Damaging winds and hail up to the size of ping pong balls occurred in some locations on this Tuesday afternoon and evening. This event began with the initial thunderstorms forming near the state line just south and east of McCook between 2 and 3 p.m. CST. These storms expanded northeast into Gosper and Furnas Counties, where 1 inch hail fell in and just north of Arapahoe. They continued moving northeast into Phelps County, and eventually into Buffalo County through 6 p.m. CST where they dissipated. No additional severe weather was reported with these storms once they left Gosper and Furnas Counties. However, around 4:30 p.m. CST, new storms formed over Adams County. Multicell development resulted in storms expanding into a cluster that enveloped northern Adams and southern Hall Counties. This cluster of storms eventually tracked northeast all the way to Columbus, affecting Hamilton, Howard, Merrick, Nance, and Polk Counties. These storms produced multiple reports of severe hail, the largest of which was the size of ping pong balls near Hordville, in northeast Hamilton County. Snapped off branches and trees were blown down in portions of St. Paul and Grand Island. A semi trailer was also blown over on Highway 81 in Polk County.
At dawn, a quasi-stationary front extended from the Ohio Valley through Missouri, turning northwest into Kansas and Nebraska. This front lifted northeast as a warm front and was east of Nebraska by midday. A very weak cold front was sagging southward through the Northern Plains. This front entered northern Nebraska during the afternoon and extended roughly along I-80 from west to east by mid-evening. The upper levels were characterized by zonal flow, with a very slight trough over the Pacific Northwest and a slight ridge over the Great Lakes. Despite Nebraska being just south of the Westerlies, a weak/subtle shortwave trough was moving through. This was a hot, humid day, with high temperatures in the lower to middle 90s, and dewpoints in the lower to middle 70s. Combined with very steep mid-level lapse rates of 8 deg C/km, MLCAPE was between 2000 and 4000 J/kg, with the highest values where dewpoints were highest, north and east of Grand Island. Due to the weak wind profile, effective deep layer shear was only 25 kts.

Thunderstorm Wind in HALL, NEBRASKA
From 05-JUL-16 18:07:00 to 05-JUL-16 18:07:00 (CST-6)
Location: GRAND IS
Magnitude: 52.00 EG
Property damage: 5.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Law Enforcement

Wind gusts estimated near 60 MPH resulted in a few downed trees and power outages.

Thunderstorm Wind in HALL, NEBRASKA
From 05-JUL-16 18:16:00 to 05-JUL-16 18:16:00 (CST-6)
Location: DONIPHAN
Magnitude: 52.00 EG
Property damage: 5.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Wind gusts were estimated to be near 60 MPH.

Hail in ADAMS, NEBRASKA
From 05-JUL-16 16:54:00 to 05-JUL-16 17:07:00 (CST-6)
Location: (HSI)HASTINGS ARPT
Magnitude: 1.25 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Public

Thunderstorm Wind in HOWARD, NEBRASKA
From 05-JUL-16 18:49:00 to 05-JUL-16 18:49:00 (CST-6)
Location: ST PAUL
Magnitude: 61.00 EG
Property damage: 5.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Social Media

Local country club and golf course suffered tree damage as a result of damaging winds. One extremely large tree approximately 5 feet in diameter was blown down. Large branches were downed from other trees.

Hail in HAMILTON, NEBRASKA
From 05-JUL-16 18:53:00 to 05-JUL-16 18:53:00 (CST-6)
Location: HORDVILLE
Magnitude: 1.50 
Property damage: 10.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Thunderstorm Wind in POLK, NEBRASKA
From 05-JUL-16 19:55:00 to 05-JUL-16 19:55:00 (CST-6)
Location: SHELBY
Magnitude: 61.00 EG
Property damage: 20.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Wind gusts estimated to be near 70 MPH resulted in tree damage and a semi truck being tipped over on Highway 81 between Roads 42 and 43.

Hail in MERRICK, NEBRASKA
From 05-JUL-16 19:12:00 to 05-JUL-16 19:12:00 (CST-6)
Location: CLARKS
Magnitude: 0.88 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Hail in ADAMS, NEBRASKA
From 05-JUL-16 17:30:00 to 05-JUL-16 17:30:00 (CST-6)
Location: (HSI)HASTINGS ARPT
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: NWS Employee

Hail in FURNAS, NEBRASKA
From 05-JUL-16 15:09:00 to 05-JUL-16 15:09:00 (CST-6)
Location: ARAPAHOE
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Hail in GOSPER, NEBRASKA
From 05-JUL-16 15:13:00 to 05-JUL-16 15:13:00 (CST-6)
Location: ELWOOD
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Hail in FURNAS, NEBRASKA
From 05-JUL-16 15:40:00 to 05-JUL-16 15:40:00 (CST-6)
Location: EDISON
Magnitude: 0.75 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Hail in HALL, NEBRASKA
From 05-JUL-16 18:07:00 to 05-JUL-16 18:07:00 (CST-6)
Location: GRAND IS
Magnitude: 0.88 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Hail in MERRICK, NEBRASKA
From 05-JUL-16 18:36:00 to 05-JUL-16 18:36:00 (CST-6)
Location: CHAPMAN
Magnitude: 0.88 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Storm Chaser

Hail in HAMILTON, NEBRASKA
From 05-JUL-16 18:40:00 to 05-JUL-16 18:40:00 (CST-6)
Location: HORDVILLE
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Public

Hail in HOWARD, NEBRASKA
From 05-JUL-16 18:40:00 to 05-JUL-16 18:40:00 (CST-6)
Location: DANNEBROG
Magnitude: 1.25 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Public

Hail in MERRICK, NEBRASKA
From 05-JUL-16 19:11:00 to 05-JUL-16 19:11:00 (CST-6)
Location: CLARKS
Magnitude: 1.25 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Storm Chaser