A few severe thunderstorms and areas of localized heavy rain impacted southern portions of South Central Nebraska from the evening of Tuesday the 5th into the early morning of Wednesday the 6th. Fairly weak west to southwesterly mid-upper level flow was in place across the region. Surface low pressure was set up over northwestern Kansas, with a warm front extending east across northern Kansas by early evening. Across western Kansas south of this warm front, significant afternoon heating occurred, resulting in temperatures climbing to over 100 degrees and promoting steep low to mid-level lapse rates. Around 5 PM CDT, isolated thunderstorms began to develop slightly to the south of the local area within northern Kansas, but remained on the weaker side due to MLCAPE values around 1000 J/kg and weak deeper layer shear. In the meantime, radar imagery and surface observations depicted a well-defined cold front/outflow boundary sinking south through the region during the afternoon and early evening hours, emanating from intense convection across South Dakota and far northern Nebraska. By approximately 6:30 PM CDT this boundary was oriented roughly along the Interstate 80 corridor. Through the early evening hours, that initial area of isolated thunderstorms over north central Kansas gradually increased a bit in coverage, while drifting north into portions southwestern portions of South Central Nebraska. This activity moved into an area of better instability, with value closer to 2000 J/kg, but only a marginal improvement in deep layer shear. Between 8-9 PM CDT, there was brief time where convection was enhanced, as it met up with that southward sinking surface cold front. These resultant stronger storms mainly affected Harlan and Phelps counties, dropping hail up to the size of golf balls and producing wind gusts upwards of 70 MPH.
Outside of this brief period of severe weather, weaker thunderstorm activity continued through the rest of the evening and overnight hours, driven by convergence along the nose of an increased low-level jet. There were no additional reports of severe weather through the overnight hours, but a swath of heavy rain developed across areas just north of the Nebraska-Kansas state line. Radar estimates showed an area of two inches or more extending from northeastern Franklin County east through portions of Nuckolls and Thayer counties, with higher amounts mainly concentrated over the northern half of Webster County. The highest amount measured by a mesonet station was 4.76 inches, located five miles north of Inavale. Numerous social media reports of 3-6 inches were received from the Bladen and Campbell areas, but there were no ground-truth reports of impactful flooding.

Hail in HARLAN, NEBRASKA
From 05-JUL-22 19:00:00 to 05-JUL-22 19:15:00 (CST-6)
Location: HUNTLEY
Magnitude: 1.75 
Property damage: 50.00K
Crop damage: 1.00M
Reported by: Public

Hail up to the size of golf balls was accompanied by wind gusts near 65 MPH. Tree damage was reported in Huntley, along with power outages.

Thunderstorm Wind in HARLAN, NEBRASKA
From 05-JUL-22 19:09:00 to 05-JUL-22 19:09:00 (CST-6)
Location: HUNTLEY
Magnitude: 56.00 EG
Property damage: 50.00K
Crop damage: 1.00M
Reported by: Public

Hail up to the size of golf balls was accompanied by wind gusts near 65 MPH. Tree damage was reported in Huntley, along with power outages.

Hail in HARLAN, NEBRASKA
From 05-JUL-22 19:20:00 to 05-JUL-22 19:22:00 (CST-6)
Location: RAGAN
Magnitude: 0.88 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Social Media

Thunderstorm Wind in PHELPS, NEBRASKA
From 05-JUL-22 19:40:00 to 05-JUL-22 19:40:00 (CST-6)
Location: HOLDREGE
Magnitude: 52.00 EG
Property damage: 25.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Public

There were a few reports of tree damage in Holdrege, including one limb that was 8-10 inches in diameter.

Thunderstorm Wind in HARLAN, NEBRASKA
From 05-JUL-22 19:16:00 to 05-JUL-22 19:16:00 (CST-6)
Location: RAGAN
Magnitude: 56.00 EG
Property damage: 1.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Social Media

Wind gusts estimated to be near 65 MPH damaged a flag pole and blew lawn furniture across the yard.

Heavy Rain in WEBSTER, NEBRASKA
From 05-JUL-22 20:00:00 to 06-JUL-22 04:00:00 (CST-6)
Location: INAVALE
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

Heavy rain fell across the northern half of Webster County, with the majority occurring between 9 PM and midnight. The highest measured amount by a mesonet station was 4.76 inches, located five miles north of Inavale. Numerous social media reports of 3-6 inches of rain came from areas in and near Bladen, as well as east-southeast of Campbell.

Heavy Rain in NUCKOLLS, NEBRASKA
From 05-JUL-22 21:00:00 to 06-JUL-22 05:00:00 (CST-6)
Location: LAWRENCE
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

Heavy rain fell across mainly northwestern and far east-central portions of Nuckolls County, with the majority occurring between 10 PM and 2 AM. The highest measured amount was 3.59 inches, by a CoCoRaHS observer located in Lawrence. Amounts of 3-4 inches were reported elsewhere in the Lawrence area, as well as near Ruskin.