Thunderstorm Wind in Butler County, Nebraska

Photos shared via social media of a destroyed outbuilding and a large, downed tree branch which did damage to the roof of a home. Time estimated based on radar.

A line of thunderstorms brought hail and damaging wind gusts to eastern Nebraska on the afternoon of September 19th, 2025. The mid-level atmospheric pattern featured a vigorous trough over southwestern Nebraska, with a belt of stronger mid and upper-level winds circling its eastern edge across central and eastern portions of the state. This setup, combined with a surface low-level convergence zone over eastern Nebraska, provided the focus for storm initiation. Although the environment had relatively steep lapse rates (contributing to instability) and a generally unidirectional wind profile with only modest vertical shear, storms were able to quickly initiate and intensify, though their life spans were relatively short. The first severe report was a damaging 80 MPH wind gust (the highest of the event) that snapped trees and power lines six miles northeast of Tobias in Saline County at 1:36 PM CST. Wind damage continued with a large tree branch falling on a house near Friend (1:48 PM CST) and a measured 59 MPH gust west of Dorchester (1:56 PM CST). As the activity shifted northeastward, it transitioned to large hail reports, beginning with one-inch hail in Hooper (Dodge County) at 2:35 PM CST. Between 3:10 PM and 3:35 PM CST, nickel-to-quarter-sized hail impacted areas west-northwest of Lincoln (Lancaster County), and 1.25-inch hail fell in Lyons (Burt County). The event's final damaging wind report occurred at 3:50 PM CST in Douglas County, where large tree branches were snapped, one landing on a house two miles west of Omaha (estimated 60 MPH wind damage).