Hail in Gage County, Nebraska

Public report of hail estimated up to 2.25 inches in diameter, received via mPING.

During the afternoon and evening hours of May 16, 2026, severe thunderstorms produced large hail, damaging wind gusts, and flash flooding across eastern Nebraska. The storms initiated along a frontal boundary draped across the region as a shortwave disturbance pivoted overhead. Earlier in the day, this shortwave had helped develop a surface low near the Colorado/western Nebraska border, which subsequently tracked eastward toward the Mid-Missouri Valley. Ahead of the low, an axis of 2,000 to 3,000 J/kg of MLCAPE developed near the boundary. This instability, combined with increasing deep-layer shear, created an environment highly supportive of strong to severe thunderstorms.

Sinitially presenting a significant large hail threat before transitioning into a destructive wind event. Through the early to mid-evening hours, widespread hail ranging from quarter (1.00 inch) to baseball (2.75 inches) size bombarded Platte, Saline, Seward, Gage, Lancaster, and Jefferson counties. The most intense hail occurred in Jefferson and Saline counties, highlighted by 2.75-inch hailstones measured near Plymouth and 2.50-inch hailstones reported near De Witt.

As the storms progressed into the late evening and early morning hours of May 17, the primary hazard shifted to severe and damaging straight-line winds. Jefferson County absorbed the brunt of this impact, with multiple mesonet stations and emergency management officials measuring extreme wind gusts between 75 and 88 mph in and around Fairbury. These intense winds caused significant impacts, including downed trees, widespread power outages, and near-zero visibility. The line of storms maintained severe intensity as it pushed eastward, producing gusts in excess of 60 mph across Gage and Richardson counties before eventually clearing the region.

In addition to the severe weather, repeated rounds of heavy rainfall brought flash flooding to southeast Nebraska, primarily impacting Gage, Johnson, Jefferson, and Saline counties. Widespread precipitation totals of 2 to 4 inches were observed across the region, with localized maximums of 5.80 to 7.00 inches concentrated in Gage County.