National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Overview

During the mid-afternoon hours on Thursday, May 29, 2008, numerous thunderstorms developed near a surface frontal boundary positioned across portions of western Nebraska and Kansas. This activity expanded in coverage as it pushed east across the area, working through a highly sheared and very unstable air mass. These thunderstorms produced several tornadoes, very large hail, damaging straight line winds and heavy rain. While activity lingered well into the overnight hours, the brunt of severe weather occurred between 4 - 11 p.m. 

In South Central Nebraska, several tornadoes were reported from near Elwood to north of York. Two tornadoes caused damage in the city of Kearney and one occurred just to the south of town. Another tornado damaged homes and power poles near Aurora. Along with the tornadoes, very strong winds moved down a portion of Interstate 80 and pushed cars and trucks off of the roadway near Aurora. Other areas of south-central Nebraska received heavy rains and hail. Hail to the size of baseballs was reported near Arapahoe in Furnas County. These storms also produce a lot of rainfall over areas that had fairly wet ground. Several areas of flooding were noted in the Platte and Republican River valleys.

In North Central Kansas, several tornadoes were reported from south of Palco in Rooks County to the community of Jewell in Jewell County. One tornado inflicted significant damage to the community of Jewell, including destroying the town’s café and water tower. Several homes in rural areas of Mitchell and Jewell Counties were damaged or destroyed. The town of Woodston in eastern Rooks County also had a twister move through the community; luckily damage was not as severe. All together eight tornadoes occurred in this part of north-central Kansas and no critical injuries were reported. Other areas of north-central Kansas also saw hail and heavy rains from the storms. An area between Webster Lake and Stockton in Rooks County had hail up to the size of baseballs. The hail damaged windows and siding of homes along the storms path. In addition to the tornadoes, hail and wind, thunderstorms dumped several inches of rain across the Solomon River valleys. This resulted in some flooding of rural roads and area creeks and rivers.

Additional info/photos are available from a story by the Kearney Hub (click HERE).


NWS Hastings radar loop from 3:30 p.m. on May 29 - 5 a.m. CDT on May 30. The NWS Hastings coverage area is outlined in orange and interstates are in red.
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