Hail — Clay, Nebraska

2025-05-19 · near Fairfield, Clay, Nebraska

Wider weather episode

For the third time in less than a week, severe weather impacted south central Nebraska. A narrow, broken line of thunderstorms formed roughly along Nebraska Highway 14 and slowly moved east during the afternoon hours. Though reports of severe weather were limited, hail was very large in some spots. The town of Edgar in Clay county was hardest hit with baseball sized hail. Most homes in towns sustained at least some damage, including broken windows, shredded siding and roof damage. Tree damage was extensive as well. Half-dollar to ping-pong sized hail was reported in parts of Nance, Merrick and Polk counties. By late afternoon, the storms weakened slightly and moved east of south central Nebraska.

A narrow axis of unstable air forced its way into south central Nebraska ahead of a surface and upper level low pressure to the west. Mixed-layer CAPE of 3,000 J/KG developed along and east of a line from Fullerton to Superior. Coupled with a steep mid-level lapse of 8 degrees C/KM, the environment became variable for severe thunderstorms. By early afternoon, surface low pressure near Grand Island was the triple point for a trailing cold front to the west, advancing warm from to the northeast and developing dryline to the southeast. The dryline became the convective focus for the thunderstorms. Effective wind shear was strong ranging from 50-60 knots, but the low-level wind regime was less favorable for tornadoes in south central Nebraska compared to other locations in the region.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (40.4400, -98.0800)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1270042. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.