Several weak and little moving boundaries over eastern Nebraska combined with high instability and produced isolated very slow moving thunderstorms across the region. A couple of the storms dropped large hail and also produced very isolated heavy rain amounts.
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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.
Several weak and little moving boundaries over eastern Nebraska combined with high instability and produced isolated very slow moving thunderstorms across the region. A couple of the storms dropped large hail and also produced very isolated heavy rain amounts.
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 3, 4:29 PM CST, 2 hours 3 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE 529 PM CDT THU MAY 3 2012 .AVIATION... 00Z TAFS FOR KOFK...KOMA AND KLNK. SEVERAL BOUNDARIES...ONE FROM NEAR BVN-LCG...ANOTHER FROM OLU-TQE AND ONE FROM JYR-LNK-OMA COULD PROVIDE FOCI FOR THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY THROUGH MID EVENING. THUS TEMPO MENTION OF TSRA WAS CONTINUED AT KOMA AND KLNK. WOULD SUSPECT MUCH OF THE ACTIVITY WILL WEAKEN OR SHIFT SE OF TAF SITES BY 03Z...BUT THE RISK COULD LINGER A BIT LONGER. LATE TONIGHT RESIDUAL MOISTURE FROM RECENT RAINS OR CONVECTION TONIGHT COULD ALLOW FOR FOG/STRATUS DEVELOPMENT...ALTHOUGH IT SHOULD BURN OFF BY MID/LATE FRIDAY MORNING. CHERMOK && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 251 PM CDT THU MAY 3 2012/ SHORT TERM...TONIGHT. COMPLEXITY OF EVENING CONVECTIVE FORECAST REMAINS HIGH WITH SEVERAL WEAK BOUNDARIES EXTENDING ACROSS THE REGION. A FEW BOUNDARIES STICK OUT...THE FIRST OF WHICH IS THE MAIN SYNOPTIC BOUNDARY EXTENDING SOUTHWESTERN NEBRASKA TOWARD KOFK...KLCG AND JUST NORTH OF KSUX. SOUTH OF THIS...VERY MOIST AIRMASS REMAINS IN PLACE ALLOWING FOR CONSIDERABLY INSTABILITY WITH SFC TEMPS INTO THE MID TO UPPER 70S AND DEWPOINTS IN THE UPPER 60S. SECOND BOUNDARY TO MENTION IS LEFT OVER OUTFLOW BOUNDARY THAT WAS ACROSS ERN KS/WRN MO...WHICH HAS NOW LIFTED NORTH INTO SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA. THE BIG QUESTION IS WHETHER OR NOT IF/WHEN ANY CONVECTION WILL BE ABLE TO FORM ALONG THE OUTFLOW BOUNDARY AS SHORT TERM MODELS CONTINUE TO INDICATE...LIKE WAS THE CASE YESTERDAY. WEAK UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT IS FORECAST TO PROGRESS INTO SOUTHEAST NEB AROUND 00Z AND COULD BE THE FOCUS TIME FOR CONVECTIVE INITIATION ACROSS SOUTHEAST NEB. IF THAT HAPPENS...IT WOULD PRIMARILY BE EVENING CONVECTION FOR OUR FORECAST AREA AND THEN PUSHING SOUTHWARD INTO KANSAS AND MISSOURI. KERN/DEWALD MID TERM...FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. A SOMEWHAT ACTIVE PERIOD WILL REMAIN IN PLACE WITH ADDITIONAL CHANCES FOR CONVECTION. MUCH OF FRIDAY WILL BE DRY...BUT ANOTHER FRONT MOVE SOUTHWARD OUT OF THE DAKOTAS WILL LIKELY GENERATE AN MCS THAT BEGINS TO MOVE INTO NORTHEAST NEBRASKA LATE FRIDAY AFTERNOON...BUT ESPECIALLY FRIDAY NIGHT...WITH ANOTHER SEVERE THREAT WITH THAT ACTIVITY. SATURDAY IS SETTING UP IN SIMILAR FASHION TO FRIDAY...THAT MUCH OF THE DAY MAY BE DRY...BUT YET ANOTHER MCS IS LIKELY TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE DAKOTAS...AND THEN MOVE INTO NORTHEAST NEBRASKA SATURDAY AFTERNOON...AND ESPECIALLY SATURDAY NIGHT AS A COLD FRONT BEGINS TO MOVE BACK INTO THE REGION. THERE WILL ALSO BE A SEVERE THREAT WITH THIS ACTIVITY. IT'S THIS COLD FRONT THAT BEGINS TO USHER IN COOLER AND DRIER AIR. BELIEVE THERE COULD STILL BE A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS SUNDAY BEHIND THE FRONT THAT COULD LINGER THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT. LONG TERM...MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. IN GENERAL...PREFER A DRIER SOLUTION THROUGH THE PERIOD WITH COOLER TEMPERATURES. LEFT IN A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS ON TUESDAY...BUT NOT OVERLY CONFIDENT ABOUT THAT AT THIS TIME. DEWALD && .OAX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NE...NONE. IA...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE 505 PM CDT THU MAY 3 2012 IAZ043-055-056-069-079-080-090-091-NEZ011-012-015>018-030>034- 042>045-050>053-065>068-078-088>093-041215- MONONA-HARRISON-SHELBY-POTTAWATTAMIE-MILLS-MONTGOMERY-FREMONT- PAGE-KNOX-CEDAR-THURSTON-ANTELOPE-PIERCE-WAYNE-BOONE-MADISON- STANTON-CUMING-BURT-PLATTE-COLFAX-DODGE-WASHINGTON-BUTLER- SAUNDERS-DOUGLAS-SARPY-SEWARD-LANCASTER-CASS-OTOE-SALINE- JEFFERSON-GAGE-JOHNSON-NEMAHA-PAWNEE-RICHARDSON- 505 PM CDT THU MAY 3 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR MOST OF EASTERN NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT AND FRIDAY THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THIS EVENING ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA SOUTHEAST OF A LINE FROM ALBION TO WAYNE. SEVERAL WEAK BOUNDARIES IN THE REGION COMBINED WITH HIGH INSTABILITY COULD CAUSE SEVERAL OF THESE STORMS TO BECOME SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. IN ADDITION...THE POTENTIALLY SLOW MOVEMENT OF THE STORMS COULD BRING ISOLATED LOCATIONS OF HEAVY RAIN. THE COVERAGE AND INTENSITY OF THE THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD DECREASE BY LATE EVENING AND SHIFT TO LOCATIONS FROM SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA INTO SOUTHWEST IOWA. ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS COULD DEVELOP LATE FRIDAY AFTERNOON IN NORTHEAST NEBRASKA GENERALLY NORTHWEST OF A LINE FROM COLUMBUS TO WAYNE. THE STORMS WOULD DEVELOP ALONG A NEARLY STATIONARY FRONT THAT IS FORECAST TO STRETCH FROM CENTRAL NEBRASKA INTO SOUTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA. A FEW OF THESE STORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE AND PRODUCE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY THUNDERSTORMS THAT DEVELOP ALONG THE FRONT IN OR NEAR NORTHEAST NEBRASKA FRIDAY AFTERNOON COULD MOVE OR DEVELOP FARTHER SOUTHEAST INTO THE REST OF EASTERN NEBRASKA AND WESTERN IOWA FRIDAY NIGHT. SOME OF THIS ACTIVITY COULD BE SEVERE. THIS FRONT WILL BEGIN TO PUSH SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE REGION LATE SATURDAY INTO SUNDAY AND BRING ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS TO THE REGION. SEVERE STORMS ARE AGAIN POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY FROM LATE SATURDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT. HEAVY RAIN IS ALSO POSSIBLE. ISOLATED SEVERE STORMS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE SUNDAY AFTERNOON IN FAR SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA IF THE FRONT SLOWS DOWN AND DOES NOT PUSH THROUGH THAT REGION UNTIL LATE IN THE AFTERNOON. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED THIS EVENING SOUTHEAST OF AN ALBION TO WAYNE LINE. CHERMOK
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NEBRASKA
705 PM CDT THU MAY 3 2012
NEZ015-040030-
THURSTON NE-
705 PM CDT THU MAY 3 2012
...SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...
AT 701 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS
TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR PENDER...OR 26 MILES SOUTH OF
PONCA...MOVING EAST AT 5 MPH.
HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF PEAS WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM.
LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
WALTHILL...WINNEBAGO AND THURSTON.
THIS INCLUDES HIGHWAY 77 BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 164 AND 169.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL IS ALSO OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM...AND MAY
LEAD TO FLASH FLOODING. DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE THROUGH FLOODED
ROADWAYS.
&&
LAT...LON 4210 9642 4212 9680 4226 9681 4228 9653
4228 9647
TIME...MOT...LOC 0001Z 258DEG 5KT 4218 9672
FOBERTThe Omaha radar (KOAX), 92 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:29 UTC.
5 hail, 1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
Hail up to half dollar-size fell for around 15 minutes east of Pender from a slow moving thunderstorm which also dropped isolated very heavy rainfall.
Rainfall that doppler radar estimated approached 4 inches fell across a very small area east southeast of Pender. The heavy rain produced some field flooding which briefly flowed across a few roads.
Hail up to golf ball-size fell around 9 pm CDT southeast of Arlington. Hail around dime-size, however, fell until around 920 pm CDT.
Hail around dime-size fell for around 20 minutes southeast of Arlington.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nebraska in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Nebraska, May 2012
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: 368882, 368885, 368886, 368887, 368888, 368889.