Between 10 p.m. CDT on Thursday the 21st and 3:30 a.m. on Friday the 22nd, a cluster of slightly elevated strong-to-severe thunderstorms rumbled across parts of South Central Nebraska, primarily affecting counties along/north of Highway 6 and also areas mainly east of a line from Holdrege-Loup City. Severe-criteria reports were fairly limited but were highlighted by: estimated 65 MPH winds near Clay Center that snapped a 12-inch diameter cedar tree; mesonet-measured wind gusts of 65 MPH near Clarks and 63 MPH near Kearney; quarter size hail in Grand Island and Sutton. Most places received well under 1 inch of rain except for a fairly narrow, southwest-northeast oriented swath of 1.00-1.50 centered from just west of Grand Island up through much of Merrick/Nance counties.
Breaking down timing and storm evolution, the initial convection fired up slightly south of the Highway 6 corridor between 10-11 p.m. CDT, taking the form of a broken west-east oriented line. Over the next few hours, this primarily multicell convective line drifted steadily northward across the I-80 corridor, although along the way an embedded supercell briefly took shape over Clay County. Between 1-3 a.m. CDT the broken, west-east line of storms gradually consolidated into more of a compact cluster centered over Merrick/Nance counties, with the back-edge of the last severe-warned core departing the local area into eastern Nebraska by 3:30 a.m. CDT. This nocturnal event was a classic case of slightly elevated storms blossoming within the leading/north edge of low-level moisture advection and convergence within the heart of a strengthening low-level jet (40-60 knots at 850 millibars). In the mid-upper levels, South Central Nebraska resided under broad southwesterly flow, well-downstream from a large-scale trough coming onshore into California. At the surface, this event focused slightly north of a warm front that gradually lifted from northern KS into central NE over the course of the night. Mesoscale parameters featured 1000-2000 J/kg most-unstable CAPE and 40-50 knots of deep-layer shear, promoting the organized multicell and brief/transient supercell storm mode.

Thunderstorm Wind in CLAY, NEBRASKA
From 21-APR-22 22:22:00 to 21-APR-22 22:31:00 (CST-6)
Location: CLAY CENTER
Magnitude: 54.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

A wind gust of 62 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located four miles southeast of Clay Center. An NWS Cooperative Observer located six miles east-southeast of Clay Center noted wind gusts estimated to be between 55 and 65 MPH, damaging two cedar trees, one of which was 12 inches in diameter.

Thunderstorm Wind in BUFFALO, NEBRASKA
From 21-APR-22 22:17:00 to 21-APR-22 22:17:00 (CST-6)
Location: KEARNEY
Magnitude: 55.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

A wind gust of 63 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located three miles east-southeast of Kearney.

Hail in CLAY, NEBRASKA
From 21-APR-22 22:43:00 to 21-APR-22 22:43:00 (CST-6)
Location: SUTTON
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Social Media

Hail in HALL, NEBRASKA
From 21-APR-22 23:01:00 to 21-APR-22 23:01:00 (CST-6)
Location: GRAND IS
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Thunderstorm Wind in MERRICK, NEBRASKA
From 22-APR-22 01:24:00 to 22-APR-22 01:24:00 (CST-6)
Location: CLARKS
Magnitude: 56.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

A wind gust of 65 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located four miles northeast of Clarks.