It's quite rare that widespread/severe NON-thunderstorm winds take center stage over thunderstorms during June in South Central Nebraska, but that's exactly what happened on this Tuesday as an anomalously strong low pressure system (by June standards) churned through the Central Plains. For the vast majority of the local area, the number one story was several hours of intense north winds, commonly sustained 30-40 MPH and gusting 40-60+ MPH in the wake of a powerful late-spring cold front. Based on a variety of official/unofficial sensors, some of the highest afternoon-evening gusts featured: 67 MPH in Doniphan, 65 MPH near Gothenburg, Roseland and Oxford, and 64 MPH at Central Nebraska Regional Airport in Grand Island. Other official peak airport gusts included 62 MPH at Hastings and 60 MPH in Kearney. These winds undoubtedly caused numerous instances of at least minor damage within the area, but a few known ones included: a large tree in Holdrege fell on a car and blocked a street; a few large branches in west Hastings crashed onto power lines and at least one house; downed power lines in Arapahoe and Harvard; 6-8 inch diameter tree limbs downed in Deshler. Although the overall-strongest winds started/ended several hours earlier in far western local counties compared to far eastern counties, for the majority of the area the worst winds concentrated during portions of the noon-10 p.m. CDT time frame.
Turning to thunderstorms, while non-severe activity was common across much of South Central Nebraska during the afternoon and evening, the vast majority of the area was spared severe storms. This was mainly due to the strong surface cold front passing through prior to robust development being able to get going (in fact most of the area had seasonably-cool temperatures in the 50s-60s during the afternoon). That being said, a few severe storms did flare up in eastern counties during the afternoon, including one elevated hailer that dropped stones to around golf ball size in the Henderson and Hampton areas. Farther southeast along the actual front, radar indicated severe wind/hail potential with near-surface-based storms in/near Thayer County, but there were no verifying reports (although gustnado activity was noted in far southeastern Thayer County). Rainfall-wise, 24-hour totals fell short of forecast expectations across the majority of the area, as most places measured less than 1 inch. However, a few localized pockets closer to 2 inches occurred primarily in portions of southern Thayer and southwestern Buffalo counties, including a very isolated bullseye of 2.80 at Hubbell.
Both in the mid-upper levels and at the surface, the intensity of this weather system was quite abnormal for June...more reminiscent of those that sometimes occur earlier in the spring. Aloft, a deep closed low slowly tracked from eastern CO around daybreak on the 9th to northeast KS by sunset, eventually departing the Central Plains into northern MO by sunrise on the 10th. The associated surface low center lumbered east across northern KS over the course of the day, deepening to around 993 millibars in the process. While the position and track of the surface low/cold front spared most of the area from severe storms, far southeast counties dodged a potentially significant threat during the afternoon as the environment just north of the northern KS surface low became conditionally supportive of supercells and possible tornadoes. In fact, mesoscale parameters in the Thayer County area briefly featured a potent combination of mixed-layer CAPE around 2000 J/kg, deep layer wind shear of 50-70 knots and 0-1 kilometer shear of 20-30 knots. As for the unusual nature of such intense northerly winds so late in the spring, it's worth noting that howling speeds of 50-70 knots a few thousand feet above the ground (at 850 millibars) registered 3-4 standard deviations above normal for the date...basically off the charts.