Severe thunderstorms produced hail up to the size of golf balls in a few locations on this Tuesday afternoon. m.
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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.
Severe thunderstorms produced hail up to the size of golf balls in a few locations on this Tuesday afternoon. Just after 2 p.m. CST, an isolated thunderstorm developed along the Buffalo-Sherman County line. This storm advanced slowly to the east and weakened by 3:30 p.m. By 2:45 p.m., another storm joined it over northern Sherman County. This storm moved north into Valley County by 3:30 p.m. and exited the county by 5 p.m. Both of these storms produced hail up to the size of golf balls. The second storm produced golf ball size hail near Arcadia and near Fort Hartsuff State Park.
These storms formed well ahead of a backdoor cold front that was pressing into northeastern Nebraska. However, convective initiation was more likely a result of a small area of low-level convergence between Broken Bow, where winds were from the west, and Ord, where winds were from the east. In the upper levels, a subtropical high was over Oklahoma, with a ridge extending north through the Dakotas. Troughs were located over the western and eastern United States. At mid-afternoon, surface temperatures were in the middle 90s, with dewpoints in the middle to upper 60s. With mid-level lapse rates near 7 deg C/km, MLCAPE was around 2500 J/kg. Deep layer shear was near 25 knots.
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 Jul 14, 1:45 PM CST, 1 hour 4 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 245 PM CDT TUE JUL 14 2015 .SHORT TERM...(THIS EVENING THROUGH WEDNESDAY) ISSUED AT 245 PM CDT TUE JUL 14 2015 ...SEVERE TSTMS POSSIBLE TONIGHT AND AGAIN WED AFTERNOON-EVE... ALOFT: THE PATTERN THAT HAS BEEN LOCKED IN SINCE SAT WILL REMAIN BASICALLY UNCHANGED OVER THE NEXT 24-36 HRS AS SUBTROPICAL HIGH PRES CONTS OVER THE ARKLATEX. A PLUME OF MID-HIGH LVL MOISTURE CONTS TO CIRCULATE AROUND THE WRN SIDE OF THE HIGH /THRU AZ/NM/CO/ AND THEN E INTO NEB/KS...ALONG WITH MULTIPLE EMBEDDED CONVECTIVELY-INDUCED VORT MAXIMA THAT MAY AID IN TSTM DEVELOPMENT. ONE OF THE MORE INTERESTING SYNOPTIC DEVELOPMENTS IS THE ADVANCEMENT OF THE FORMERLY QUASI-STATIONARY WRN USA TROF. THIS WILL FORCE A JET STREAK TO STRENGTHEN AND TOP THE RIDGE... PLACING THE CNTRL PLAINS IN THE RRQ TONIGHT INTO WED AM. THIS WILL INCREASE THE RISK FOR TSTMS. THE APPROACH OF THE TROF LATE TOMORROW SUGGESTS GOOD POTENTIAL FOR REDEVELOPMENT. SURFACE: THE LEE-SIDE TROF WILL DEEPEN OVER WY/CO THIS AFTERNOON AND LOW PRES SHOULD GRADUALLY EVOLVE OVER WRN KS. THE SFC TROF ACROSS SRN KS WILL REMAIN S OF THE FCST AREA...AND THIS WILL MAINTAIN E-SE FLOW. PLEASE SEE SPC OUTLOOKS FOR ADDITIONAL INFO ON SVR WX POTENTIAL. THIS AFTERNOON: ANOTHER NICE SUMMER DAY IS IN PROGRESS. CAN'T RULE OUT AN ISOLATED TSTM OR TWO OVER N-CNTRL KS AND S-CNTRL NEB W OF HWY 281...WITHIN AREAS OF LOCALIZED CONVERGENCE. HOWEVER... MOST LOCATIONS WILL REMAIN DRY WITH THE CAP IN PLACE. WE ARE CURRENTLY MONITORING TOWERS GOING UP BETWEEN BBW-EAR. TONIGHT: SCT TSTMS WILL DEVELOP OVER ERN CO AND WRN/SRN KS LATE THIS AFTERNOON. WITH THE RRQ OF THE UPR-LVL JET AND THE ASSOCIATED MASS/ THERMODYNAMIC ADJUSTMENTS...CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR MCS DEVELOPMENT FROM THIS ACTIVITY. THERE IS AN OUTSIDE CHANCE THE LEADING EDGE OF THIS MCS COULD STILL BE SVR BY THE TIME IT ARRIVES INTO THE SW FRINGE OF THE FCST AREA...PROBABLY AFTER 9 PM. MODEL QPF CLUSTERING AND SREF QPF PROBABILITIES SUGGEST TSTMS WILL GROW UPSCALE INTO AN MCS AND LIFT NE INTO THE FCST AREA TONIGHT. A 25-30 KT LOW-LVL JET IS FCST TO DEVELOP AND SHOULD AID IN MAINTAINING NEW TSTM DEVELOPMENT ALONG ITS COOL POOL. WED: IT ALL DEPENDS ON WHAT HAPPENS TONIGHT. A DIMINISHING CLUSTER OF TSTMS MAY BE ON-GOING OVER PARTS OF THE FCST AREA DURING THE MORNING. THIS WILL PROBABLY LEAVE A LARGE AREA OF EXTENSIVE LOW CLOUDS THAT WILL COMPLICATE AFTERNOON TSTM INITIATION. SOME AREAS WILL BE DRY IN THE MORNING (PROBABLY NRN KS) WITH A BREAK EVENTUALLY EXPECTED FOR S-CNTRL NEB. IF/WHERE CLOUDS DON'T CLEAR...POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR A VERY COOL DAY. SOME PARTS OF S-CNTRL NEB COULD SEE HIGHS IN THE LOW-MID 70S. HIGH TEMPS ARE LOW CONFIDENCE AND WILL PROBABLY BUST SVRL DEGS TOO WARM IF SKIES REMAIN CLOUDY. SEVERE: THE OUTFLOW BOUNDARY AND ANY AREAS THAT CLEAR WILL NEED TO BE WATCHED FOR SVR TSTMS...SOME OF WHICH COULD BE SUPERCELLS. LOW- LVL WIND FIELDS ARE FCST TO STRENGTHEN E/NE OF THE SFC LOW AND THIS WILL SIGNIFICANTLY ENLARGE HODOGRAPHS...WITH 0-3 KM SRH OF 200-400 M2/S2. THIS WILL ALSO RESULT IN 0-1 KM SRH OF 100-200 M2/S2... SUPPORTIVE OF TORNADOES. IN ADDITION...MLCAPE IS FCST AS HIGH AS 3000 J/KG. WE WILL KNOW MORE AT DAWN TOMORROW. .LONG TERM...(WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY) ISSUED AT 425 AM CDT TUE JUL 14 2015 THE BIGGEST ISSUE REVOLVES AROUND DETERMINING CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION WEDNESDAY/WEDNESDAY NIGHT. THE BIG ISSUE FOR WEDNESDAY WILL BE A SHORTWAVE TROUGH THAT WILL TEMPORARILY TAMP DOWN THE UPPER RIDGE A BIT...CAUSING TEMPERATURES TO BE A BIT COOLER...ALBEIT NOT THAT FAR FROM NORMAL WITH HIGHS IN THE MID 80S TO LOWER 90S. WE COULD HAVE SOME LINGERING SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS FROM THE NIGHT BEFORE OCCUR...BEFORE NEW DEVELOPMENT OCCURS BY LATE AFTERNOON. THE ASSOCIATED SURFACE TROUGH WILL BE A FOCUS CONVECTION WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND NIGHT. WITH DEW POINTS WELL INTO THE 60S AND A MODEST MID-LEVEL JET...WE COULD GET SOME SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOP...ALTHOUGH THIS WILL OCCUR MORE TOWARD EVENING AS SOME CAPPING COULD DELAY THE ONSET OF MUCH OF THE CONVECTION. PRECIPITABLE WATER COULD NEAR 2 INCHES IN OUR EAST FOR WEDNESDAY NIGHT...ACCORDING TO SREF ENSEMBLES. ENSEMBLES ALSO INDICATE THAT IT WILL BE PRUDENT TO NUDGE UP CHANCES OF PRECIPITATION WEDNESDAY EVENING...UP TO NEAR 70 POPS FOR MUCH OF THE CWA...ESPECIALLY CENTRAL AND EAST. AS THE RIDGE BUILDS STRONGER FOR THURSDAY...CONVECTION CANNOT BE RULED OUT...BUT WILL BE SIGNIFICANTLY LESS LIKELY COMPARED TO WEDNESDAY...WITH MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES CREEPING UP INTO THE UPPER 80S TO MID 90S THURSDAY. THERE IS AN OUTSIDE CHANCE OF A STRONG STORM...PERHAPS IN OUR SOUTH FROM RE-FIRING OF CONVECTION FROM EARLIER IN THE DAY. A NORTHERN STREAM LOW-AMPLITUDE WAVE IS FORECAST TO FOCUS MOSTLY NORTH OF THE CWA THURSDAY NIGHT...BUT COULD SKIM THE CWA...ESPECIALLY IN THE NORTH. FOR FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY...UPPER RIDGING WILL RETROGRADE TO THE WEST AND AMPLIFY OVER OUR AREA...WITH BOTH MODELS AND ENSEMBLE MEANS IN GENERAL AGREEMENT. PRECIPITATION WILL BE HARD TO COME BY DURING THE PERIOD...BUT NOT COMPLETELY OUT OF THE QUESTION...AS LOW- AMPLITUDE PERTURBATIONS MAY GIVE US A SMALL SHOT OF SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS HERE AND THERE AS THEY RIDE ALONG THE PERIPHERY OF THE UPPER RIDGE. TEMPERATURES WILL GENERALLY BE ABOVE NORMAL FOR THIS PERIOD DUE TO THE RIDGE. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 18Z KGRI/KEAR TAFS THROUGH 18Z WED AFTERNOON) ISSUED AT 1246 PM CDT TUE JUL 14 2015 SIGNIFICANT AVIATION WX: POTENTIAL FOR IFR TSTMS 04Z-15Z/WED. THIS AFTERNOON: VFR. JUST SOME FEW-SCT ALTOCU DRIFTING THRU AROUND 12K FT. LGT AND VRBL WINDS WILL BECOME E 5-10 KTS. CONFIDENCE: HIGH TONIGHT: VFR TO START...BUT A PERIOD OF TSTMS WITH IFR VSBYS IS POSSIBLE AFTER 04Z. THERE IS TREMENDOUS UNCERTAINTY IN TIMING. E WINDS UNDER 10 KTS...EXCEPT IN VRB IN TSTMS. CONFIDENCE: LOW WED THRU 18Z: IFR TSTMS MAY BE ON-GOING AT 11Z. AFTER THE TSTMS END...AN MVFR OR POSSIBLY IFR CIG IS POSSIBLE. E WINDS UNDER 10 KTS...BUT THIS IS UNCERTAIN DUE TO THE LINGERING EFFECTS OF TSTMS. CONFIDENCE: LOW && .GID WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NE...NONE. KS...NONE. && SHORT TERM...HALBLAUB LONG TERM...HEINLEIN AVIATION...HALBLAUB
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 256 PM CDT TUE JUL 14 2015 KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087- 152000- 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- 256 PM CDT TUE JUL 14 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. AN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM OR TWO IS POSSIBLE LATE THIS AFTERNOON... PRIMARILY WEST OF HIGHWAY 281. THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE THESE STORMS COULD PRODUCE HAIL TO AROUND 1 INCH IN DIAMETER...AND WIND TO NEAR 60 MPH. AS THE NIGHT PROGRESSES...A CLUSTER OF THUNDERSTORMS IS EXPECTED TO FORM OUT TO THE WEST AND MOVE INTO PORTIONS OF THE OUTLOOK AREA. THIS STORM CLUSTER COULD BE SEVERE BEFORE MIDNIGHT...WEST OF A LINE FROM BEAVER CITY NEBRASKA TO OSBORNE KANSAS. THE MAIN THREAT WILL BE WIND GUSTS TO 60 MPH. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY. THUNDERSTORM CHANCES REMAIN IN THE FORECAST ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE OUTLOOK AREA THROUGH MONDAY. THE CLUSTER OF STORMS THAT IS EXPECTED TONIGHT MAY LINGER INTO WEDNESDAY MORNING...BUT IS NOT EXPECTED TO BE SEVERE. HOWEVER...WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL REDEVELOP AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE. SOME STORMS COULD BE SUPERCELLS. HAIL TO AT LEAST THE SIZE OF GOLFBALLS...DAMAGING WINDS OF 60 MPH AND A TORNADO OR TWO ARE POSSIBLE. THERE COULD BE A STRONG TO MARGINALLY SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OR TWO THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING...ESPECIALLY FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT. && MORE INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE FOLLOWING WEB PAGE: HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/HASTINGS (ALL LOWERCASE) HALBLAUB
The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 100 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:47 UTC.
4 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Hail ranged from quarter to golf ball size.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nebraska in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Nebraska, July 2015
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: 582662, 582666, 582667, 582668.