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Storm Events Database
Event Details
| Event | Thunderstorm Wind |
| Magnitude | 52 kts. |
| State | NEBRASKA |
| County/Area | HOWARD |
| WFO | GID |
| Begin Date | 06/19/2011 22:40:00 CST-6 |
| End Date | 06/19/2011 22:40:00 CST-6 |
| Deaths Direct/Indirect | 0/0 (fatality details below, when available...) |
| Injuries Direct/Indirect | 0/0 |
| Property Damage | 0.00K |
| Crop Damage | 0.00K |
| Episode Narrative | In terms of widespread, high-impact severe weather, the 24-hour period commencing on Sunday evening the 19th was likely the worst of the 2011 severe weather season for much of South Central Nebraska. The initial rounds of significant severe storms targeted the area during a 7-hour stretch centered from 9 PM CDT Sunday evening to 4 AM CDT Monday morning. During this nocturnal event, multiple severe supercell and multicell storms pounded mainly the northwest half of South Central Nebraska, or locations northwest of a line from Beaver City to Grand Island to Osceola. Generally speaking, severe weather during this 7-hour period came in three separate rounds, although there was some overlap in both time and area. Despite a favorable environment for tornadic development, no tornadoes were confirmed during this event. The first round of severe weather, centered between 9 PM and 11 PM CDT, involved one large, intense supercell storm that drifted east out of southwest Nebraska, primarily impacting Furnas, Gosper, Harlan and Phelps Counties. This storm resulted in several reports of destructive hail up to tennis ball size, and winds of at least 60-70 MPH. One of the hardest hit areas was northern Furnas County in and around Cambridge and Arapahoe, where damage reports included the displacement of a 5-ton air handling unit atop the hospital in Cambridge, and a stock trailer thrown into a corn field. As the initial supercell started to gradually weaken, a new area of vigorous severe storm development took place north of Interstate 80, expanding in coverage between 11 PM and 2 AM CDT. The most intense storm during this time frame tracked nearly due east from Sherman County to northern Polk County, with reports along the way including hail to the size of tennis balls and baseballs. Some of the worst known wind damage occurred in Merrick County, where estimated winds to 80 MPH destroyed an old grain elevator between Clarks and Silver Creek. As activity ramped up north of Interstate 80, the third episode of severe weather got underway back to the southwest around 1230 AM CDT, as a new cluster of storms entered the Dawson to Furnas County corridor from the west, impacting many of the same areas as the initial supercell a few hours prior. Yet again, the Cambridge area saw strong winds and hail to around baseball size. In a gradually weakening state, this complex of storms eventually rode northeast through the Kearney, Grand Island and Central City areas, before all storms finally exited South Central Nebraska around 430 AM CDT. This long-lasting onslaught of severe weather resulted from a very favorable synoptic severe weather setup for this time of year, with South Central Nebraska positioned slightly north of a well-defined surface warm front lifting northward from Kansas into southeast Nebraska. Aloft, a powerful, highly amplified mid-level trough was centered over the Central Rockies, spreading increasing wind fields and upper level divergence downstream over the Central Plains. In addition, a very strong southerly low-level jet stream took direct aim on South Central Nebraska during the evening and overnight hours, with speeds at the 850-millibar level increasing to 60-70 knots near the Nebraska-Kansas border. Just to name a few, some of the favorable severe weather parameters late in the evening included at least 2000-3000 J/kg most-unstable CAPE, 50-60 knots of deep-layer vertical wind shear, and 30-40 knots of surface to 1-kilometer low-level vertical shear. Despite the widespread coverage of storms, locally heavy rainfall totals were held down in the 1-3 inch range, with no significant flooding impacts. |
| Event Narrative | Wind gusts were estimated at 60 MPH. |
All events for this episode:
| Location | County/Zone | St. | Date | Time | T.Z. | Type | Mag | Dth | Inj | PrD | CrD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals: | 0 | 0 | 1.900M | 6.200M | |||||||
| GOSPER CO. | GOSPER CO. | NE | 06/19/2011 | 06:00 | CST-6 | Heavy Rain | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K | |
| FURNAS CO. | FURNAS CO. | NE | 06/19/2011 | 20:00 | CST-6 | Thunderstorm Wind | 61 kts. EG | 0 | 0 | 250.00K | 0.00K |
| FURNAS CO. | FURNAS CO. | NE | 06/19/2011 | 20:25 | CST-6 | Thunderstorm Wind | 61 kts. EG | 0 | 0 | 75.00K | 0.00K |
| FURNAS CO. | FURNAS CO. | NE | 06/19/2011 | 20:38 | CST-6 | Thunderstorm Wind | 56 kts. EG | 0 | 0 | 10.00K | 0.00K |
| FURNAS CO. | FURNAS CO. | NE | 06/19/2011 | 20:59 | CST-6 | Hail | 2.50 in. | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 500.00K |
| GOSPER CO. | GOSPER CO. | NE | 06/19/2011 | 21:03 | CST-6 | Hail | 1.75 in. | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 250.00K |
| FURNAS CO. | FURNAS CO. | NE | 06/19/2011 | 21:05 | CST-6 | Thunderstorm Wind | 56 kts. EG | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| FURNAS CO. | FURNAS CO. | NE | 06/19/2011 | 21:08 | CST-6 | Hail | 1.75 in. | 0 | 0 | 25.00K | 250.00K |
| FURNAS CO. | FURNAS CO. | NE | 06/19/2011 | 21:10 | CST-6 | Hail | 1.75 in. | 0 | 0 | 25.00K | 250.00K |
| FURNAS CO. | FURNAS CO. | NE | 06/19/2011 | 21:12 | CST-6 | Hail | 2.50 in. | 0 | 0 | 25.00K | 250.00K |
| FURNAS CO. | FURNAS CO. | NE | 06/19/2011 | 21:13 | CST-6 | Hail | 1.50 in. | 0 | 0 | 10.00K | 250.00K |
| FURNAS CO. | FURNAS CO. | NE | 06/19/2011 | 21:30 | CST-6 | Hail | 2.50 in. | 0 | 0 | 25.00K | 500.00K |
| HARLAN CO. | HARLAN CO. | NE | 06/19/2011 | 21:37 | CST-6 | Hail | 1.50 in. | 0 | 0 | 15.00K | 250.00K |
| PHELPS CO. | PHELPS CO. | NE | 06/19/2011 | 22:00 | CST-6 | Hail | 0.75 in. | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 1.000M |
| HOWARD CO. | HOWARD CO. | NE | 06/19/2011 | 22:40 | CST-6 | Hail | 1.75 in. | 0 | 0 | 25.00K | 250.00K |
| HOWARD CO. | HOWARD CO. | NE | 06/19/2011 | 22:40 | CST-6 | Thunderstorm Wind | 52 kts. EG | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| HOWARD CO. | HOWARD CO. | NE | 06/19/2011 | 22:53 | CST-6 | Hail | 2.50 in. | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 500.00K |
| MERRICK CO. | MERRICK CO. | NE | 06/19/2011 | 23:25 | CST-6 | Thunderstorm Wind | 70 kts. EG | 0 | 0 | 1.000M | 250.00K |
| HOWARD CO. | HOWARD CO. | NE | 06/19/2011 | 23:35 | CST-6 | Thunderstorm Wind | 52 kts. EG | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 250.00K |
| FURNAS CO. | FURNAS CO. | NE | 06/19/2011 | 23:46 | CST-6 | Thunderstorm Wind | 61 kts. EG | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| FURNAS CO. | FURNAS CO. | NE | 06/19/2011 | 23:46 | CST-6 | Hail | 2.75 in. | 0 | 0 | 75.00K | 500.00K |
| GOSPER CO. | GOSPER CO. | NE | 06/19/2011 | 23:58 | CST-6 | Hail | 0.88 in. | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| GOSPER CO. | GOSPER CO. | NE | 06/20/2011 | 00:15 | CST-6 | Hail | 1.25 in. | 0 | 0 | 5.00K | 0.00K |
| GOSPER CO. | GOSPER CO. | NE | 06/20/2011 | 00:16 | CST-6 | Hail | 1.25 in. | 0 | 0 | 5.00K | 0.00K |
| GOSPER CO. | GOSPER CO. | NE | 06/20/2011 | 00:17 | CST-6 | Hail | 1.50 in. | 0 | 0 | 5.00K | 0.00K |
| HALL CO. | HALL CO. | NE | 06/20/2011 | 00:20 | CST-6 | Hail | 0.75 in. | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| GREELEY CO. | GREELEY CO. | NE | 06/20/2011 | 00:30 | CST-6 | Hail | 1.75 in. | 0 | 0 | 25.00K | 100.00K |
| MERRICK CO. | MERRICK CO. | NE | 06/20/2011 | 01:02 | CST-6 | Hail | 1.75 in. | 0 | 0 | 25.00K | 100.00K |
| POLK CO. | POLK CO. | NE | 06/20/2011 | 01:05 | CST-6 | Hail | 2.75 in. | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 500.00K |
| BUFFALO CO. | BUFFALO CO. | NE | 06/20/2011 | 01:11 | CST-6 | Hail | 1.00 in. | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| POLK CO. | POLK CO. | NE | 06/20/2011 | 01:20 | CST-6 | Hail | 1.75 in. | 0 | 0 | 25.00K | 250.00K |
| MERRICK CO. | MERRICK CO. | NE | 06/20/2011 | 02:27 | CST-6 | Thunderstorm Wind | 52 kts. EG | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| MERRICK CO. | MERRICK CO. | NE | 06/20/2011 | 02:30 | CST-6 | Thunderstorm Wind | 52 kts. EG | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| Totals: | 0 | 0 | 1.900M | 6.200M |
