This Wednesday afternoon and evening featured the first multiple severe thunderstorm event of the spring season in South Central Nebraska, as an axis of heavy rainfall and a smattering of severe-criteria hail reports concentrated within a narrow corridor near a slow-moving cold front. The most-active weather focused within a roughly 30-mile wide axis extending from Harlan and Franklin counties in the southwest, then northeast through the Minden, Hastings, Grand Island, Aurora and Osceola areas.  Most hail was only up to nickel or quarter size, including several reports from the vicinity of Juniata, Hastings, Ragan, Trumbull and Kenesaw. However, larger hail to golf ball size was reported in Franklin, and two-inch diameter hail fell near Prosser. On a positive note, many of the same areas that observed hail also received soaking rainfall of at least 1-3 inches, which was much-needed in the wake of a rather dry winter and early spring. A few of the highest storm total amounts from NeRAIN observers featured 4.15 two miles west of Doniphan and 3.13 four miles of Aurora. Unfortunately, some portions of the 24-county area missed out on decent rainfall, as locations primarily northwest of a line from Beaver City-Ravenna-Greeley only averaged around 0.40 or less and parts of Gosper and Dawson counties barely saw a drop.
As for event-timing, initially semi-isolated strong to severe storms flared up within the aforementioned narrow frontal zone between 330-430 pm CDT. For the next several hours, multiple storms trained along this same general corridor, exhibiting multicell and brief supercell structures as they congealed into a nearly solid line. Between 730-830 pm CDT, this activity steadily weakened below severe thresholds, largely due to the onset of diurnal cooling and the increasingly outflow-dominant mode. As storms weakened around sunset, the expanding outflow boundaries allowed for increasing coverage of generally weak convection across the majority of South Central Nebraska, with light to moderate rainfall lingering well into the morning hours of the 24th. In the mid-upper levels, the primary forcing for this event was provided by low-amplitude shortwave troughs kicking out across the Central Plains in southwesterly flow, downstream from a large-scale trough axis slowly sliding east through the Rockies. At the surface, the aforementioned, well-defined cold front was the primary low-level trigger, as this front stretched from northeast Nebraska through northwest Kansas during the late afternoon where it connected to a strong 993 millibar low centered in far eastern Colorado. Although low-level moisture was seasonably sparse with surface dewpoints only averaging in the upper 40s-low 50s F, steep low-mid level lapse rates promoted modest mixed-layer CAPE of 500-1000 J/kg in the presence of respectable 0-6 kilometer vertical wind shear of 40-50 knots.

Hail in ADAMS, NEBRASKA
From 23-APR-14 15:35:00 to 23-APR-14 15:35:00 (CST-6)
Location: (HSI)HASTINGS ARPT
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: NWS Employee

Hail in ADAMS, NEBRASKA
From 23-APR-14 15:45:00 to 23-APR-14 15:45:00 (CST-6)
Location: (HSI)HASTINGS ARPT
Magnitude: 0.75 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: NWS Employee

Hail in HAMILTON, NEBRASKA
From 23-APR-14 15:51:00 to 23-APR-14 15:51:00 (CST-6)
Location: PHILLIPS
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Storm Chaser

Quarter size hail was reported near mile marker 320 on Interstate 80.

Hail in ADAMS, NEBRASKA
From 23-APR-14 16:25:00 to 23-APR-14 16:25:00 (CST-6)
Location: HASTINGS
Magnitude: 0.75 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: NWS Employee

Hail in HARLAN, NEBRASKA
From 23-APR-14 16:25:00 to 23-APR-14 16:25:00 (CST-6)
Location: RAGAN
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Public

Hail in CLAY, NEBRASKA
From 23-APR-14 16:28:00 to 23-APR-14 16:28:00 (CST-6)
Location: TRUMBULL
Magnitude: 0.88 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Hail in HALL, NEBRASKA
From 23-APR-14 16:30:00 to 23-APR-14 16:30:00 (CST-6)
Location: DONIPHAN
Magnitude: 0.75 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Law Enforcement

Dime to penny size hail occurred in Doniphan.

Hail in HAMILTON, NEBRASKA
From 23-APR-14 16:34:00 to 23-APR-14 16:34:00 (CST-6)
Location: STOCKHAM
Magnitude: 0.75 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Hail in ADAMS, NEBRASKA
From 23-APR-14 16:45:00 to 23-APR-14 16:45:00 (CST-6)
Location: KENESAW
Magnitude: 0.88 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Public

Nickel size hail nearly covered the ground. This report was reported via TWITTER.

Hail in ADAMS, NEBRASKA
From 23-APR-14 17:37:00 to 23-APR-14 17:37:00 (CST-6)
Location: KENESAW
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Public

This report along with a photo was received via TWITTER.

Hail in ADAMS, NEBRASKA
From 23-APR-14 17:45:00 to 23-APR-14 17:45:00 (CST-6)
Location: PROSSER
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Public

This report was received via Facebook.

Heavy Rain in HALL, NEBRASKA
From 23-APR-14 06:00:00 to 24-APR-14 06:00:00 (CST-6)
Location: DONIPHAN
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

A 24 hour rainfall total of 4.15 inches occurred about 2 miles west of Doniphan. This report is from an NERAIN observer.

Heavy Rain in HAMILTON, NEBRASKA
From 23-APR-14 07:00:00 to 24-APR-14 07:00:00 (CST-6)
Location: MURPHY
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

A 24 hour rainfall total of 3.13 inches occurred about 2 miles east southeast of Murphy or 4 miles west of Aurora. This report was from an NERAIN observer.

Heavy Rain in ADAMS, NEBRASKA
From 23-APR-14 06:53:00 to 24-APR-14 06:53:00 (CST-6)
Location: (HSI)HASTINGS ARPT
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

A 24 hour rainfall total of 3.09 inches occurred about 4 miles north of the Hastings Municipal Airport, or about 5 miles northwest of Hastings. This report was from an NERAIN observer.

Heavy Rain in HAMILTON, NEBRASKA
From 23-APR-14 07:00:00 to 24-APR-14 07:00:00 (CST-6)
Location: HAMPTON
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

A 24 hour rainfall total of 3.00 inches occurred about 2 miles east southeast of Hampton. This report was from an NERAIN observer.

Heavy Rain in ADAMS, NEBRASKA
From 23-APR-14 15:00:00 to 24-APR-14 07:30:00 (CST-6)
Location: JUNIATA
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

A 24 hour rainfall total of 3.25 inches occurred about a mile east of Juniata. This report was from an NERAIN observer.

Hail in FRANKLIN, NEBRASKA
From 23-APR-14 15:00:00 to 23-APR-14 15:00:00 (CST-6)
Location: FRANKLIN
Magnitude: 1.75 
Property damage: 25.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Hail in FRANKLIN, NEBRASKA
From 23-APR-14 14:55:00 to 23-APR-14 14:55:00 (CST-6)
Location: BLOOMINGTON
Magnitude: 1.25 
Property damage: 10.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Quarter to half dollar size hail fell.

Hail in ADAMS, NEBRASKA
From 23-APR-14 17:48:00 to 23-APR-14 17:48:00 (CST-6)
Location: PROSSER
Magnitude: 2.00 
Property damage: 25.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Half dollar to hen egg size hail fell.

Hail in FRANKLIN, NEBRASKA
From 23-APR-14 15:05:00 to 23-APR-14 15:05:00 (CST-6)
Location: FRANKLIN
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Law Enforcement

Hail in FRANKLIN, NEBRASKA
From 23-APR-14 15:28:00 to 23-APR-14 15:34:00 (CST-6)
Location: MACON
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

Hail up to one inch diameter fell for 6 minutes. This report was from a Nebraska Rainfall Assessment and Information Network observer. The time was estimated from radar data.

Heavy Rain in HAMILTON, NEBRASKA
From 23-APR-14 07:00:00 to 24-APR-14 07:00:00 (CST-6)
Location: HORDVILLE
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

A 24 hour rainfall total of 3.01 inches occurred about 3 miles southeast of Hordville. This report was from an NERAIN observer.