A surface trough bisected the forecast area August 19th. Dry air in place led to high based thunderstorm development.
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 LBF wrote it up.
A surface trough bisected the forecast area August 19th. Dry air in place led to high based thunderstorm development. By early afternoon thunderstorms developed in the west then intensified while moving east that produced damaging winds in areas east of highway 83.
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 North Platte, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 19, 2:12 PM CST, 2 hours 13 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE 312 PM CDT THU AUG 19 2010 .SYNOPSIS... H5 WAVE MOVING OUT OF THE CENTRAL ROCKIES ONTO THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL PLAINS TODAY. LEADING SHORTWAVE MOVING INTO SOUTH CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA THIS AFTERNOON AS SEEN IN IR. SURFACE LOW JUST TO THE NORTH OF KVTN AND SURFACE TROUGH...DRY LINE FROM KANW TO KIML. && .DISCUSSION... MODELS IN GOOD AGREEMENT THIS AFTERNOON AND HAVE GOOD CONFIDENCE IN THE FORECAST. FIRST WAVE INTO SOUTH CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA. ANOTHER IMPULSE IN NORTHEAST COLORADO WITH MAIN IMPULSE OVER EASTERN UT MOVING INTO WESTERN COLORADO. GOOD SB BASED CAPE ALONG THE TROUGH AXIS WITH TD'S IN THE UPPER 60S TO LOWER 70S. SURFACE TEMPERATURES IN THE LOW TO MID 90S ALONG THE TROUGH AXIS. CAP HAS NOT BEEN BROKEN YET. PW'S ABOUT AN INCH AND NORMAL FOR THE SEASON. TROUGH IS PROGGED TO HANG OVER CENTRAL PORTION OF FORECAST AREA POSSIBILITY FOR SOME TRAINING. DRY AND CLEARING ON FRIDAY WITH SIMILAR TEMPERATURES TO TODAY AS GEOPOTENTIAL HEIGHTS INCREASE ACROSS WESTERN NEBRASKA. H5 RIDGE CONTINUES TO BUILD INTO THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL PLAINS THROUGH THE WEEKEND AS THE TROUGH TO THE WEST DEEPENS. ECMWF TRENDING TOWARDS THE GFS AND GEM SOLUTIONS IN THE LATEST MODEL RUNS. WEST TO SOUTHWEST FLOW THROUGH THE WEEKEND AND FULL SUN WILL TORCH OUT WESTERN NEBRASKA WITH TEMPERATURES INTO THE UPPER 90S AND POSSIBLY SOME LOWER 100'S. NEXT FRONT WILL BE PUSHED THROUGH ON MONDAY AS THE TROUGH TO THE WEST MOVES EAST. TEMPERATURES ON MONDAY WILL DEPEND ON THE TIMING OF THE FRONT AND HAVE RETAINED WARMER TEMPERATURES WITH A MODEL BLEND. COOLER TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY AND DRY THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE EXTENDED. .AVIATION... CONVECTION SHOULD BE FILLING IN ACROSS MUCH OF WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA THROUGH THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS. VFR CONDITIONS SHOULD STILL BE THE PREVAILING CONDITIONS AT THE KLBF AND KVTN TERMINALS...HOWEVER CONDITIONS COULD QUICKLY DETERIORATE NEAR THESE STORMS INTO THE LOWER FLIGHT CATEGORIES. MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINFALL...HAIL AND DANGEROUS WIND GUSTS WILL BE POSSIBLE MAINLY FROM THE 19/20Z TO 20/06Z TIME FRAME IN THE VCNTY OF THE KLBF AND KVTN TERMINALS. THE STRONGER CONVECTION SHOULD SLIDE EAST OF THE REGION AFTER 06Z...LEAVING A MID TO HIGH CLOUD DECK IN PLACE THROUGH SUNRISE WITH VFR CONDITIONS EXPECTED. && .LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && SHORT TERM/EXTENDED...POWER AVIATION...13
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE 353 PM CDT THU AUG 19 2010 NEZ004>010-022>029-035>038-056>059-069>071-094-202100- SHERIDAN-EASTERN CHERRY-KEYA PAHA-BOYD-BROWN-ROCK-HOLT-GARDEN- GRANT-HOOKER-THOMAS-BLAINE-LOUP-GARFIELD-WHEELER-ARTHUR-MCPHERSON- LOGAN-CUSTER-DEUEL-KEITH-PERKINS-LINCOLN-CHASE-HAYES-FRONTIER- WESTERN CHERRY- 353 PM CDT THU AUG 19 2010 /253 PM MDT THU AUG 19 2010/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA THIS EVENING AND INTO THE EARLY MORNING HOURS...WITH THE BEST CHANCES THIS EVENING ALONG AND EAST OF AN IMPERIAL TO AINSWORTH LINE. MOISTURE POOLING IN CENTRAL NEBRASKA AHEAD OF A SURFACE TROF MOVING THROUGH THE CENTRAL SANDHILLS WILL HELP FOCUS MODERATELY STRONG INSTABILITY OVER THE EASTERN OUTLOOK AREA. WINDS ALOFT WILL BE MARGINAL...BUT ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT WILL BE POSSIBLE ALONG AND EAST OF A NORTH PLATTE TO BASSETT TO BUTTE LINE DURING THE EVENING HOURS. WIND GUSTS OVER 60 MPH WILL BE THE MAIN THREAT...THOUGH THE STRONGEST STORMS MAY ALSO BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LARGE HAIL. AS THE SYSTEM PROGRESSES INTO THE LATE EVENING AND EARLY MORNING HOURS...LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL BE THE MAIN THREAT...WHICH IS EXPECTED MAINLY ALONG AND EAST OF HIGHWAY 183. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED TONIGHT. && THIS PRODUCT IS NOW AVAILABLE...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER... HYDROLOGICAL AND CLIMATOLOGICAL INFORMATION...AT HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/NORTHPLATTE 13
The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 158 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:25 UTC.
8 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A farmer estimated 60 mph thunderstorm wind gusts that shook a 25000 pound diesel tractor.
Public estimated winds at 60 mph.
Public estimated thunderstorm wind gusts to 60 mph.
The public estimated that thunderstorm wind gusts were in excess of 60 mph.
The public reported wind gusts in excess of 60 mph with torrential rainfall.
A NWS Cooperative Weather Observer reported wind gusts to 60 mph.
A Cooperative Observer estimated 60 mph thunderstorm wind gusts at Swan Lake.
The public reported wind gusts to 60 mph.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nebraska in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Nebraska, August 2010
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: 249266, 249268, 249270, 249271, 249272, 249273, 249274, 249275.