Sunday the 29th and Monday the 30th were two of the windiest consecutive days of spring 2018 within South Central Nebraska, especially in terms of SOUTH winds. On both days, primarily the afternoon featured several hours of sustained speeds commonly 25-35 MPH (isolated 40 MPH) and frequent gusts to around 50 MPH, along with isolated severe-criteria gusts of 58+ MPH.
Every event with a place to put it; 5 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
Sunday the 29th and Monday the 30th were two of the windiest consecutive days of spring 2018 within South Central Nebraska, especially in terms of SOUTH winds. On both days, primarily the afternoon featured several hours of sustained speeds commonly 25-35 MPH (isolated 40 MPH) and frequent gusts to around 50 MPH, along with isolated severe-criteria gusts of 58+ MPH. Also on both days, the combination of recent dry conditions and recently-tilled fields promoted a number of localized dust storms, causing drastic visibility reductions over short distances. Specifically on the afternoon of the 30th, dust blowing across Interstate 80 led to another multi-vehicle pileup, but this one occurred just east of the local South Central Nebraska area in Seward County, and was not quite as severe as the one the previous day in Hamilton County. Although strong south winds and blowing dust were clearly the main stories on the 30th, the far northern fringe of the local area (northwestern Valley County) was brushed by a line of strong to severe thunderstorms mainly between 9-11 PM CDT, yielding a report of quarter size hail west-southwest of Elyria, along with nearly 3 inches of rain.
As for measured winds from a variety of official and unofficial sources, some peak gusts on the 30th featured: 60 MPH near Bradshaw (mesonet), 58 MPH near Nelson and Davenport (mesonets), and 57 MPH at Grand Island airport. Like the preceding day, gusts largely eased below 40 MPH after dark. Turning to the meteorological background, this was a classic recipe for prolonged, strong south winds across the Central Plains. In the mid-upper levels, an expansive, large-scale trough gradually deepened over the western CONUS, only edging slowly eastward. This in turn promoted strengthening surface low pressure across the Central High Plains, averaging around 998 millibars in eastern Colorado. This low pressure, in concert with sprawling high pressure centered over the eastern CONUS, set up a healthy pressure gradient. Looking a bit closer at the severe storm that affected Valley County during the evening, this activity evolved eastward from convection that initially formed just west of the local area along a slow-moving cold front. Mesoscale parameters in the area featured mixed-layer CAPE at least 1000 J/kg and deep-layer wind shear around 40 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 Apr 30, 5:15 AM CST, 5 hours 43 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Hastings NE 615 AM CDT Mon Apr 30 2018 ...Svr Tstms Possible Today and Tomorrow and Possibly for the Far SE Fringe of the CWA Wed... .SHORT TERM...(Today and tonight) Issued at 615 AM CDT Mon Apr 30 2018 Aloft: Moderate-amplitude SW flow was over the Cntrl Plns... downstream of a longwave trof over the Wrn USA. An upr low was over OR/ID with svrl shortwave trofs orbiting around it. One such trof was over UT/AZ. This trof will arrive into the Neb Panhandle and Ern CO by 00Z and then cross Neb/KS tonight. Surface: A Pacific cool front extended from low pres over Srn MB thru the Dakotas and the Neb Panhandle into Nrn CO. This front will slowly progress to the SE...approaching the NW border of the CWA by 00Z. It should then inch into the CWA tonight. Now thru dawn: P-M/cldy...brzy and very mild fore this time of yr. Temps have held in the 60s all night...only a little below where daytime highs usually are for late Apr. Lows should average around 60F shortly after sunrise. 615 AM UPDATE: radar was placed into precip mode a couple hrs ago as small accas-generated shwrs are developing around 12K ft. The fcst has been updated thru 15Z to include a low POP E of Hwy 183...with input from the 10Z HRRR. Today: Much of the cirrostratus currently on satellite should depart to the NE. There will be some altocu and tufts of cirrostratus today...but it should average m/sunny. Winds: It will be very windy again today...but shouldn't be quite as bad as the low-lvl wind max won't be as strong and mixing won't be as deep. Please see the LSR we sent with Sun's max wind speeds. MOS winds were too low by 8 kt yesterday while the worst winds were occurring. T-Z BUFKIT cross sections from the RAP/NAM/GFS are in unison that winds will be 30 kt as low as 200 ft today. It should be no problem to mix that down and that is what we based sustained winds on. There will still be 40-45 kt available to mix down from 1500-4000 ft and that will result in wind gusts of 45-55 mph. SPS was issued at 501 AM to raise awareness. Maintained mention of blwg dust. Be especially careful where fields are being planted. Expect a few tstms will develop along the front just W-NW of the CWA 4-5 pm. These storms will move in thru the eve. Temps in the low-mid 80s and dwpts 50-55F beneath steep mid-lvl LR's of near 8.5 C/km will result in MLCAPE of 2000 J/kg. As usual there is disagreement among the CAMs on occurrence/coverage of tstms. The front should provide enough lift to trigger tstms...but will its slow movement keep most of the storms W or NW of the CWA? In this kind of the environment...any storms that do develop and/or move in could be svr after 5 pm. The main threats will be damaging winds and hail near the size of golf balls. However...a tornado could occur early on with the first few storms that go up...while they are isolated. Cloud-bearing winds will be parallel to the front suggesting a rapid transition to a linear mode. The faster that occurs...the faster the tornado threat will decrease. .LONG TERM...(Tuesday through Sunday) Issued at 401 AM CDT Mon Apr 30 2018 Aloft: SW flow will cont thru Wed as the Wrn trof gradually heads E. The trof will be over the Plns Thu with low-amplitude NW flow Fri- Sat. The last 2 runs of global models suggest a diminishing shortwave ridge will move in Sun ahead of the next low that is fcst to move into the Pac NW. Surface: The cool front fcst to slow from SW-NE across the CWA tonight will become stationary Tue roughly from PUB-HLC-OMA. Cyclogenesis will occur with a filling low ejecting into KS Tue night. As this occurs...the front will sag further to the SE. Another weak low will form and advance into KS Wed night into Thu before it races to the GtLakes. Another cool front is fcst to move thru Fri night. The main concern is potential for svr tstms Tue afternoon-eve. A few tstms should develop in the NW corner of the warm sector...SE of the cool front and E of the dryline (targeting the SE 1/2 of the CWA). A strongly veering wind profile/large hodographs suggest supercells will be the main mode with all threats on the table. MLCAPE is fcst 2000 J/kg with 0-6 km shear of 50 kt. However...there is no forcing aloft (shortwave trof) to aid in tstm initiation. The threat area will be in the RFQ of the upr-lvl jet. That doesn't mean svr can't or won't happen...but tstms could struggle to form with minimal lift to erode the cap. Believe tstms coverage will be low...but if anything does develop...high- end svr will be possible. Some additional chances for precip exist Wed-Thu as the main trof approaches. The risk of svr tstms over the extreme SE fringe of the CWA is shaky as the sagging cool front will result in decreasing instability. Could see a few light shwrs with the frontal passage Fri night into Sat. Really the wx will be much quieter after Thu. && .AVIATION...(For the 12Z KGRI/KEAR TAFS through 12Z Tuesday) Issued at 615 AM CDT Mon Apr 30 2018 Significant Wx: Strong winds GRI/EAR and crosswinds at EAR. Today: VFR with no clds AOB 10K ft until a few stratocu form around 4K ft in the afternoon. Strong S winds 30G45 kt resulting in strong crosswinds at EAR. Confidence: High Tonight: VFR to start with increasing clds. An IFR tstm is possible roughly 01Z-05Z as a cool front approaches. Tstms could contain hail up to 1.75" and 50 kt winds. S winds diminishing to 20-30 kt...but winds could be radically diff with tstms around. Multi-layered VFR cloud debris after the tstms move by...then MVFR CIGs move in by 09Z. WSHFT to NW possible toward 12Z but left it out to keep the TAFs a little shorter. Confidence: Medium && .GID WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NE...None. KS...None. && SHORT TERM...Kelley LONG TERM...Kelley AVIATION...Kelley
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Hastings NE 311 AM CDT Mon Apr 30 2018 KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087- 011200- 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- 311 AM CDT Mon Apr 30 2018 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for south central Nebraska and portions of north central Kansas. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight. South winds will be sustained at 30 to 35 mph from late morning until early evening...with frequent gusts of 45 to 55 mph. This will cause areas of blowing dust that could severely lower the visibility...especially near fields that are being planted. A few thunderstorms could develop after 5 pm and continue into tonight. Any storms that develop could become severe west of a line from Phillipsburg Kansas to Hastings to Columbus between 5 pm and 10 pm. The main threats from these storms will be damaging winds near 60 mph and hail around the size of golf balls. A tornado could also occur...mainly before 8 pm. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Tuesday through Sunday. Scattered thunderstorms will develop after 4 pm Tuesday and last into the evening. Some of these storms will become severe with the greatest risk east of a line from Plainville Kansas to Hastings to York. Hail greater than 2 inches in diameter...damaging winds greater than 60 mph and tornadoes will be possible. A few thunderstorms could develop late Wednesday afternoon into the night. There is a slight chance a couple of these storms could be severe east of a line from Beloit Kansas to Hebron Nebraska...with 1 inch hail and winds of 50 to 60 mph the main threats. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotters...please relay any reports of severe weather to the National Weather Service via phone or social media. && More information may be obtained at the following web page: https://www.weather.gov/hastings Kelley
The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 37 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:23 UTC.
4 high wind, 1 dust storm, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
A mesonet station near Nelson gusted to 58 MPH.
For the second straight day, sustained southerly winds of at least 30 MPH and frequent gusts over 40 MPH resulted in an extended period of blowing dust out of freshly tilled fields. This dust again crossed portions of Interstate 80, resulting in quickly changing visibility, down to zero at times. Around noon CST, an 11-vehicle pileup occurred on Interstate 80 near Goehner in western Seward County, only a few miles east of the local South Central Nebraska area.
A mesonet at Davenport gusted to 58 MPH.
A mesonet near Bradshaw gusted to 60 MPH.
A mesonet near Bradshaw gusted to 60 MPH.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nebraska in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in Nebraska, April 2018
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: 748378, 752987, 748376, 748375, 748377, 748379.