During the very early morning of Thursday the 24th, a southeastward-charging mesoscale convective system (MCS) impacted mainly the far northern/northeastern fringes of South Central Nebraska, with the only verified severe wind speed/wind damage reports (mainly to trees) emanating from Valley, Greeley and Nance counties (although radar data/nearby reports suggested that marginally-severe winds might have also affected northern portions of Sherman/Howard/Merrick/Polk). The most notable damage reports (speeds estimated around 65 MPH) were from Greeley County, where the NWS cooperative observer in Greeley reported extensive tree damage around town, including some up to 2 ft. diameter. It was a similar story in Spalding, where an NeRAIN observer commented high winds with lots of tree damage.  Although damage reports were sparse from neighboring counties, measured severe-criteria gusts included 68 MPH at Ord airport and 64 MPH at a mesonet in southwestern Nance County. At least slightly sub-severe winds extended well to the south of the precipitation swath, including airport-measured speeds of 53 MPH at York and 52 MPH in Grand Island.
Breaking down event evolution and timing, the MCS origins got underway during the evening of the 23rd as a few semi-discrete severe storms fired up within far north central Nebraska. After sunset, this initial activity started merging outflows and exhibiting increasing upscale/linear growth, eventually accelerating southeastward toward northern local counties. However, this system was a quick-hitter for South Central Nebraska, first rolling into Valley/Greeley counties from the north-northwest between midnight-1 a.m. CDT. Already by around 2 a.m. CDT the main outflow surge had cleared the Polk County area, followed shortly thereafter by the trailing heavy rain core. Although this ended the severe weather threat for the night within the 24-county area, another mainly northwest-southeast oriented complex of elevated storms flared up within several counties along/near the Highway 281 corridor between 2:30-3:30 a.m. CDT, likely resulting from the low level jet impinging upon the trailing cold pool from the initial MCS. This secondary complex, which likely produced pockets of small hail early on, gradually shifted east/weakened over the next few hours, with the last storms of the night finally exiting the local area out of York/Fillmore counties around 6 a.m. CDT. Turning to the meteorology, this was a fairly typical setup for nocturnal MCS activity. In the mid-upper levels Nebraska resided under quasi-zonal flow, positioned along the northern extent of ridging extending north-northeast from west Texas, and well-downstream from an upper low just off the California coast that was ejecting various low-amplitude disturbances east-northeastward toward the Central Plains. At the surface, steady southerly breezes during the day and evening of the 23rd promoted a rapid/impressive increase in low level moisture, as South Central Nebraska dewpoints soared from only the low-mid 50s (F) at sunrise on the 23rd to the low-70s by late evening. As a result, a fairly potent combination of instability/shear awaited the MCS as it entered local northern counties, featuring 3000-4000 J/kg mixed-layer CAPE and 30-40 knots deep-layer shear. Also by the midnight hour, the exit region of a 40+ knot, south-southwesterly low level jet was aimed directly into the heart of South Central Nebraska, enhancing MCS organization and southeastward propagation. It is possible that this storm complex and resultant damaging winds might have tracked deeper into the local area if not for the presence of very warm mid level temperatures (700 millibar temps averaged 14-16 C through the night).

Thunderstorm Wind in GREELEY, NEBRASKA
From 23-JUN-21 23:48:00 to 23-JUN-21 23:48:00 (CST-6)
Location: GREELEY
Magnitude: 56.00 EG
Property damage: 50.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Tree damage reported across town. Trees up to two feet in diameter were downed.

Thunderstorm Wind in GREELEY, NEBRASKA
From 23-JUN-21 23:57:00 to 23-JUN-21 23:57:00 (CST-6)
Location: WOLBACH
Magnitude: 52.00 EG
Property damage: 1.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Law Enforcement

Deputy estimated wind gusts to be near 60 MPH. One downed branch was blocking part of Highway 22.

Thunderstorm Wind in VALLEY, NEBRASKA
From 23-JUN-21 23:25:00 to 23-JUN-21 23:25:00 (CST-6)
Location: (ODX)SHARP FLD ORD
Magnitude: 59.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: ASOS

Thunderstorm Wind in VALLEY, NEBRASKA
From 23-JUN-21 23:29:00 to 23-JUN-21 23:29:00 (CST-6)
Location: ORD
Magnitude: 62.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

Thunderstorm Wind in GREELEY, NEBRASKA
From 23-JUN-21 23:35:00 to 23-JUN-21 23:35:00 (CST-6)
Location: SPALDING
Magnitude: 56.00 EG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Social Media

Tree approximately one foot in diameter was snapped in town.

Thunderstorm Wind in NANCE, NEBRASKA
From 24-JUN-21 00:19:00 to 24-JUN-21 00:19:00 (CST-6)
Location: FULLERTON
Magnitude: 56.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

A wind gust of 64 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located 8 miles north-northeast of Palmer.