A line of strong to severe thunderstorms moved northeast across the area during the evening hours of June 30th. One thunderstorm produced large hail near the Colorado border.
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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 CYS wrote it up.
A line of strong to severe thunderstorms moved northeast across the area during the evening hours of June 30th. One thunderstorm produced large hail near the Colorado border.
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 Cheyenne, WY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 30, 4:25 PM MST, 2 hours 56 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Cheyenne WY
525 PM MDT Tue Jun 30 2026
.KEY MESSAGES...
- Scattered showers and thunderstorms through late Tuesday
evening will bring the potential for strong, gusty, and
erratic winds.
- A few more organized strong to severe storms are possible in
the central and southern Nebraska panhandle through Tuesday
night.
- Elevated fire weather conditions will continue for the week
ahead with warm and dry weather expected and daily chances for
PM thunderstorms or gusty showers.
- A warming trend will occur for Thursday and Friday, before
somewhat cooler temperatures occur for our
bisesquicentennial, the 250th anniversary of our country on
Independence Day, then a slow warming trend develops again for
Sunday through Tuesday.
&&
.SHORT TERM /THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT/...
Issued at 300 PM MDT Tue Jun 30 2026
Warm, dry, and breezy conditions continue today across the area, but
fortunately, winds are much lighter than they were yesterday. Still,
near critical fire weather conditions are ongoing as another,
weaker, upper level shortwave approaches the area. This is apparent
on GOES satellite imagery over northeast Utah. As the upper level
feature lifts northward, a stalled convergence/frontal boundary over
our area is slowly lifting northward as well. This is currently
located roughly from Medicine Bow Peak up towards Wheatland and
eventually the southwest corner of South Dakota. Low-level
convergence along the boundary is supporting the development of some
cumulus cloud activity and a few pulsey showers showing up on radar.
Instability is minimal right now, so these are not lasting very
long, but we should see longevity of this activity improve after
about 4PM or so as synoptic lift ahead of the approaching shortwave
and upper level moisture improve.
Meanwhile, the approaching upper level disturbance is supporting lee
cyclogenesis over the Denver area this afternoon. As this moves off
to the northeast and strengthens, potent frontogenesis will develop
over northeast Colorado extending up into far southeast Wyoming and
the central/southern Nebraska panhandle. Positive moisture advection
in this same area will also build elevated instability. So, expect
these two areas (the convergence boundary, and the frontogenesis) to
be the primary zones of focus for shower and thunderstorm activity
this evening but a few will probably filter through in between. At
least initially, the dry surface environment will mean that the
primary hazard will be dry microbursts. Expect the coverage of gusty
and erratic winds to be significantly greater than the coverage of
appreciable rainfall. While these won't technically be dry
thunderstorms, there will be areas exposed to winds and lightning
with little to no rainfall. Confidence is pretty high in gusty and
erratic winds this evening, but lower in the more organized severe
thunderstorm potential. The second area of forcing in the southern
Nebraska panhandle will see increasing moisture and instability this
evening. Therefore, additional rounds of showers and thunderstorms
will be more likely to become strong to severe later in the evening.
However, this remains a fairly conditional threat. RAP forecast
soundings for Sidney show a fairly dry boundary layer until about
9PM, after which time, severe thunderstorm parameters climb rapidly.
However, dry air aloft and weakening forcing will begin to move into
the area as early as 12AM-1AM, so the window is fairly short.
Isolated large hail and locally heavy rainfall will be possible if a
storm manages to develop in this environment.
Wednesday will start off with clear skies as tonight's vort-max
moves off to the northeast. The area will remain in southwest flow
aloft, and highs tomorrow are expected to be fairly close to their
values today. Synoptic wind is expected to be overall lighter
tomorrow, but gusty westerlies are still expected mainly in the
morning to early afternoon. Winds will die down later as humidity
drops, so confidence in critical fire weather conditions is lower
tomorrow. We will have another round of potential gusty showers or
storms in the afternoon and evening, but coverage will be lower than
today due to weaker forcing aloft.
&&
.LONG TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/...
Issued at 300 PM MDT Tue Jun 30 2026
Thursday...The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma at
spc.noaa.gov, forecasts a marginal risk of severe thunderstorms in
the afternoon and evening, for our northeast counties in our county
warning area, north of a Sheridan to Scottsbluff line. Concur with
their assessment as a shortwave trough aloft passes near the Wyoming
and Colorado state line at peak heating, with a north to south
oriented surface boundary or dryline stretching across southeast
Wyoming. Although bulk shear values at 00Z will be limited, near 30
knots, CAPE progged to be some 2500 to 3600 J/kg across western
Nebraska. Quite impressive 850/700 mb theta-e ridge axis will extend
across western Nebraska at late afternoon with dewpoints in the mid
to upper 50s. Thus isolated to widely scattered thunderstorms, some
strong to severe, look increasingly likely in the aforementioned
marginal risk area. A warming trend ensues with 700 mb temperatures
near 18 Celsius.
Friday...Although another weak perturbation, or shortwave trough,
will lie across western Nebraska in the late afternoon, with
adequate low and mid level moisture, the 850/700 mb theta-e ridge
axis will be a bit further east compared to Thursday, though we will
need to watch for decent low level convergence across the eastern
row of counties in the Nebraska Panhandle for isolated strong to
possibly severe thunderstorms. With less cloud cover compared to
Thursday, the warming trend will continue.
Independence Day...The flow aloft remains westerly, and with decent
moisture in the 850-500 mb layer, and individual layers, combined
with low level convergence east of I-25, we anticipate seeing
isolated to widely scattered afternoon and evening thunderstorms
east of I-25 in the afternoon, and over western Nebraska in the
evening. All in all, the 250th anniversary of our country should see
quite pleasant weather conditions across southeast Wyoming and
western Nebraska, with minimal late day showers and thunderstorms,
near perfect for outdoor activities. Somewhat cooler for the holiday
due to more cloud cover and in a post cold frontal airmass, with
maximum temperatures in the 80s, near perfect for the
bisesquicentennial, 250th anniversary of our country's birth.
Sunday...With warm temperatures aloft, the CIN, convective
inhibition, will increase markedly with 700 mb temperatures near 18
Celsius, limiting convective potential, and allowing for at best,
isolated to widely scattered afternoon and evening thunderstorms
along and east of I-25. Another warming trend begins based on
700 mb temperature trends.
Monday and Tuesday...Similar synoptic pattern to Sunday, with decent
southerly low level moisture advecting northward into our counties,
especially east of I-25, though warm temperature aloft will produce
enough convective inhibition, CIN, to limit afternoon and evening
thunderstorms to isolated to widely scattered. Temperatures will
continue their warming trend based on 700 mb temperatures and the
paucity, limited amount, of cloud cover.
&&
.AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z WEDNESDAY/...
Issued at 525 PM MDT Tue Jun 30 2026
Showers and thunderstorms are initiating and will move across the
CWA over the next several hours. Generally a line from Laramie to
Chadron and points east will have the best chances of seeing any of
the activity. The forcing mechanism lifting out of Colorado will
make it difficult on the exact path of these storms, so the TAFs
will be amended as needed. Hence the PROB30 groups, and by about 04Z
this evening, the activity should be winding down.
&&
.CYS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WY...Red Flag Warning until 7 PM MDT this evening for WYZ417-418-
430>433.
NE...Red Flag Warning until 7 PM MDT this evening for NEZ434>437.
&&
SHORT TERM...MN
LONG TERM...RUBIN
AVIATION...RZPreliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Cheyenne WY
301 PM MDT Tue Jun 30 2026
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0523 PM Funnel Cloud 5 WNW Federal 41.30N 105.19W
06/25/2026 Laramie WY Trained Spotter
Photos from several trained spotters and
chasers show a rotating wall cloud with a
short funnel underneath/behind this feature
lasting 2-3 minutes. Other photos of a
possible landspout were determined to be a
hail shaft ahead of the gust front. No
ground circulation was visible in the
photos, possibly due to wet grass/prairie
despite strong rotation of the wall cloud.
&&
CYSSpecial Weather Statement
National Weather Service Cheyenne WY
534 PM MDT Tue Jun 30 2026
NEZ095-WYZ102-107-108-010000-
North Sioux NE-East Platte County WY-Goshen County WY-
Niobrara County WY-
534 PM MDT Tue Jun 30 2026
...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL IMPACT NORTHWESTERN SIOUX...SOUTH
CENTRAL NIOBRARA...NORTHERN GOSHEN AND NORTHEASTERN PLATTE COUNTIES
THROUGH 600 PM MDT...
At 534 PM MDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm near
Hartville, or 26 miles southwest of Lusk, moving northeast at 65 mph.
HAZARD...Wind gusts up to 50 mph and half inch hail.
SOURCE...Radar indicated.
IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around
unsecured objects. Minor hail damage to vegetation is
possible.
Locations impacted include...
Lusk, Guernsey, Hartville, Prairie Center, Jay Em, Oregon Trail Ruts
State Historic Site, Register Cliff State Historic Site, Rawhide
Buttes, Sandy Cove Campground, Guernsey State Park, and Niobrara
County Fairgrounds.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.
&&
LAT...LON 4223 10468 4226 10491 4241 10489 4286 10449
4260 10404
TIME...MOT...LOC 2334Z 223DEG 54KT 4242 10469
MAX HAIL SIZE...0.50 IN
MAX WIND GUST...50 MPH
MoseSpecial Weather Statement National Weather Service Cheyenne WY 619 PM MDT Tue Jun 30 2026 NEZ019>021-054-055-010400- Scotts Bluff County-Banner County-Morrill County-Kimball County- Cheyenne County- Including the cities of Scottsbluff, Gering, Harrisburg, Angora, Bridgeport, Bayard, Redington, Kimball, Sidney, and Brownson 619 PM MDT Tue Jun 30 2026 ...GUSTY SHOWERS EXPECTED FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS... A band of gusty showers has started to move into southern portions of the Nebraska Panhandle. Wind gusts up to 60mph have been recorded in Banner County with these showers. Gusty showers will continue for the next 1 to 3 hours for this area with occasional gusts up to 60mph possible, especially under decaying showers.
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Cheyenne WY
735 PM MDT Tue Jun 30 2026
NEZ054-WYZ119-010215-
Kimball NE-East Laramie County WY-
735 PM MDT Tue Jun 30 2026
...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL IMPACT SOUTHWESTERN KIMBALL AND
SOUTHEASTERN LARAMIE COUNTIES THROUGH 815 PM MDT...
At 735 PM MDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm near
Keota, or 37 miles southwest of Kimball, moving northeast at 35 mph.
HAZARD...Wind gusts of 50 to 55 mph and nickel size hail.
SOURCE...Radar indicated.
IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around
unsecured objects. Minor hail damage to vegetation is
possible.
Locations impacted include...
Panorama Point.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.
&&
LAT...LON 4113 10400 4116 10374 4102 10361 4100 10363
4100 10405
TIME...MOT...LOC 0135Z 213DEG 29KT 4078 10407
MAX HAIL SIZE...0.88 IN
MAX WIND GUST...55 MPH
MoseThe Cheyenne radar (KCYS), 159 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:19 UTC.
1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Trained spotter reported 1 inch diameter hail about 7 miles east-southeast of Lorenzo. Other reports of dime sized hail occurred further to the north.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nebraska in 2026Every state in 2026This day in weather historyWarnings in Nebraska, June 2026
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: 1339244.