This was a rather active weather night for South Central Nebraska, highlighted by a handful of severe-criteria wind reports within counties along and south of Interstate 80. Although widespread precipitation affected the area for several hours on this Friday night into early Saturday morning, all severe wind reports occurred between 11:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. CDT as a north-to-south oriented bowing segment charged through. Along and near the leading edge of the surging outflow, wind gusts around 60 MPH were reported near Gibbon, in rural southeastern Adams and southwestern Clay counties, and also near Superior. Well-behind this bowing line, severe gusts associated with a well-defined mesoscale convective vortex (MCV) brought down numerous tree limbs in Cozad. Although there were no confirmed tornadoes, the presence of seasonably-strong low level shear aided the development of a few brief, radar-indicated rotational signatures, one of which prompted a short-fused Tornado Warning for southern Adams County. Rainfall-wise, though many areas roughly southwest of a Ravenna-Hastings-Hebron line picked up 1-2, the fairly progressive nature of the heaviest cores held flooding issues to a minimum, save for typical short-term street flooding in communities such as Elm Creek.
Timing-wise, most of South Central Nebraska remained rain-free until after dark, save for a narrow band of weak convection that lifted through several northern and eastern counties during the early evening. However, a pair of expanding severe storm clusters gradually took aim on the local area as they approached from southwest Nebraska and northwest Kansas, eventually merging into an organized mesoscale convective system (MCS) that surged into western portions of South Central Nebraska between 10-11 p.m. CDT. By the midnight to 1 a.m. CDT time frame, the primary bowing segment raced through counties south of Interstate 80 and east of Highway 281 before departing into southeast Nebraska and northeast Kansas. In its wake, a large shield of light to moderate rain persisted across the local area for most of the night. In the mid/upper levels, this event featured slightly-stronger-than-average forcing by early August standards, as a well-defined lead disturbance moved out of the Central Rockies into the Central Plains in quasi-zonal flow aloft, downstream from a larger scale parent trough centered over Nevada. By the time the MCS entered the local area, convection was being sustained/enhanced by a 30-40 knot southerly low level jet evident at 850 millibars. At the surface, South Central Nebraska featured a light easterly flow regime, to the north of a quasi-stationary front loosely draped across the southern half of Kansas. Around the time of the severe wind reports, mesoscale parameters featured 1000-2000 J/kg most unstable CAPE, deep layer wind shear of 30-40 knots and rather strong 0-1 kilometer low level shear of 20-30 knots.

Thunderstorm Wind in BUFFALO, NEBRASKA
From 07-AUG-15 22:40:00 to 07-AUG-15 22:40:00 (CST-6)
Location: GIBBON
Magnitude: 52.00 EG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Wind gusts were estimated to be near 60 MPH at campground area near Interstate 80 exit 285.

Thunderstorm Wind in DAWSON, NEBRASKA
From 07-AUG-15 23:10:00 to 07-AUG-15 23:10:00 (CST-6)
Location: COZAD
Magnitude: 52.00 EG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Wind gusts were estimated to be near 60 MPH, and were likely associated with a mesoscale convective vortex (MCV). The NWS coop observer in town reported small to medium tree limbs down across town.

Thunderstorm Wind in NUCKOLLS, NEBRASKA
From 07-AUG-15 23:14:00 to 07-AUG-15 23:14:00 (CST-6)
Location: SUPERIOR
Magnitude: 52.00 EG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Wind gusts were estimated to be near 60 MPH.

Thunderstorm Wind in ADAMS, NEBRASKA
From 07-AUG-15 22:54:00 to 07-AUG-15 22:54:00 (CST-6)
Location: PAULINE
Magnitude: 52.00 EG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: NWS Employee

Wind gusts were estimated to be near 60 MPH by an off-duty NWS employee.

Thunderstorm Wind in CLAY, NEBRASKA
From 07-AUG-15 22:59:00 to 07-AUG-15 22:59:00 (CST-6)
Location: GLENVILLE
Magnitude: 50.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet