-SALINE-SARPY-SAUNDERS-SEWARD- SHELBY IA-STANTON-THURSTON-WASHINGTON-WAYNE- 505 AM CDT FRI MAY 9 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR MOST OF EASTERN NEBRASKA AND PARTS OF SOUTHWEST IOWA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A FEW THUNDERSTORMS COULD MOVE INTO THE WESTERN PARTS OF EASTERN NEBRASKA AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. SEVERE STORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THERE IS A CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS ON SATURDAY...MAINLY ALONG AND SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 80. WIDESPREAD SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED OVER MOST OF THE AREA...AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN IS POSSIBLE. THERE IS ALSO A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS FROM MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY. ALTHOUGH A FEW STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE...THE CHANCE FOR ORGANIZED WEATHER SEEMS LOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION SHOULD NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. MILLER
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Flooding along Turkey Creek and its tributaries caused the closure of Highway 65 near the Kansas border. A few other county roads and agricultural lowlands also experienced flooding. The flooding caused around $400,000 dollars damage to bridges and culverts and for road repair.
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, May 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: 86731.