Just before 2 a.m. CDT on this Wednesday, a severe thunderstorm rapidly formed over southern Gosper County. This storm became supercellular as it slowly propagated southeastward into Furnas and Harlan counties. The supercell split between 2:30 and 3:30 a.m. CDT, with the left-mover propagating eastward across northern Harlan County. While it was difficult to obtain severe weather reports given the time of night, severe hail was reported, with the largest the size of baseballs in the town of Ragan. This hail was associated with the left-moving storm. However, radar data suggested that very large hail may also have occurred with the right-mover over sparsely populated portions of eastern Furnas County. The slow movement of the right-mover, combined with another weaker storm that followed it, resulted in a swath of very heavy rainfall of 2 and 3 inches. Other scattered single cell and multicell thunderstorms developed around this supercell activity. All of these storms and their remnants continued southeast and dissipated around sunrise. In the meantime, another cluster of strong thunderstorms was moving southeast from the North Platte area. This cluster weakened as it moved into Gosper, Furnas and Harlan counties around mid-morning, but not before producing 1 inch hail in the town of Arapahoe.
These storms formed north of a cold front that slipped south through the region the previous morning. The forcing for these thunderstorms was extremely subtle and not readily identifiable. Hot subtropical high pressure was over the western two-thirds of the country, centered over New Mexico. In fact, based on the evening radiosonde launch at Grand Junction, Colorado, the observed 500 mb height was 6000 m (above sea level). The associated ridge axis extended north through Wyoming and Montana, resulting in northwest flow over the Central Plains. Underneath, the flow was easterly from the surface up to 800 mb. So, the most probable reason for convective initiation was upslope flow. Warm air advection and frontogenesis were non-existent. While the inflow region could not be determined, the enlarged hodographs suggested low level and deep layer shear were sufficient for supercell storm structures. MUCAPE was estimated between 1000 and 2000 J/kg.

Hail in FURNAS, NEBRASKA
From 23-JUL-14 01:58:00 to 23-JUL-14 01:58:00 (CST-6)
Location: EDISON
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Hail in HARLAN, NEBRASKA
From 23-JUL-14 02:35:00 to 23-JUL-14 02:38:00 (CST-6)
Location: RAGAN
Magnitude: 2.75 
Property damage: 100.00K
Crop damage: 2.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Hail reports ranged in size from ping pong balls to baseballs.

Hail in FURNAS, NEBRASKA
From 23-JUL-14 03:26:00 to 23-JUL-14 03:26:00 (CST-6)
Location: EDISON
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Hail in FURNAS, NEBRASKA
From 23-JUL-14 09:25:00 to 23-JUL-14 09:27:00 (CST-6)
Location: ARAPAHOE
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Heavy Rain in FURNAS, NEBRASKA
From 22-JUL-14 06:00:00 to 23-JUL-14 06:00:00 (CST-6)
Location: OXFORD
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Broadcast Media

Rainfall total over the 24 hour period.