A squall line brought wind damage and strong to severe wind gusts to much of south central Nebraska during the very early morning hours on this Wednesday. Then, isolated storms developed in the afternoon and produced severe hail. During the evening hours Tuesday, a mature squall line developed over the Sandhills. It propagated southeast and into the region beginning around 11:30 p.m. CST. The squall line was at peak intensity as it entered Dawson, Howard, and Valley Counties. It rapidly weakened after 12:30 a.m. CST. However, the remnant outflow continued to produce strong to severe winds through 3 a.m. CST, well after the deep convection had dissipated. Widespread winds between 50 and 60 mph were measured, but peak wind gusts included 61 mph at Grand Island, 63 mph near Oxford, 64 mph at Lexington, and 76 mph at Edison. Tree damage was reported in several locations, with trees blown over and tree limbs snapped off. The last strong wind gust measured was 56 mph at York, at 3:03 a.m. CST. Isolated power outages occurred across the region.
Later in the afternoon, a small cluster of multicell thunderstorms developed over the Sandhills. A few isolated storms managed to develop along the southwest flank of its outflow boundary, though most of them were weak, short-lived, and sub-severe. A single-cell storm, which exhibited multi-cell characteristics at times, dominated the other cells over Custer County. Just after 7 p.m. CST, this storm moved into northwest Buffalo County and produced a few reports of dime to quarter size hail. By 8 p.m. CST, the storm began weakening and then rapidly dissipated over southwest Buffalo County.
The surface map was complex. The thunderstorms that initially spawned the squall line developed between two fronts. A stationary front extended west from the mid-Atlantic region, through the mid-Mississippi Valley into Oklahoma, then northwest into western Kansas and Nebraska. A weak cold front extended from Lake Superior to the northwest tip of Nebraska into Wyoming and Idaho. The afternoon storms formed behind this front which was surging southward. It was located along the Nebraska-Kansas state line by 6 p.m. CST. In the upper levels, the Westerlies were fairly zonal over the northern third of the U.S., with subtropical highs over the Southwest and off the Carolina Coast. A weak shortwave trough was embedded in the Westerlies over the Dakota's Tuesday evening. By Wednesday evening, it had progressed into Minnesota and Iowa, with some slight amplification and more of a cyclonic look between the two highs. Just prior to the arrival of the squall line, surface temperatures were in the upper 60s to lower 70s, with dewpoints in the middle 60s. Mid-level lapse rates were steep, between 7.5 and 7.9 degrees C/km, resulting in MLCAPE around 1000 J/kg. Effectively deep layer shear was less than 25 kts. The MCS was moving out of an area of more favorable shear, resulting in the shear within the cold pool becoming dominant, and the demise of the deep convection. With the isolated hail producer later that evening, temperatures behind the front were in the lower 80s, with dewpoints still in the middle to upper 60s. Mid-level lapse rates were moist adiabatic. Nevertheless, MLCAPE was between 1500 and 2000 J/kg. Effective deep layer shear was around 30 kts.

Thunderstorm Wind in BUFFALO, NEBRASKA
From 27-JUL-16 00:12:00 to 27-JUL-16 00:12:00 (CST-6)
Location: KEARNEY
Magnitude: 50.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

Thunderstorm Wind in KEARNEY, NEBRASKA
From 27-JUL-16 00:25:00 to 27-JUL-16 00:25:00 (CST-6)
Location: NEWARK
Magnitude: 50.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

Thunderstorm Wind in HALL, NEBRASKA
From 27-JUL-16 01:53:00 to 27-JUL-16 01:53:00 (CST-6)
Location: (GRI)GRAND IS RGNL A
Magnitude: 53.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: ASOS

Hail in BUFFALO, NEBRASKA
From 27-JUL-16 19:30:00 to 27-JUL-16 19:30:00 (CST-6)
Location: MILLER
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Public

Hail in BUFFALO, NEBRASKA
From 27-JUL-16 19:38:00 to 27-JUL-16 19:38:00 (CST-6)
Location: MILLER
Magnitude: 0.75 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Hail in BUFFALO, NEBRASKA
From 27-JUL-16 19:50:00 to 27-JUL-16 19:50:00 (CST-6)
Location: AMHERST
Magnitude: 0.88 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Thunderstorm Wind in DAWSON, NEBRASKA
From 26-JUL-16 23:55:00 to 26-JUL-16 23:55:00 (CST-6)
Location: LEXINGTON ARPT
Magnitude: 56.00 MG
Property damage: 5.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: AWOS

Damage reported across town included tree and minor roof damage, as well as a lighted restaurant sign blown off.

Thunderstorm Wind in VALLEY, NEBRASKA
From 26-JUL-16 23:40:00 to 26-JUL-16 23:40:00 (CST-6)
Location: ORD
Magnitude: 52.00 EG
Property damage: 5.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Wind gusts estimated to be near 60 MPH resulted in tree branches 3-4 inches in diameter being downed. The town of Ord lost power.

Thunderstorm Wind in SHERMAN, NEBRASKA
From 26-JUL-16 23:45:00 to 26-JUL-16 23:45:00 (CST-6)
Location: LOUP CITY
Magnitude: 52.00 EG
Property damage: 5.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Social Media

Wind gusts were estimated to be near 60 MPH. Two tree limbs approximately 6-8 inches in diameter were downed, and a roof-mounted TV antenna was left hanging off the side of the house.

Thunderstorm Wind in BUFFALO, NEBRASKA
From 26-JUL-16 23:55:00 to 26-JUL-16 23:55:00 (CST-6)
Location: MILLER
Magnitude: 52.00 EG
Property damage: 5.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Wind gusts were estimated to be near 60 MPH. Tree damage was reported near Highway 183 and the South Loup River.

Thunderstorm Wind in FURNAS, NEBRASKA
From 27-JUL-16 00:26:00 to 27-JUL-16 00:26:00 (CST-6)
Location: OXFORD
Magnitude: 55.00 MG
Property damage: 5.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

These winds were associated with a gust front from a squall line that passed just to the northeast.

Thunderstorm Wind in FURNAS, NEBRASKA
From 27-JUL-16 00:27:00 to 27-JUL-16 00:27:00 (CST-6)
Location: EDISON
Magnitude: 66.00 MG
Property damage: 15.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

These winds were associated with a gust front from a squall line that passed just to the northeast. Tree limbs were downed and power was out in town.