Hail — Buffalo, Nebraska

2023-05-05 · near Kearney, Buffalo, Nebraska

Event narrative

Hail up to the size of ping pong balls was reported across Kearney.

Wider weather episode

Large hail, damaging wind gusts, and an isolated tornado occurred over portions of south central Nebraska, mainly west of Highway 281, during the afternoon through late evening hours. Initial development occurred roughly along the NE/KS state line between 1600-1700CDT, and was mainly in the form of supercells. By around 2200CDT, nearly a half-dozen supercells affected portions of south central Nebraska roughly along and south of Interstate 80 (I-80) and west of Highway 281 and produced scattered instances of large to very large hail. The largest hail reported was tennis ball in Franklin County, which was associated with one of the first supercells to form in the late afternoon. After the initial round of supercells, which weakened mostly below severe limits by 2230CDT, a squall line of thunderstorms moved into far western portions of the CWA between 2230-2300CDT. The primary severe threat with this activity was damaging wind gusts of 60-65MPH. However, embedded within the squall line was a brief EF-1 tornado that impacted the Johnson Lake area around 2300. A bow echo developed within the squall line between 2300-2400CDT over Dawson County then raced northeast and affected areas north of the Platte River over the next 60-90 minutes. This activity weakened as it exited NE portions of the CWA during the early morning hours of May 6th.

While there were no significant synoptic scale fronts or low pressure systems in the area of this event, the first round of scattered supercells developed along a remnant outflow boundary that was stalled near the NE/KS state line. The second round was a result of thunderstorms that developed over the High Plains which was then supported by an increasing low level jet as activity shifted east overnight. Through the entire event, there was moderately strong instability (2000-3000 J/kg of CAPE), strong deep layer shear around 40-45kt, and steep mid level lapse rates of 7-8C/km. 0-3km shear was also strong during this event, around 30kt, which supported the bow echo development across northern portions of the CWA during the evening hours.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (40.7012, -99.1131)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1096931. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.