An unstable air mass in southeast Nebraska and southwest Iowa and a moderately strong low level jet helped thunderstorms develop ahead of a cold front in southwest Iowa with additional storms developing from northeast Kansas into southeast Nebraska. The storms produced some damaging winds and large hail and also isolated areas of very heavy rainfall.
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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 unstable air mass in southeast Nebraska and southwest Iowa and a moderately strong low level jet helped thunderstorms develop ahead of a cold front in southwest Iowa with additional storms developing from northeast Kansas into southeast Nebraska. The storms produced some damaging winds and large hail and also isolated areas of very heavy rainfall. Later that evening a shallow cold front pushed into the region but winds above the front remained from the south or southwest which allowed isolated elevated storms to develop north of the front. One storm that moved just to the west of Omaha produced large hail before weakening.
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 Aug 31, 2:03 PM CST, 2 hours 40 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE 303 PM CDT TUE AUG 31 2010 .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT MAIN CONCERN IS CHANCE OF TSTMS THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. SURFACE ANALYSIS EARLY THIS AFTN SHOWED COLD FRONT PUSHING SOUTHEAST THROUGH EASTERN NEBRASKA. TEMPERATURES AHEAD OF THE FRONT WERE IN THE LOWER 90S...WITH 70S COMMON BEHIND THE FRONT. MAIN ACTIVITY SHOULD FOCUS ALONG THE BOUNDARY THIS EVENING...WITH LESS ACTIVITY AFTER 05Z IN OUR AREA. SOME SEVERE APPEARS POSSIBLE...ALONG WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN. ZERO TO SIX KM SHEAR APPEARS ADEQUATE FOR SOME SUPERCELLS AT LEAST INITIALLY...BUT TREND WOULD BE MORE TOWARD MAINLY MULTICELLS BY LATE EVENING. IT APPEARS A SEPARATE AREA OF CONVECTION MAY DEVELOP FARTHER TO THE WEST...AND THEN MOVE TOWARD SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA LATE TONIGHT. THIS MAY ALSO GET A BOOST FROM ISENTROPIC LIFT IN THE 310-320K LAYER NORTH OF THE FRONT. LOWS SHOULD DROP INTO THE MID 50S IN THE FAR NORTHWEST CORNER OF THE FORECAST AREA...RANGING TO AROUND 70 IN NEAR THE MISSOURI BORDER. .LONG TERM...WEDNESDAY THRU TUESDAY... THE COLD FRONT IS FORECAST TO HANG UP ACROSS NRN KS/SERN NEB AND INTO NWRN MO BY 12Z WED AND SHIFT BACK NORTH THRU THE DAY. STRONG ISENTROPIC UPGLIDE IN THE 315K SFC WITH STEEP MID LEVEL LAPSE RATES SHOULD SUSTAIN SCT CONVECTION THRU A GOOD PORTION OF THE DAY. INSTABILITY WILL BE LIMITED BY EXPECTED CLOUD COVER HOWEVER 0-6KM BULK SHEAR VECTORS WILL BE IN THE 35 TO 45 KT RANGE AS A FEW EMBEDDED IMPULSES PASS THRU SWRLY FLOW. LAST PIECE OF ENERGY SHOULD MOVE THRU LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT. A STRONG TROF MOVING ACROSS THE NRN PLAINS WL QUICKLY PUSH A FAIRLY STRONG COLD FRONT THRU THE AREA THURSDAY. A FEW SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ALONG THIS BOUNDARY. TIGHT PRESSURE GRADIENT BEHIND THE FRONT SHOULD BRING GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS TO THE REGION WITH MUCH COOLER AND DRIER AIR TO FOLLOW. A PLEASANT HOLIDAY WEEKEND IS EXPECTED WITH UPPER RIDGING BUILDING TO OUR WEST AND SFC HIGH PRESSURE SETTLING OVER THE REGION. THE UPPER RIDGE WILL MOVE OVER THE CNTRL PLAINS BY EARLY IN THE WEEK PUSHING TEMPERATURES BACK UP INTO THE 80S. STRONG WAA REGIME COULD SPARK TSTM ACTIVITY BY TUESDAY. && .AVIATION... TAF SITES KOFK/KOMA/KLNK 18Z TAFS TSTMS WILL BE POSSIBLE INTO THE EARLY EVENING HOURS...MAINLY AT KOMA AND KLNK. COLD FRONT SHOULD CONTINUE TO PUSH SOUTHEAST THIS AFTN AND EVENING...MOVING SOUTH OF THE TAF SITES. NORTH WINDS BEHIND THE FRONT WILL BECOME NORTHEAST AND DECREASE OVERNIGHT. SOME MVFR VSBYS ARE POSSIBLE LATER TONIGHT. UNSETTLED WEATHER EXPECTED WEDNESDAY... BUT TOO FAR OUT TO GET SPECIFIC ON THAT. && .OAX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NE...NONE. IA...NONE. && KERN/MILLER
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE 446 PM CDT TUE AUG 31 2010 IAZ043-055-056-069-079-080-090-091-NEZ011-012-015>018-030>034- 042>045-050>053-065>068-078-088>093-011100- 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- 446 PM CDT TUE AUG 31 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE LATE THIS AFTERNOON OR EARLY EVENING ALONG A COLD FRONT BOUNDARY MOVING SOUTHWARD THROUGH THE CENTRAL PLAINS. DAMAGING WINDS IS THE MAIN THREAT FOR LOCATIONS MOSTLY SOUTH OF THE INTERSTATE 80 CORRIDOR. IT CANNOT BE RULED OUT THAT A FEW STORMS MAY BE ACCOMPANIED BY LARGE HAIL AS WELL. THUNDERSTORM CHANCES CONTINUE OVER THE ENTIRE OUTLOOK AREA ON WEDNESDAY WHEN A STALLED BOUNDARY EXTENDING ACROSS KANSAS AND MISSOURI BEGINS LIFTING THROUGH THE AREA. THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE A FEW STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE BY AFTERNOON MAINLY OVER NORTHEAST NEBRASKA AND WEST CENTRAL IOWA. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY THUNDERSTORM CHANCES CONTINUE WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO THURSDAY MORNING WHEN THE NEXT UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE MOVES THROUGH. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED TONIGHT OR WEDNESDAY...BUT REPORTS OF SEVERE WIND GUSTS AT LEAST 60 MPH OR ONE INCH HAIL WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NEBRASKA 504 PM CDT TUE AUG 31 2010 NEZ091-312245- NEMAHA NE- 504 PM CDT TUE AUG 31 2010 ...SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT FOR NORTHERN NEMAHA COUNTY UNTIL 545 PM CDT... AT 503 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS WERE TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR AUBURN...OR 26 MILES WEST OF TARKIO... MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH. HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF NICKELS AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE... PERU... JULIAN... THIS STORM MAY INTENSIFY...AND A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THIS AREA. BE CERTAIN TO MONITOR LOCAL RADIO AND TV STATIONS...AS WELL AS LOCAL CABLE TV OUTLETS...FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. CHERMOK
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NEBRASKA
507 PM CDT TUE AUG 31 2010
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0445 PM HAIL HAMBURG 40.61N 95.65W
08/31/2010 E0.75 INCH FREMONT IA TRAINED SPOTTER
&&
CZAPOTOCSPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NEBRASKA 529 PM CDT TUE AUG 31 2010 NEZ078-088-312315- JEFFERSON NE-SALINE NE- 529 PM CDT TUE AUG 31 2010 ...SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT FOR SOUTHERN SALINE AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES UNTIL 615 PM CDT... AT 527 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS WERE TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 9 MILES SOUTH OF ALEXANDRIA...OR 37 MILES WEST OF BEATRICE...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH. HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF NICKELS AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE... FAIRBURY... WESTERN... PLYMOUTH... ALEXANDRIA STATE RECREATION AREA... ENDICOTT... ROCK CREEK STATION STATE HISTORICAL PARK... DAYKIN... JANSEN... SWANTON... 11 MILES WEST OF WILBER... CHERMOK
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NEBRASKA
543 PM CDT TUE AUG 31 2010
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0543 PM HAIL BARNESTON 40.05N 96.58W
08/31/2010 E1.00 INCH GAGE NE FIRE DEPT/RESCUE
&&
DEEThe Topeka radar (KTWX), 121 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:42 UTC.
6 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The thunderstorm also produced wind gusts estimated at 60 mph which downed large tree limbs in the area.
Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at around 60 mph downed large tree limbs in the area. The winds were accompanied by hail around an inch in diameter.
Thunderstorm winds estimated at over 60 mph blew a 20 by 40 foot metal sheet from a farm shop building onto a neighbors tree. The time was estimated by radar but it was probably from the same storm that caused some tree damage just to the southwest near Barneston.
Hail around 1 inch in diameter was reported in the Waterloo area with golf ball-size reported just to the northeast of town.
Hail up to 1.5 inches in diameter was measured at the NWS office just northwest of Valley. The hailstones were mostly 1/2 inch or smaller.
Hail around 1 inch in diameter was measured by an off duty NWS employee in the Elkhorn area near 208th and Maple Streets.
Near the Jct of Highways 31 and 36.
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: 247487, 247496, 247497, 247488, 247490, 247492, 247493, 247495.