A few rounds of convection affected parts of South Central Nebraska on this Friday, one earlier in the day that produced locally heavy rainfall in far-eastern counties and another later in the afternoon that featured an isolated severe storm over Hall County. Starting with the later round, a small cluster of fairly weak storms started developing in northern portions of the area (primarily…
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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 GID wrote it up.
A few rounds of convection affected parts of South Central Nebraska on this Friday, one earlier in the day that produced locally heavy rainfall in far-eastern counties and another later in the afternoon that featured an isolated severe storm over Hall County. Starting with the later round, a small cluster of fairly weak storms started developing in northern portions of the area (primarily Greeley-Nance-Howard counties) at mid-day, slowly sinking southward. As time went by, afternoon heating/destabilization led to intensification along the southwest flank of this storm cluster, resulting in two small severe storms that merged together as they drifted southward through Hall County between 3 pm and 430 pm CDT. There were a few reports of quarter size hail along with estimated 60 MPH gusts just southwest of Grand Island, but this storm steadily weakened and dissipated as it crossed eastern Adams County. Later in the evening, a few more strong storms rumbled into northwestern counties such as Valley and Greeley, but they remained sub-severe. Turning back to earlier in the day, a rather narrow, north-south oriented line of non-severe storms initially blossomed near the Highway 81 corridor from Polk County southward into Thayer County between 730-900 am CDT and persisted for several hours before dissipating early in the afternoon. Though most affected areas received less than 2 inches of rain, a particularly intense and narrow band set up directly over Osceola where the NWS cooperative observer tallied 3.17, most of which fell in two hours between 830-1030 am CDT and promoted minor flooding in the area.
In the mid and upper levels, both rounds of convection were sparked by the passage of a shortwave trough slowly shifting east from central Nebraska into western Iowa over the course of the day. The early round of heavy-rain producing storms near Highway 81 focused along a convergent zone in the heart of the trough axis, while the isolated severe storm during the afternoon occurred within a northwesterly-flow regime just behind the departing mid level trough axis and also along a weak surface trough. Although the mesoscale environment was not overly-supportive of severe weather, the combination of mixed-layer CAPE around 1000 J/kg and fairly weak 0-6 kilometer deep layer shear up to 30 knots proved sufficient enough for the brief, isolated threat.
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 Hastings, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 29, 4:58 AM CST, 2 hours 32 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 558 AM CDT FRI AUG 29 2014 .SHORT TERM...(TODAY AND TONIGHT) ISSUED AT 505 AM CDT FRI AUG 29 2014 THE MAIN FOCUS FOR THIS FORECAST WILL BE DETERMINING THE CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. THIS IS A TOUGH CALL. A WELL-DEFINED MID- LEVEL SHORTWAVE TROUGH IS MAKING ITS WAY THROUGH THE HIGH/CENTRAL PLAINS EARLY THIS MORNING WITH SOME SHOWER ACTIVITY LINGERING IN OUR EAST NEAR A SLOWLY MOVING SURFACE TROUGH. THERE IS AGREEMENT AMONG THE MAJORITY OF MODELS THAT THERE WILL BE REDEVELOPMENT OF CONVECTION TODAY AS INSTABILITY INCREASES...ESPECIALLY ALONG THE NEARLY STATIONARY SURFACE TROUGH IN OUR EASTERN CWA. THIS SHOULD BE THE FIRST PLACE WE GET REDEVELOPMENT WITH INCREASING INSTABILITY TODAY. THE BIG PROBLEM LIES IN WHERE MORE CONVECTION MAY OCCUR BY LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THERE LOOKS LIKE THERE IS A SMALL PERTURBATION BEHIND THE MAIN AXIS OF THE MID-LEVEL TROUGH...WHICH COULD LEAD TO MORE PRECIPITATION CHANCES EXTENDING INTO THE EVENING FOR MUCH OF THE CWA. ALL MODEL SOLUTIONS FINALLY CLEAR US OF ANY PRECIPITATION AFTER MIDNIGHT. AS FAR AS SEVERE WEATHER IS CONCERNED...WE WILL NOT HAVE ENOUGH WIND SHEAR TO SUPPORT SEVERE WEATHER. WE WILL TOP OUT IN THE 15 TO 20 KT RANGE IN THE LOWEST 6 KM...AND THE BEST CAPE WILL REMAIN IN OUR FAR EAST...PROBABLY TOPPING 1000 J/KG IN OUR EASTERN TIER OF COUNTIES. THIS MAY BE ENOUGH FOR A STRONG STORM...BUT THAT IS ABOUT ALL THAT I WOULD ANTICIPATE. I SIDED MORE WITH NAM FOR HIGHS TODAY AND CONSRAW FOR LOWS TONIGHT. .LONG TERM...(SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY) ISSUED AT 505 AM CDT FRI AUG 29 2014 NOW THAT THIS FIRST SLOW-MOVING MID/UPPER LEVEL TROUGH IS IN THE PROCESS OF DEPARTING STAGE-RIGHT OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS...THE OBVIOUS HIGHLIGHT OF THIS 6-DAY LONG TERM PERIOD IS SQUARELY FOCUSED ON THE POTENTIALLY FAIRLY-DECENT-BY-AUGUST-STANDARDS RISK OF SEVERE STORMS IN THE LATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON-EVENING TIME FRAME. GIVEN THIS EVENT IS STILL ABOUT 60 HOURS OUT...THERE IS STILL PLENTY OF WIGGLE ROOM IN THE MODEL WORLD FOR THE TIMING/LOCATION TO CHANGE AT LEAST SLIGHTLY...BUT THE 00Z OR 06Z RUNS OF THE NAM/GFS/ECMWF ARE ALL IN PRETTY DECENT AGREEMENT ON THE KEY FEATURES AT THIS POINT. ALTHOUGH THIS EVENT APPEARS POTENTIALLY POTENT BY AUGUST STANDARDS ESPECIALLY IN TERMS OF A DAMAGING WIND/HAIL THREAT...WITH MAYBE AT LEAST A LIMITED TORNADO RISK AS WELL...ITS IMPORTANT NOT TO GET TOO CARRIED AWAY AS AT THIS POINT ITS ONLY A BASELINE SLIGHT RISK PER SPC ON THE NEW DAY 3 OUTLOOK. HYDRO-WISE FOR THIS EVENT...OBVIOUSLY THE POTENTIAL FOR AT LEAST A BRIEF SHOT OF HEAVY RAIN TO PARTS OF THE AREA AS AUGUST GIVES WAY TO SEPTEMBER MAY NOT BE ALL THAT WELCOME...BUT FORTUNATELY THIS SYSTEM APPEARS FAIRLY PROGRESSIVE AND THE MAJORITY OF THE CWA SHOULD IN THEORY AVERAGE AROUND 1 INCH OR LESS OF RAIN. BESIDES THE POTENTIAL SUNDAY SEVERE WEATHER RISK...ITS OVERALL LOOKING LIKE A FAIRLY QUIET 6-DAY PERIOD...AS IN FACT THE ONLY OFFICIAL 20 PERCENT-OR-HIGHER MENTIONS OF PRECIP ARE CONFINED TO LATE SATURDAY NIGHT-SUNDAY NIGHT...AND THEN AGAIN MONDAY NIGHT WITH ANOTHER QUICK-HITTING DISTURBANCE THAT SHOULD NOT HAVE AS MUCH INSTABILITY TO WORK WITH AS THE SUNDAY ONE. BEYOND MONDAY NIGHT...THE REST OF THE OFFICIAL FORECAST THROUGH THURSDAY HAS BEEN KEPT DRY AT LEAST FOR NOW...A SCENARIO THAT IS FAIRLY WELL SUPPORTED BY ESPECIALLY THE LATEST ECMWF...ALTHOUGH THE LATEST GFS SUGGESTS A BIT MORE IN THE WAY OF POTENTIAL OFF-AND-ON FUTURE RAIN CHANCES MAINLY IN THE SOUTHEAST/EASTERN CWA. TEMP-WISE...NO MAJOR FLUCTUATIONS ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME...AS READINGS BOUNCE AROUND GENERALLY NEAR TO SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMALS. VERY LITTLE CHANGE WAS MADE TO MOST HIGHS/LOWS...WITH THE SOMEWHAT MORE NOTABLE TWEAKS BEING A 2-3 DEGREE UPWARD NUDGE TO SUNDAY HIGHS AND COMPARABLE DOWNWARD NUDGE TO SUNDAY NIGHT LOWS. AFTER A BIT OF A COOLER RECENT STRETCH FOR MUCH OF THE CWA...THINGS TREND A BIT WARMER...WITH NEB HIGHS ON MOST DAYS AIMED INTO THE MID-UPPER 80S AND KS HIGHS INTO THE UPPER 80S LOW 90S. AT LEAST FOR NOW...THE OVERALL-COOLEST DAY APPEARS TO BE MONDAY AND THE WARMEST DAYS A FAIRLY CLOSE CALL BETWEEN SUNDAY AND THURSDAY. GETTING INTO SOME METEOROLOGICAL DETAIL IN 24+ HOUR BLOCKS: SATURDAY-SATURDAY NIGHT...THE LOCAL AREA EXPERIENCES A BRIEF PERIOD OF SHORTWAVE RIDGING IN BETWEEN THE DEPARTING DISTURBANCE OVERHEAD NOW...AND THE NEXT MORE PROGRESSIVE/ENERGETIC TROUGH SLIDING EAST-SOUTHEAST OUT OF THE NORTHWEST CONUS. ALTHOUGH SUPPOSE A ROGUE VERY LIGHT SHOWER/SPRINKLE IS NOT COMPLETELY OUT OF THE QUESTION SAT MORNING...THE OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE IS FOR A DRY...MOSTLY SUNNY AND SEASONABLY WARM AUGUST DAY WITH BREEZES ONLY AVERAGING 5-15 MPH OUT OF THE SOUTH-SOUTHEAST. ON SATURDAY NIGHT...KEPT THE EVENING HOURS DRY BEFORE KEEPING ONLY A SLIGHT CHANCE OF A SHOWERS/NON-SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS LATE IN THE NIGHT AS THE LEADING EDGE OF DISTURBANCES FROM THE INCOMING SYSTEM ENTER THE AREA AND INTERACT WITH A STRENGTHENING LOW LEVEL JET. CONFIDENCE IS FAIRLY LOW ON COVERAGE AS ALTHOUGH THERE WILL LIKELY BE A LITTLE ACTIVITY AROUND...IT DOESN/T LOOK VERY WIDESPREAD. SUNDAY-SUNDAY NIGHT...AS MENTIONED THIS IS CLEARLY THE MAIN SHOW FOR POTENTIAL SEVERE WEATHER AS THE MAIN TROUGH AND SEASONABLY STRONG UPPER LEVEL JET STREAK RACE OUT OF THE CENTRAL ROCKIES AND INTO THE NEB/SD/IA AREA OVER THE COURSE OF THESE 24 HOURS. AT THE SURFACE...SOUTHERLY BREEZES WILL CRANK UP A BIT AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT THAT APPEARS TO BE INVADING THE WESTERN CWA BY MID-LATE AFTERNOON BEFORE CLEARING THE AREA DURING THE EVENING. ALTHOUGH MESOSCALE DETAILS ARE FAR FROM SETTLED...THE 06Z NAM DEPICTION OF POTENTIALLY 3000+ J/KG MIXED LAYER CAPE IN THE PRESENCE OF 35-45KT OF DEEP LAYER SHEAR IS A BIT CONCERNING FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR AND MORE CLOSELY RESEMBLES A JUNE SETUP. TIME WILL TELL IF INITIAL STORMS MAY STAY ISOLATED LONG ENOUGH TO YIELD AT LEAST A MARGINAL TOR THREAT...BUT IF NOTHING ELSE THE PROGRESSIVE NATURE OF THE SYSTEM COULD EASILY FORCE A SEVERE SQUALL LINE WITH DAMAGING WINDS. POPS WERE HELD IN 40-50 PERCENT CHANCE CATEGORY PRIOR TO 00Z/7PM...BUT HAVE NOW INTRODUCED 60 PERCENT LIKELIES IN EASTERN ZONES DURING THE EVENING BEFORE RAMPING DOWN AS PRECIP EXITS POST-MIDNIGHT. MONDAY DAYTIME-TUESDAY NIGHT...THESE 48 HOURS ARE LOOKING MOSTLY DRY UNDER SEASONABLY STRONG QUASI-ZONAL FLOW ALOFT...WITH THE MAIN EXCEPTION BEING MONDAY NIGHT AS ESPECIALLY THE ECMWF IS BRINGING ANOTHER QUICK-MOVING WAVE ACROSS NEB/SD/IA...BRINGING ANOTHER SHOT OF SHOWERS/STORMS WITH LIKELY A LOWER SEVERE THREAT. POPS ARE ONLY 20 PERCENT SLIGHTS AT THIS TIME. WEDNESDAY DAYTIME-THURSDAY DAYTIME...LEFT THESE LAST 36 HOURS OF THE FORECAST DRY AS LARGE-SCALE FORCING REMAINS FAIRLY NEGLIGIBLE AS THE CENTRAL PLAINS APPEARS TO REMAIN WELL SOUTH-SOUTHEAST OF THE MAIN JET AXIS DRAPED ACROSS THE NORTHWEST/NORTH CENTRAL CONUS...AND WITHIN THE TRANSITION ZONE BETWEEN A LARGE SCALE SOUTHERN CONUS RIDGE AND NORTHWESTERN CONUS TROUGH. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z SATURDAY MORNING) ISSUED AT 550 AM CDT FRI AUG 29 2014 VFR CONDITIONS ARE FORECAST...BUT THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE FOR MUCH OF THE AFTERNOON INTO THE EVENING. WIND WILL REMAIN LIGHT AND SKY COVER WILL REMAIN MID-HIGH LEVEL. WE COULD GET A THUNDERSHOWER DURING THE DAY FRIDAY ASSOCIATED WITH A PASSING TROUGH AXIS...BUT CHANCES ARE FAIRLY LOW AND TIMING IS DIFFICULT TO DETERMINE. ANY FOG CHANCES SHOULD REMAIN EAST. && .CLIMATE... ISSUED AT 505 AM CDT FRI AUG 29 2014 SINCE THIS AUGUST RAINFALL BLURB WAS UPDATED 4 DAYS AGO...MONTHLY TOTALS HAVE GOTTEN EVEN MORE IMPRESSIVE ACROSS MOST OF THE CWA...AS THE MAJORITY OF THE 30-COUNTY AREA IS ON TRACK TO FINISH WITH 5+ INCHES FOR THE MONTH...AND AT LEAST SMALLER LOCALIZED POCKETS OF 8+ INCHES. PUT ANOTHER WAY...A SOLID 200-300 PERCENT OF AUGUST NORMALS FOR MANY PLACES. HERE ARE A FEW AUGUST-TO-DATE RAINFALL DETAILS ABOUT THREE OFFICIAL OBSERVATION SITES WITHIN OUR CWA...INCLUDING OUR PRIMARY CLIMATE RECORD SITES GRAND ISLAND/HASTINGS AIRPORTS: - YORK 3N (OFFICIAL NWS COOPERATIVE OBSERVER): WITH 11.46 INCHES SO FAR THIS MONTH YORK HAS ALREADY ACHIEVED ITS OUTRIGHT-WETTEST AUGUST ON RECORD OUT OF 121 AVAILABLE YEARS DATING TO 1893. THIS ECLIPSED THE PREVIOUS AUGUST MARK OF 10.03 INCHES IN 1977. - HASTINGS AIRPORT: WITH 7.54 INCHES SO FAR THIS MONTH...HASTINGS HAS MOVED INTO 6TH-PLACE OUT OF 120 YEARS DATING TO 1895...BUT WOULD NEED AT LEAST 2.33 MORE INCHES TO TOP THE CURRENT MAX AUGUST RAIN OF 9.86 INCHES IN 1903. - GRAND ISLAND AIRPORT: WITH 5.85 INCHES SO FAR THIS MONTH...GRAND ISLAND HAS CREPT UP TO 9TH-PLACE OUT OF 119 YEARS DATING TO 1896. HOWEVER...THIS IS STILL 2.88 INCHES SHORT OF THE CURRENT TOP SPOT OF 8.73 INCHES IN 1977. && .GID WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NE...NONE. KS...NONE. && SHORT TERM...HEINLEIN LONG TERM...PFANNKUCH AVIATION...HEINLEIN CLIMATE...PFANNKUCH
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 534 AM CDT FRI AUG 29 2014 KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087- 301200- PHILLIPS-SMITH-JEWELL-ROOKS-OSBORNE-MITCHELL-VALLEY-GREELEY-NANCE- SHERMAN-HOWARD-MERRICK-POLK-DAWSON-BUFFALO-HALL-HAMILTON-YORK- GOSPER-PHELPS-KEARNEY-ADAMS-CLAY-FILLMORE-FURNAS-HARLAN-FRANKLIN- WEBSTER-NUCKOLLS-THAYER- 534 AM CDT FRI AUG 29 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. NON-SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THIS MORNING FOR MUCH OF THE OUTLOOK AREA. A STRONG THUNDERSTORM IS POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...MAINLY ALONG AND EAST OF HIGHWAY 14 IN SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. LATE SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY MORNING...A SLIGHT CHANCE OF NON- SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS RE-ENTERS THE PICTURE. THEN...A BETTER CHANCE OF MORE WIDESPREAD AND POTENTIALLY SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARRIVES FOR SUNDAY AFTERNOON INTO SUNDAY NIGHT...WITH THE MAIN SEVERE WEATHER RISK LIKELY CENTERED DURING THE 4 PM TO MIDNIGHT TIME FRAME. ALTHOUGH UNCERTAINTY REMAINS REGARDING EXACTLY WHICH PORTIONS OF THE OUTLOOK AREA MAY BE MOST AFFECTED...THIS APPEARS TO BE A FAIRLY DECENT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS BY AUGUST STANDARDS...WITH THREATS INCLUDING DAMAGING WINDS UP TO AROUND 70 MPH...HAIL UP TO AROUND GOLF BALL SIZE AND PERHAPS A FEW TORNADOES. AN ADDITIONAL CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS ARRIVES FOR MONDAY NIGHT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED THROUGH TONIGHT. && MORE INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE FOLLOWING WEB PAGE: HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/HASTINGS (ALL LOWERCASE) HEINLEIN/PFANNKUCH
The Omaha radar (KOAX), 100 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 13:31 UTC.
2 hail, 1 heavy rain, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
An NWS cooperative observer reported a storm-total rainfall of 3.17 inches, the majority of which fell between 830-1030 am CDT. Law enforcement reported some minor flooding in the immediate Osceola area.
Quarter size hail occurred near the intersection of Highway 30 and Engleman Road. This report was received via Facebook.
Estimated wind gusts of 60 mph were also reported with the quarter size hail. This was reported by the general public driving on Interstate 80 and was relayed by law enforcement.
Quarter size hail also occurred along with the estimated 60 mph wind gusts reported the public driving on Interstate 80. This report was relayed by law enforcement.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nebraska in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Nebraska, August 2014
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: 542519, 541046, 541045, 541047.