Thunderstorm Wind — Pawnee, Nebraska

2025-03-14 · near Armour, Pawnee, Nebraska

Event narrative

Emergency manager report of a farm shop severely damaged by thunderstorm wind gusts with an estimated wind speed of 65 mph. The report was delayed, with the time estimated from radar.

Wider weather episode

On March 14, 2025, a low pressure system moving across eastern Nebraska into western Iowa extended a dryline across the region, triggering storm development in eastern Nebraska and southwest Iowa during the afternoon and evening. Elevated instability, dry air near the surface (evident in inverted-V sounding profiles), and strong speed shear aloft contributed to the development of storms capable of producing severe winds'with gusts up to 78 mph'and hail up to 1 inch in diameter.

By evening, a primary arc of thunderstorms organized in southeast Nebraska and pushed northward into northeast Nebraska and western Iowa. In the wake of this main thunderstorm complex, strong non-thunderstorm wind gusts persisted, reaching 65 to 79 mph. These winds prompted a High Wind Warning for portions of southeast Nebraska and southwest Iowa.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (40.1500, -96.4100)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1245315. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.