Thunderstorm Wind in Hall County, Nebraska

Emergency management reported tree and fencing damage across town, damage to the local ethanol plant, and at least a dozen irrigation pivots damaged north of town.

A closed upper low/trough was over the Central Plains, which brought an increase in atmospheric lift. Moisture and instability increased across the area during the afternoon of the previous day. Wind shear and helicity increased after sunset. As the low moved northeast over Kansas and Nebraska, a cold front with gusty northwest winds moved into the area during the day on April 16th. These conditions were conducive to the development of severe weather. Strong to severe storms in the form of a QLCS moved northeastward into south central and central Nebraska during the early morning hours of April 16th. The storms produced hail up to the size of half dollars, wind gusts up to 78 mph, and one EF-0 tornado (in Webster County). These storms began with half dollar size hail just before 1 AM CDT in Furnas County and ended with a round of storms producing half dollar size hail in York County before 7:30 AM CDT. There were some reports of high wind, not associated with thunderstorms, from just before 3 AM to just after 1 PM CDT.