A slow moving cold front kicked off a few severe thunderstorms over eastern Nebraska during the mid evening hours of July 24th. Initially warm mid level temperatures had hindered development, but they were overcome as the front encountered a bit better low level inflow and instability.
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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.
A slow moving cold front kicked off a few severe thunderstorms over eastern Nebraska during the mid evening hours of July 24th. Initially warm mid level temperatures had hindered development, but they were overcome as the front encountered a bit better low level inflow and instability.
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 24, 2:20 PM CST, 4 hours 43 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE 320 PM CDT FRI JUL 24 2009 .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT AND SATURDAY MAIN CONCERN IS POSSIBLE CONVECTION DURING THE EVENING WITH POTENTIAL FOR MAINLY ISOLATED SVR. STORM ACTIVITY FOCUSED AROUND A COLD FRONT DROPPING OUT OF THE DAKOTAS AND INTO THE CNTRL PLAINS TONIGHT. RUC PLACEMENT OF MOIST CONVG AXIS AND EDGE OF 0-3KM LAPSE RATES IS FAVORING INITIATION OVER THE NRN CWA INTO NW IA...BUT NOT UNTIL CAP WEAKENS TOWARDS LATE THIS AFTN. WITH MOIST SOURCE GENERALLY ALONG AND EAST OF THE MISSOURI RIVER COUPLED WITH BETTER UPPER DPVA SUPPORT...SEEMS BEST POTENTIAL FOR SVR ACTIVITY FOUND OVER OUR IA CWA THIS EVENING. EXPECT ACTIVITY WILL THEN GRADUALLY DECREASE TOWARD MIDNIGHT AS THE FRONTAL BNDRY SLIDES INTO KS/MO. FOR SATURDAY...BUILDING SFC HIGH PRESSURE INTO THE PLAINS WILL TRANSLATE TO QUITE PLEASANT CONDITIONS. .LONG TERM...SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY DRIER AND SLIGHTLY COOLER AIR STILL ON TRACK TO FILTER ACROSS THE CWA THIS WEEKEND. DRYNESS OF AIRMASS AND ONLY MODEST COOLING AT 850 MB SHOULD ALLOW FOR LARGE DIURNAL TEMPERATURE RANGES...SPCLY SUN SINCE IT APPEARS LOWS COULD BE A BIT COOLER THAN SAT. LTL CHANGES TO PREV FCST WITH LOWS MOSTLY UPR 50S/LOWER 60S AND HIGHS IN MID/UPR 80S. AFTN/EVENING CONVECTION THAT DVLPS OVR WRN HIGH PLAINS SUN COULD GET CLOSE TO OUR WRN ZONES LATE SUN NGT... BUT LOW LVL JET DOESN/T TURN SW ACROSS OUR CWA TILL AROUND 12Z MON AND THEN IT IS WEAK AT THAT. SO WL LEAVE FCST DRY THRU SUN NGT ATTM. UPPER FLOW BEGINS BACKING MONDAY AHEAD OF EITHER THE PERSISTENT UPPER LOW CURRENTLY OVR PAC NW FINALLY EJECTING SEWD OR AHEAD OF A LOBE ROTATING AROUND/DOWN ERN CANADIAN UPR TROUGH. THIS COULD ALLOW TEMPS TO WARM EVEN MORE SO THAN SUNDAY IF CLOUDS/PCPN ARE KEPT AT BAY...WHICH VERY WELL MAY BE THE CASE. CUT BACK POPS A BIT AND RAISED MAX TEMPS SOME TO ACCOUNT FOR THIS POSSIBLE SOLUTION...BUT COVERAGE/STRENGTH OF WARM ADVCTN/ISENTROPIC DRIVEN PCPN SOMETIMES DIFFICULT TO PIN DOWN. DID RAISE POPS IN MON NGT/TUE PD AS DECENT AGREEMENT BETWEEN LAST FEW RUNS OF GFS AND 00Z/12Z ECMWF IN AN UPPER WAVE DRIVING ACROSS SRN GRTLKS REGION PUSHING A CDFNT ACROSS THE CWA. WED SHOULD BE TRANSITIONAL DAY BEFORE ANOTHER UPR WAVE/FRONT PUSH INTO PLAINS THU/THU NGT. LTL CHANGES TO WED BUT DID INTRODUCE SLGT CHC POPS THU WITH NEXT FRONT. && .AVIATION... FOR TAF SITES KOFK/KOMA/KLNK 24/18Z ISSUANCE. MAIN AVIATION CONCERN IS POSSIBLE CONVECTION OVER ERN NEB BEGINNING LATE THIS AFTN AND INTO THE EVENING HOURS. ACTIVITY FOCUSED UPON SFC FRONTAL BNDRY PUSHING INTO THE CNTRL PLAINS. LEADING EDGE OF BNDRY ALREADY MOVING INTO NERN NEB WITH CU DEVELOPMENT IN NW IA SLOWLY EXPANDING WWD. FROPA ALREADY OCCURRING AT KOFK...AND EXPECTED AROUND 00Z AT KOMA/KLNK. AS OF NOW AREAL COVERAGE FOR CONVECTION IN QUESTION...THUS RESTRICTED TS TEMPO GROUPS TO 2 HRS TO COINCIDE WITH EXPECTED FROPA. TS ACTIVITY WILL DECREASE THRU THE EVENING HOURS AS FRONT SAGS INTO KS/MO. OVERALL TAF CONFIDENCE IS LOW. && .OAX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NE...NONE. IA...NONE. && CHERMOK/DEE
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE 440 PM CDT FRI JUL 24 2009 IAZ043-055-056-069-079-080-090-091-NEZ011-012-015>018-030>034- 042>045-050>053-065>068-078-088>093-251200- 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- 440 PM CDT FRI JUL 24 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR MOST OF EASTERN NEBRASKA AND PARTS OF SOUTHWEST IOWA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT AND SATURDAY THERE IS A CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE ENTIRE OUTLOOK AREA THROUGH TONIGHT. A FEW STORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS WOULD BE THE PRIMARY HAZARDS. A COLD FRONT WILL CONTINUE PUSH SOUTH ACROSS THE AREA. MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR IS IN PLACE ACROSS THE REGION...BUT WARM MID LEVEL TEMPERATURES ARE PROVIDING A CAP. IF THE CAP CAN BE BROKEN... THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD DEVELOP QUICKLY. STORMS COULD LINGER WELL BEHIND THE FRONT OVERNIGHT ACROSS PARTS OF SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA...BUT IT APPEARS THAT THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WEATHER LATE TONIGHT WILL NOT BE HIGH. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE FROM MONDAY INTO TUESDAY...THEN AGAIN AROUND THURSDAY. LATER OUTLOOKS WILL ADDRESS THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WEATHER IN THOSE PERIODS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS. MILLER
The Omaha radar (KOAX), 72 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:00 UTC.
5 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Hail up to golf ball-size fell from south of the Clarkson and Howells area to near Schuyler. The hail caused sporadic damage to shingles and siding in the region and was accompanied by strong winds.
Thunderstorm winds estimated at over 60 mph caused tree and scattered house damage from around 7 miles north of Schuyler into Schuyler. Seven miles north of town the winds blew a kitchen window out of a house, and trees or large branches were downed in the Schuyler area causing scattered house damage. The winds were accompanied by hail up to golf ball-size.
A few hailstones up to nickel-size fell for a minute or two in the Wagner Lakes region in southwest Columbus.
The hail was accompanied by winds estimated at up to 50 mph. Apparently winds were stronger and hail a bit larger north of town.
Thunderstorm winds were estimated at 60 to 70 mph. The winds downed some trees and knocked power to sections of town.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nebraska in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Nebraska, July 2009
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: 178635, 178659, 178641, 178636, 178639, 178637, 178647.