Severe thunderstorms produced a significant number of hail reports from near Alma to Aurora on this Sunday afternoon and evening. Around 2 PM CST, a thunderstorm initiated over Merrick county and quickly became supercellular. This storm moved due south across Hamilton county from 3 PM to 5 PM CST, producing lots of severe hail the entire way. The ground was covered white in some locations. The hail was mostly between the size of quarters and golf balls, until the storm moved south of Interstate 80. Between the Interstate and Stockham, tennis ball to baseball size hail occurred. A severe wind gust of 58 mph was measured at the Aurora airport while the storm was moving through town. A funnel cloud was also reported just west of town as well. This storm moved into Clay county after 5 PM CST. Other storms formed to its west over Adams county, creating an east-west oriented line of multicell storms. All of these storms continued to produce hail up to the size of golf balls. While this was on-going, another severe thunderstorm formed over Norton county Kansas and moved east-northeast across Harlan and Franklin counties. This storm also produced severe hail up to 2 inches in diameter before it merged with the storms over Adams and Clay counties around 630 PM CST. The combined multicell complex produced a couple more reports of severe hail over northern Webster county before weakening and shifting direction to the southeast.
1004 mb low pressure was over Ontario, Canada. Its associated cold front was slowly sagging south through Nebraska and was largely oriented east-west. A 1005 mb low was along the front near McCook with the dryline extending southwest from this low. In the upper-levels, fairly weak zonal flow was over the U.S., with a broad trof from central Canada into the north-central United States. Temperatures in the preconvective environment were in the upper 70s, with dewpoints in the lower to middle 50s. However, steep mid-level lapse rates of 8 C/km and the associated cold upper troposphere resulted in MLCAPE of 1500-2000 J/kg. 0-6 km shear was around 35 kt. The freezing level was relatively low (around 9800 ft AGL) creating a very favorable environment for lots of hail. SRH was highest immediately behind the front, where surface winds became northeast. It appears the Merrick-Hamilton-Clay county storm may have been along and possibly just behind the front. One thing is for sure, the SRH was greater than what mesoanalysis indicated as it was based on an expected storm motion from the northwest at 10-15 kt. However, actual storm motion was due south.

Hail in ADAMS, NEBRASKA
From 05-MAY-19 17:02:00 to 05-MAY-19 17:06:00 (CST-6)
Location: HASTINGS
Magnitude: 1.50 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: NWS Employee

Hail in HAMILTON, NEBRASKA
From 05-MAY-19 16:18:00 to 05-MAY-19 16:18:00 (CST-6)
Location: GILTNER
Magnitude: 0.88 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Thunderstorm Wind in HAMILTON, NEBRASKA
From 05-MAY-19 15:53:00 to 05-MAY-19 15:53:00 (CST-6)
Location: AURORA MUNI ARPT
Magnitude: 50.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: AWOS

Hail in MERRICK, NEBRASKA
From 05-MAY-19 14:20:00 to 05-MAY-19 14:35:00 (CST-6)
Location: ARCHER
Magnitude: 1.25 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Hail in POLK, NEBRASKA
From 05-MAY-19 15:10:00 to 05-MAY-19 15:10:00 (CST-6)
Location: STROMSBURG
Magnitude: 0.88 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Hail in HOWARD, NEBRASKA
From 05-MAY-19 14:20:00 to 05-MAY-19 14:20:00 (CST-6)
Location: ST LIBORY
Magnitude: 1.50 
Property damage: 25.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Hail in MERRICK, NEBRASKA
From 05-MAY-19 14:45:00 to 05-MAY-19 14:55:00 (CST-6)
Location: CHAPMAN
Magnitude: 1.75 
Property damage: 25.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Hail in HAMILTON, NEBRASKA
From 05-MAY-19 15:13:00 to 05-MAY-19 15:30:00 (CST-6)
Location: MURPHY
Magnitude: 1.75 
Property damage: 25.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Hail in HAMILTON, NEBRASKA
From 05-MAY-19 15:30:00 to 05-MAY-19 15:45:00 (CST-6)
Location: PHILLIPS
Magnitude: 1.75 
Property damage: 25.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Hail in HAMILTON, NEBRASKA
From 05-MAY-19 16:23:00 to 05-MAY-19 16:53:00 (CST-6)
Location: AURORA
Magnitude: 2.75 
Property damage: 100.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Fire Department/Rescue

Hail up to the size of tennis balls and baseballs was reported along this path, including on Highway 14.

Thunderstorm Wind in HAMILTON, NEBRASKA
From 05-MAY-19 16:25:00 to 05-MAY-19 16:25:00 (CST-6)
Location: STOCKHAM
Magnitude: 65.00 EG
Property damage: 150.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Emergency Manager

A newer large metal outbuilding with gravel floors suffered significant damage, losing much of its roof and at least one wall. There was also a pivot just to the south of that outbuilding has at least 3 towers blown over.

Hail in WEBSTER, NEBRASKA
From 05-MAY-19 18:27:00 to 05-MAY-19 18:27:00 (CST-6)
Location: BLUE HILL
Magnitude: 0.88 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Hail in WEBSTER, NEBRASKA
From 05-MAY-19 18:38:00 to 05-MAY-19 18:38:00 (CST-6)
Location: BLUE HILL
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Public

Hail in ADAMS, NEBRASKA
From 05-MAY-19 18:16:00 to 05-MAY-19 18:16:00 (CST-6)
Location: PAULINE
Magnitude: 1.25 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Public

Hail in CLAY, NEBRASKA
From 05-MAY-19 17:55:00 to 05-MAY-19 17:57:00 (CST-6)
Location: GLENVILLE
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Law Enforcement

Hail in ADAMS, NEBRASKA
From 05-MAY-19 17:28:00 to 05-MAY-19 17:28:00 (CST-6)
Location: HASTINGS
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: NWS Employee

Hail in HARLAN, NEBRASKA
From 05-MAY-19 17:04:00 to 05-MAY-19 17:04:00 (CST-6)
Location: ORLEANS
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Hail in ADAMS, NEBRASKA
From 05-MAY-19 17:10:00 to 05-MAY-19 17:20:00 (CST-6)
Location: JUNIATA
Magnitude: 1.25 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Hail in ADAMS, NEBRASKA
From 05-MAY-19 17:00:00 to 05-MAY-19 17:00:00 (CST-6)
Location: (HSI)HASTINGS ARPT
Magnitude: 0.88 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Amateur Radio

Hail in CLAY, NEBRASKA
From 05-MAY-19 17:00:00 to 05-MAY-19 17:00:00 (CST-6)
Location: TRUMBULL
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Social Media

Hail in CLAY, NEBRASKA
From 05-MAY-19 17:02:00 to 05-MAY-19 17:02:00 (CST-6)
Location: SUTTON
Magnitude: 1.75 
Property damage: 25.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Hail in HARLAN, NEBRASKA
From 05-MAY-19 17:25:00 to 05-MAY-19 17:25:00 (CST-6)
Location: RAGAN
Magnitude: 2.00 
Property damage: 25.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Hail in CLAY, NEBRASKA
From 05-MAY-19 17:31:00 to 05-MAY-19 17:31:00 (CST-6)
Location: SUTTON
Magnitude: 1.75 
Property damage: 25.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Hail in FRANKLIN, NEBRASKA
From 05-MAY-19 17:40:00 to 05-MAY-19 17:40:00 (CST-6)
Location: HILDRETH
Magnitude: 2.00 
Property damage: 25.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Public

Hail in ADAMS, NEBRASKA
From 05-MAY-19 17:55:00 to 05-MAY-19 17:55:00 (CST-6)
Location: ROSELAND
Magnitude: 1.50 
Property damage: 25.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: NWS Employee

Hail in FRANKLIN, NEBRASKA
From 05-MAY-19 18:00:00 to 05-MAY-19 18:06:00 (CST-6)
Location: UPLAND
Magnitude: 1.75 
Property damage: 25.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Public

Hail in HAMILTON, NEBRASKA
From 05-MAY-19 15:41:00 to 05-MAY-19 16:15:00 (CST-6)
Location: AURORA
Magnitude: 1.75 
Property damage: 100.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Public

Hail ranging in size from quarters to golf balls was reported along this path. Drifts of quarter to half-dollar size hail was reported at a residence 4 miles north of Aurora.