This was an active late Saturday evening-early Sunday morning of thunderstorms across much of South Central Nebraska, featuring several reports of large hail and especially damaging winds mainly between midnight-3 a.m. CDT as two storm complexes rolled through and eventually merged. Focusing first on severe winds, most estimated or measured gusts were in the 50-70 MPH range and associated with primarily tree damage. However a few isolated structural damage reports were more suggestive of at least 75-80 MPH, including: 1) 10 power poles blown down and three grain bins destroyed (along with some overturned irrigation pivots) west of Aurora...2) grain bin damage and overturned pivots north of Minden. Hail was more limited overall, but stones reached golf ball size at Pauline and ping pong ball size in Davenport, while Hastings saw nickel to quarter size hail. Rainfall amounts varied considerably (most of South Central Nebraska had less than one-half inch), but a fairly narrow swath of at least 1.50-2.50 targeted parts of primarily Thayer/Nuckolls/Clay counties, with one unofficial report as high as 3.17 near Belvidere. Flooding was fairly minimal, although one rural road along the Fillmore/Thayer County line still had water running across it around sunrise.
As for storm mode/evolution, this was a somewhat complex event. The first local convection of the night entered the Furnas County area out of northwest Kansas after 11 p.m. CDT, in the form of a compact linear mesoscale convective system (MCS) on a weakening trend. But then, between midnight-1 a.m. CDT, a broken band of intense, semi-discrete storms erupted out ahead of this MCS along a west-east axis centered from Phelps-Adams-Thayer counties (likely in response to the onset of a healthy low level jet). However, these initially semi-discrete storms (which accounted for all large hail reports) quickly consolidated/grew upscale into a new linear MCS that charged north-northeast across the Highway 6/Interstate 80 corridors between 1-2 a.m. CDT, gradually merging with the initial MCS racing up from the southwest in the process. During the ensuing hour, the two complexes completed a full merger; the northern end weakening as it reached far northeastern counties (such as Nance/Polk), while the southern end remained severe through Fillmore/Thayer counties before departing the local area into southeast Nebraska. This ended any severe threat for the night, although weaker storms and broader showers persisted until around sunrise in some spots. This was a ripe setup for severe nocturnal storms, especially with the exit region of a 30-40 knot southerly low level jet (evident at 850 millibars) aimed into the heart of South Central Nebraska after dark, and tapping into a large reservoir of most-unstable CAPE as high as 2000-3000 J/kg. In the mid-upper levels, flow over the region was not overly-strong, but contained various low-amplitude disturbances and was in the process of transitioning more southwesterly in response to a larger-scale trough setting up over the northwestern United States. There were no distinct surface features across the local area, but steady light southeast breezes prior to storm initiation maintained seasonably-high dewpoints in the mid-60s to low-70 F. Likely one of the main limiting factors against a more robust severe threat was only modest deep-layer wind shear around 30 knots.

Thunderstorm Wind in KEARNEY, NEBRASKA
From 27-JUN-20 23:58:00 to 27-JUN-20 23:58:00 (CST-6)
Location: NEWARK
Magnitude: 65.00 EG
Property damage: 200.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Public

Wind gusts estimated to be near 75 MPH damaged a grain bin and a shed. Several trees were damaged and 2 pivots were overturned.

Thunderstorm Wind in HAMILTON, NEBRASKA
From 28-JUN-20 00:50:00 to 28-JUN-20 00:50:00 (CST-6)
Location: MURPHY
Magnitude: 70.00 EG
Property damage: 400.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Emergency Manager

At least 10 power poles were downed along Highway 24. Grain gins south of the highway were destroyed and at least 4 pivots were overturned.

Thunderstorm Wind in HALL, NEBRASKA
From 28-JUN-20 00:30:00 to 28-JUN-20 00:35:00 (CST-6)
Location: DONIPHAN
Magnitude: 61.00 EG
Property damage: 100.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Public

Wind gusts were estimated to be near 70 MPH, downing tree limbs approximately 4 to 5 inches in diameter.

Hail in THAYER, NEBRASKA
From 27-JUN-20 23:45:00 to 27-JUN-20 23:45:00 (CST-6)
Location: DAVENPORT
Magnitude: 1.50 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Social Media

Hail in ADAMS, NEBRASKA
From 27-JUN-20 23:47:00 to 27-JUN-20 23:47:00 (CST-6)
Location: PAULINE
Magnitude: 1.75 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Hail in ADAMS, NEBRASKA
From 27-JUN-20 23:55:00 to 28-JUN-20 00:08:00 (CST-6)
Location: HASTINGS
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: NWS Employee

Quarter size hail was reported in and around Hastings.

Hail in BUFFALO, NEBRASKA
From 27-JUN-20 23:55:00 to 27-JUN-20 23:55:00 (CST-6)
Location: KEARNEY
Magnitude: 0.88 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Thunderstorm Wind in KEARNEY, NEBRASKA
From 27-JUN-20 23:56:00 to 27-JUN-20 23:56:00 (CST-6)
Location: NEWARK
Magnitude: 54.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

Hail in HALL, NEBRASKA
From 28-JUN-20 00:30:00 to 28-JUN-20 00:30:00 (CST-6)
Location: DONIPHAN
Magnitude: 0.88 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Public

Thunderstorm Wind in THAYER, NEBRASKA
From 28-JUN-20 01:11:00 to 28-JUN-20 01:11:00 (CST-6)
Location: CHESTER
Magnitude: 52.00 EG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Social Media

Wind gusts were estimated to be near 60 MPH. Some tin was blown into a tree.

Thunderstorm Wind in MERRICK, NEBRASKA
From 28-JUN-20 01:11:00 to 28-JUN-20 01:11:00 (CST-6)
Location: CENTRAL CITY
Magnitude: 50.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

Thunderstorm Wind in THAYER, NEBRASKA
From 28-JUN-20 01:15:00 to 28-JUN-20 01:15:00 (CST-6)
Location: BRUNING
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, knocking down numerous tree branches up to 3 inches in diameter.

Thunderstorm Wind in FILLMORE, NEBRASKA
From 28-JUN-20 01:20:00 to 28-JUN-20 01:20:00 (CST-6)
Location: STRANG
Magnitude: 52.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

Thunderstorm Wind in FILLMORE, NEBRASKA
From 28-JUN-20 01:26:00 to 28-JUN-20 01:26:00 (CST-6)
Location: OHIOWA
Magnitude: 57.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

Hail in FILLMORE, NEBRASKA
From 28-JUN-20 00:00:00 to 28-JUN-20 00:00:00 (CST-6)
Location: SHICKLEY
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer