HOWARD

833556 · 41.220, -98.630

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The record

Everything the slot carries, as measured. Series arrays are drawn above and listed here in full.

Event typeevent_type	Lightning
NOAA NCEI event IDncei_event_id	833,556
Episode IDepisode_id	138,389
Begin UTCbegin_utc	2019-06-21T06:25:00+00:00
End UTCend_utc	2019-06-21T06:25:00+00:00
Statestate	NEBRASKA
County/zone typecz_type	C
County/zone namecz_name	HOWARD
Latitudelat	41.220
Longitudelon	-98.630
End latitudeend_lat	41.220
End longitudeend_lon	-98.630
Deaths directdeaths_direct	0
Deaths indirectdeaths_indirect	0
Injuries directinjuries_direct	0
Injuries indirectinjuries_indirect	0
Damage propertydamage_property	90.00K
Damage cropsdamage_crops	0.00K
Weather forecast office sourcewfo_source	Emergency Manager
Episode narrativeepisode_narrative	The overall most significant, widespread damaging wind event of the 2019 convective season wrought havoc across much of South Central Nebraska between the late evening of Thursday the 20th and around sunrise on Friday the 21st. The culprits were two separate linear mesoscale convective systems (MCS), with the first one by far the most impactful. This first storm complex, which traversed the area between 10:30 p.m. and 3 a.m. CDT, produced a swath of damaging winds ranging anywhere from 60 up to around 90 MPH, particularly within a corridor centered roughly 15 miles either side of a line from Cambridge-Minden-Hastings-Sutton. Within this area, there were countless reports of damage, particularly to the likes of trees (many large trees uprooted), power poles/lines and irrigation pivots, but also to some structures (mainly rural outbuildings). A short list of some of the hardest-hit communities included: Arapahoe, Oxford, Kenesaw and Hastings, with Hastings likely enduring its most widespread tree damage in roughly five years. As just a few specific instances of damage and/or measured winds: a grain bin and outbuilding were destroyed near Holbrook with irrigation pipe blown up to one-half mile; an unofficial mesonet gusted to 95 MPH near Oxford; several farm outbuildings were damaged/destroyed near Phillips with sheet metal hanging in trees. Within the Tri Cities, Hastings clearly bore the brunt of wind issues, as Grand Island and Kearney only received a glancing blow of sub-severe gusts mainly in the 40-55 MPH range. However, some places outside of the main damage swath still weren't spared from storm impacts, including in Farwell, where a lightning-induced fire damaged a portion of the fire hall. This primary linear MCS exhibited impressive radar signatures including a bookend vortex and rear inflow notch, with the system as a whole taking on a notable S-shape on reflectivity. As the initial MCS began departing the local area into eastern Nebraska, a second round of storms got underway back to the west, in response to lift above the residual cold pool. Although not nearly as intense/organized as the earlier system, this convection congealed into a northeast-southwest oriented MCS as it entered southwestern counties such as Furnas/Gosper/Harlan between 3:30-4:30 a.m. CDT. For a while, this second system remained slightly sub-severe, with peak gusts only to around 50 MPH (including 53 MPH at Hastings airport). However, some intensification to marginally-severe levels occurred between 5:30-6:30 a.m. CDT in far southeast counties, evidenced by mesonet wind gusts of 67 MPH near Superior and 60 MPH at Davenport. The back edge of this second MCS departed the local area out of Thayer County by 7 a.m. CDT, finally ending the rocky night. \|\|Interestingly, severe-criteria hail was very limited during this event, taking a clear backseat to damaging winds. However, a few quarter size stones were reported in and near communities such as Cambridge and Nelson. The Cambridge area was likely the hardest-hit, as copious amounts of mainly small hail combined with winds to promote fairly extensive crop damage. Rainfall-wise, the majority of South Central Nebraska measured between 0.50-1.50, holding flooding issues at bay. However, there were limited corridors of 2-3+, particularly within parts of Furnas/Gosper/Phelps counties. Including more rain that fell on the morning of the 22nd, Thayer County actually dealt with some of the worst flooding issues in the ensuing few days, such as water over several rural roads and a bridge washout north of Chester. \|\|Looking at the meteorological setup, this was a fairly classic recipe for intense overnight convection in the Central Plains. In the mid-upper levels, seasonably-strong, west-southwesterly flow was in place, downstream from a large-scale trough centered over the Northern Rockies. At the surface, South Central Nebraska resided just north of a west-east oriented front stretched near the Kansas border. As a low-amplitude disturbance entered southern Nebraska during the evening, this forcing combined with a very unstable airmass and increasing moisture convergence within the exit region of a 30-40 knot southerly low level jet to spark the MCS activity. By late-night standards, it was a fairly volatile mesoscale environment, featuring 2000-4000 J/kg most-unstable CAPE and 30-40 knots of deep-layer wind shear.
Event narrativeevent_narrative	A lightning strike resulted in a fire that damaged a portion of the Farwell Fire Hall.
Yearyear	2,019

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