A few storms produced severe hail a possibly a couple severe wind gusts on this Friday afternoon and evening. The first couple storms formed southwest of Holdrege between 3 and 4 PM CST. These storms were joined by other small storms as they moved northeast over the following hour, between Lexington and Holdrege. Between 5 and 7 PM CST, other storms formed along an axis from Norton, KS to O'Neill, NE. Among the original storms, cell mergers occurred over northwest Phelps County, southeast Dawson County, and extreme western Buffalo County, forming a multicell cluster oriented from southwest to northeast. New cells formed to the southwest with cells repeatedly training over this area through 9 PM CST. A spotter estimated 3.5 to 4 inches of rain in Elm Creek. From 6 to 8 PM CST, these storms produced hail in several locations from Overton into western Buffalo County, between Amherst and Riverdale. The largest of this hail was 1.5 inches in diameter. A couple spotters estimated winds of 60 to 65 mph. Several new, small storms formed further to the south between 8 and 9 PM CST, and as they moved northeast, they expanded to the east-southeast to near Geneva. As this occurred, all of the storms lifted northeast, bringing an end to where thunderstorms occurred earlier in the evening. These storms were not severe, except for one storm that briefly produced hail up to the size of nickels in Kearney County, around 845 PM CST.
During the previous night, a strong cool front moved into Nebraska and became quasi-stationary from southwest to northeast across the state. This front remained stationary throughout the day, and then it slowly inched to the southeast during the evening. The training storms may have been a direct result of the slow movement of this front. In the upper-levels, a longwave trough was over the western U.S., with a ridge over the East. Winds were from the southwest over the Central Plains. When the initial storms developed, surface temperatures were in the lower 90s, with dewpoints in the upper 50s to near 60. Mid-level lapse rates were poor, but MLCAPE was still between 1000 and 2000 J/kg. Effective deep layer shear was 25 to 30 kts.

Thunderstorm Wind in DAWSON, NEBRASKA
From 15-SEP-17 17:40:00 to 15-SEP-17 17:40:00 (CST-6)
Location: OVERTON
Magnitude: 56.00 EG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Wind gusts were estimated to be near 65 MPH. The wind was accompanied by pea size hail.

Hail in DAWSON, NEBRASKA
From 15-SEP-17 18:00:00 to 15-SEP-17 18:01:00 (CST-6)
Location: OVERTON
Magnitude: 1.25 
Property damage: 25.00K
Crop damage: 150.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Hail in BUFFALO, NEBRASKA
From 15-SEP-17 18:40:00 to 15-SEP-17 18:45:00 (CST-6)
Location: ELM CREEK
Magnitude: 1.25 
Property damage: 25.00K
Crop damage: 150.00K
Reported by: Law Enforcement

Hail in BUFFALO, NEBRASKA
From 15-SEP-17 19:45:00 to 15-SEP-17 19:45:00 (CST-6)
Location: ELM CREEK
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Thunderstorm Wind in BUFFALO, NEBRASKA
From 15-SEP-17 19:37:00 to 15-SEP-17 19:40:00 (CST-6)
Location: AMHERST
Magnitude: 52.00 EG
Property damage: 200.00K
Crop damage: 3.00M
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Wind gusts were estimated to be near 60 MPH and was accompanied by hail up to the size of ping pong balls.

Hail in BUFFALO, NEBRASKA
From 15-SEP-17 19:30:00 to 15-SEP-17 19:30:00 (CST-6)
Location: AMHERST
Magnitude: 0.88 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Hail in BUFFALO, NEBRASKA
From 15-SEP-17 19:53:00 to 15-SEP-17 19:53:00 (CST-6)
Location: RIVERDALE
Magnitude: 0.88 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Hail in KEARNEY, NEBRASKA
From 15-SEP-17 20:46:00 to 15-SEP-17 20:46:00 (CST-6)
Location: AXTELL
Magnitude: 0.88 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Law Enforcement

Hail in BUFFALO, NEBRASKA
From 15-SEP-17 19:37:00 to 15-SEP-17 19:42:00 (CST-6)
Location: AMHERST
Magnitude: 1.50 
Property damage: 200.00K
Crop damage: 3.00M
Reported by: NWS Employee

Hail ranged in size from quarters to ping pong balls.

Heavy Rain in BUFFALO, NEBRASKA
From 15-SEP-17 16:30:00 to 15-SEP-17 20:30:00 (CST-6)
Location: ELM CREEK
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Rainfall amounts between 3.5 and 4 inches fell in Elm Creek, resulting in some minor street flooding in town.