Hail and Damaging Winds in Nebraska, May 23, 2010

Name: Hail and Damaging Winds in Nebraska, May 23, 2010
Start: 2010-05-23T19:15
End: 2010-05-23T21:05
Location: Nebraska

May 23, 2010 · NWS GLD · 3 events in 2 counties and zones

Several clusters of intense thunderstorms moved north across the area during the late afternoon and evening hours, producing several tornadoes in northwest Kansas. Other areas nearby received hail up to the size of golf balls and wind gusts to 80 mph.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS GLD wrote it up.

What forecasters said that day

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 Goodland, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 23, 5:14 PM CST, 2 hours 1 minute earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 23, 5:14 PM CST, 2 hours 1 minute before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
514 PM MDT SUN MAY 23 2010

.DISCUSSION...
322 PM MDT SUN MAY 23 2010

EARLY AFTERNOON ANALYSIS OF WATER VAPOR IMAGERY/UPPER AIR DATA
INDICATES THE MID/UPPER TROUGH OVER THE WESTERN CONUS CONTINUES TO
AMPLIFY EQUATOR-WARD. SHORTWAVE TROUGH IS NOTED OVER COLORADO AND
NEW MEXICO AND IS TRANSLATING NORTH-NORTHEAST TOWARD THE CENTRAL
HIGH PLAINS. AT THE SURFACE...COLD FRONT WHICH PUSHED THROUGH THE
FORECAST AREA THIS MORNING HAS STALLED AND IS SLOWING BEGINNING TO
MIX NORTHWARD AS A WARM FRONT. CU FIELD OVER SOUTHWEST KANSAS IS
BEGINNING TO INCREASE WITH A FEW WEAK ATTEMPTS AT CONVECTION FROM
NEAR KDDC SOUTHWEST TOWARD KPYX.

FORECAST CONCERNS WILL REVOLVE AROUND POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE DEEP
MOIST CONVECTION THIS EVENING FOLLOWED BY WINDS TOMORROW AND ADDITIONAL
CHANCES FOR CONVECTION THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT.

STAGE IS SET FOR POTENTIAL SEVERE WEATHER EVENT THIS EVENING IF
STRONG CAPPING CAN BE OVERCOME. MU CAPE IS RAPIDLY INCREASING
SOUTH OF THE SURFACE BOUNDARY WITH VALUES AS HIGH AS 4500 J/KG
OVER SOUTHWEST KANSAS. GUIDANCE IN RELATIVELY GOOD AGREEMENT
DEPICTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF A WARM FRONT WHICH WILL THEN MIX
NORTHWARD ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA. AT THE SAME TIME...A DRYLINE
HAS BECOME ESTABLISHED OVER EASTERN COLORADO EXTENDING SOUTHWARD
FROM AN ATTENDANT SURFACE LOW. STRONG FORCING FOR
ASCENT/DIFFLUENCE ALOFT WILL CONTINUE TO OVERSPREAD THE REGION
YIELDING A VERY UNSTABLE ENVIRONMENT. STRONG LOW LEVEL JET ~55-60
KTS IS PROGGED TO DEVELOP AFTER 00Z THIS EVENING WHICH WILL ONLY
AID IN LENGTHENING THE HODOGRAPH STRUCTURE. ANY STORM WHICH DOES
FORM SHOULD QUICKLY OBTAIN SUPERCELLULAR STRUCTURE LEADING TO
POTENTIAL FOR LARGE HAIL AND STRONG WINDS. GIVEN STRONG 0-1 KM
SHEAR OF ROUGHLY 30 KTS AND STRONG LOW LEVEL HELICITY...AN
ISOLATED TORNADO ALSO APPEARS POSSIBLE. CONVECTION SHOULD
TRANSLATE NORTH OF THE FORECAST AREA AROUND 06Z OR SHORTLY AFTER.

ADDITIONAL SEVERE WEATHER APPEARS POSSIBLE OVER PORTIONS OF THE
FORECAST AREA ON MONDAY AFTERNOON. GREATEST THREAT APPEARS TO BE
EAST OF THE COLORADO STATE LINE AND NORTH OF INTERSTATE 70.
SURFACE BASED CONVECTION WILL AGAIN BE POSSIBLE WITH PRIMARY
THREAT LIKELY TO BE LARGE HAIL AND STRONG WINDS. WEAK SURFACE
FROPA WILL OCCUR LATE MONDAY NIGHT WITH THE AREA REMAINING UNDER
EASTERLY/NORTHEASTERLY FLOW FOR THE DAY TUESDAY. SOUTHEASTERN
PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA WILL SEE THE POTENTIAL FOR
CONVECTION TUESDAY AFTERNOON BUT THE THREAT FOR WIDESPREAD SEVERE
WEATHER APPEARS LOW. ANOTHER SHORTWAVE TROUGH WILL TRANSLATE
ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA ON WEDNESDAY BRINGING YET ANOTHER
OPPORTUNITY FOR DEEP MOIST CONVECTION.

BROAD MID/UPPER RIDGE IS PROGGED TO BUILD OVER MUCH OF THE CENTRAL
CONUS ON THURSDAY WITH THE CLOSED MID/UPPER TROUGH JUST OFF THE
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST. SHOULD RESULT IN A PERIOD OF DRY
WEATHER AND ABOVE NORMAL TEMPS THROUGH SATURDAY. BY SATURDAY
NIGHT...THE MID/UPPER CLOSED LOW WILL BEGIN TO TRANSLATE EASTWARD
TOWARD THE NORTHERN PLAINS. A SHORTWAVE TROUGH WILL EJECT FROM THE
BASE OF THE TROUGH OVER THE CENTRAL PLAINS SATURDAY NIGHT BRINGING
ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY FOR CONVECTION. SHOULD BE POST FRONTAL ON
SUNDAY WITH TEMPS RETURNING TO NEAR CLIMO.

FOLTZ
&&

.AVIATION...
514 PM MDT SUN MAY 23 2010

FOR THE 00Z TAFS...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS THIS EVENING WILL BE THE
MAIN AVIATION PROBLEM AT BOTH KGLD AND KMCK. RADAR TRENDS AT 23Z
SHOWED CONVECTION TO THE SOUTH OF THE AREA MOVING NORTH AT NEAR
50KTS...SO EXPECT IMPACTS EARLY IN THE TAF PERIOD. LARGE HAIL AND
GUSTY WINDS CAN BE EXPECTED NEAR ANY PRECIPITATION CORE. ACTIVITY
SHOULD END TOWARDS 06Z...WITH GUSTY SOUTH WINDS CONTINUING THROUGH
THE NIGHT WITH THE LOW LEVEL JET.

024
&&

.GLD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
KS...WIND ADVISORY FROM 9 AM MDT /10 AM CDT/ TO 7 PM MDT /8 PM CDT/
     MONDAY FOR KSZ001>004-013>016-027>029-041-042.

NE...WIND ADVISORY FROM 9 AM MDT /10 AM CDT/ TO 7 PM MDT /8 PM CDT/
     MONDAY FOR NEZ079>081.

CO...WIND ADVISORY FROM 9 AM TO 7 PM MDT MONDAY FOR COZ090>092.

&&

Hazardous weather outlook, May 23, 10:45 AM CST, 8 hours 30 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
1045 AM MDT SUN MAY 23 2010

COZ090>092-KSZ001>004-013>016-027>029-041-042-NEZ079>081-241200-
YUMA-KIT CARSON-CHEYENNE CO-CHEYENNE KS-RAWLINS-DECATUR-NORTON-
SHERMAN-THOMAS-SHERIDAN-GRAHAM-WALLACE-LOGAN-GOVE-GREELEY-WICHITA-
DUNDY-HITCHCOCK-RED WILLOW-
1045 AM MDT SUN MAY 23 2010 /1145 AM CDT SUN MAY 23 2010/

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EXTREME SOUTHWEST
NEBRASKA...NORTHWEST KANSAS AND EAST CENTRAL COLORADO.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE FORECAST TO DEVELOP AFTER 4 PM MDT (5 PM
CDT) ALONG AND SOUTHEAST OF A LINE FROM TRIBUNE KANSAS TO NORTON
KANSAS AS A WARM FRONT DEVELOPS IN THE AREA.  LARGE HAIL AND STRONG
GUSTY WINDS WILL BE THE PRIMARY THREATS WITH ANY STORMS THAT
DEVELOP. ONLY ISOLATED COVERAGE IS EXPECTED LATE THIS AFTERNOON DUE
TO A STRONG CAPPING INVERSION NOW IN PLACE WHICH WILL ACT TO
SUPPRESS STORM DEVELOPMENT BEFORE THIS EVENING.

MORE WIDESPREAD THUNDERSTORM COVERAGE IS EXPECTED AFTER ABOUT 7 PM
MDT (8 PM CDT) ALONG AND NORTH OF HIGHWAY 36 AS THE WARM FRONT
CONTINUES TO LIFT NORTH DURING THE EVENING AND THE CAPPING INVERSION
WEAKENS. IN ADDITION TO THE THREAT OF LARGE HAIL AND STRONG GUSTY
WINDS...THE ADDITIONAL POTENTIAL FOR A COUPLE TORNADOES WILL EXIST
THIS EVENING NORTH OF HIGHWAY 36. STORM MOVEMENT WILL BE
NORTH-NORTHEAST AROUND 30 TO 35 MPH.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS...SOME POSSIBLY SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL
AND DAMAGING WINDS...ARE EXPECTED EACH AFTERNOON AND EVENING
ACROSS THE CENTRAL HIGH PLAINS FROM MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. STAY
TUNED FOR LATER FORECASTS...WATCHES AND WARNINGS.

DLF

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 23, 6:43 PM CST, 32 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
643 PM MDT SUN MAY 23 2010

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0635 PM     HAIL             12 NW LEOTI             38.61N 101.51W
05/23/2010  E1.00 INCH       WICHITA            KS   TRAINED SPOTTER

&&

024

Local storm report, May 23, 7:01 PM CST, 14 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
701 PM MDT SUN MAY 23 2010

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0658 PM     HAIL             5 N LEVANT              39.45N 101.19W
05/23/2010  M0.88 INCH       THOMAS             KS   TRAINED SPOTTER

            TIME ESTIMATED

&&

JMARTIN

Local storm report, May 23, 7:02 PM CST, 13 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
702 PM MDT SUN MAY 23 2010

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0655 PM     TSTM WND GST     2 N TRAER               39.96N 100.65W
05/23/2010  M61 MPH          DECATUR            KS   TRAINED SPOTTER

            ALSO PEA SIZED HAIL

&&

024

Local storm report, May 23, 7:03 PM CST, 12 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
703 PM MDT SUN MAY 23 2010

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0702 PM     HAIL             3 S LEVANT              39.34N 101.19W
05/23/2010  E0.88 INCH       THOMAS             KS   TRAINED SPOTTER

&&

024

Local storm report, May 23, 7:10 PM CST, 5 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
710 PM MDT SUN MAY 23 2010

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0708 PM     HAIL             9 SSW GOODLAND          39.23N 101.78W
05/23/2010  E1.75 INCH       SHERMAN            KS   TRAINED SPOTTER

&&

FOLTZ

Local storm report, May 23, 7:12 PM CST, 3 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
712 PM MDT SUN MAY 23 2010

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0703 PM     TORNADO          6 S LEVANT              39.29N 101.21W
05/23/2010                   THOMAS             KS   STORM CHASER

            STORM CHASER REPORTS CONE TORNADO

&&

FOLTZ

The radar

The Goodland radar (KGLD), 133 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:16 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Red Willow

When: May 23, 7:15 PM CST
Where: Red Willow County, (Mck)mc Cook Arpt
Measured: 53 kt (61 mph) measured gust
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 40.200, -100.580

Hail, Red Willow

When: May 23, 7:18 PM CST
Where: Red Willow County, Mc Cook
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 40.200, -100.620

Thunderstorm Wind, Dundy

When: May 23, 9:05 PM MST
Where: Dundy County, 0.53 mi E of Benkelman Jones Arpt
Measured: 65 kt (75 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 40.050, -101.540

Time is estimated from radar and nearby reports. Six tree limbs were blown down around town in Benkelman with several trees uprooted in the town park.

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Nebraska in 2010 Every state in 2010 This day in weather history Warnings in Nebraska, May 2010

Sources

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: 230578, 230579, 230580.