DAWSON CO. — Hail up to the size of golf balls impacted the communities of Gothenburg and Cozad in western Dawson County during the early morning hours of Saturday, June 29.
Around midnight, thunderstorm activity began to initiate in Lincoln County and moved southwest.
Phil Beda, Hydrometeorological Technician with the National Weather Service – Hastings, said the convection could be considered a pulse storm, a single cell thunderstorm of substantial intensity which only produces severe weather for short periods of time.
The thunderstorm took on supercell characteristics, with a forward flank dominated by large hail.
By 1:30 a.m., the storm had entered western Dawson County where the hail core would pass directly over Gothenburg and Cozad.
Residents in Cozad reported the hail lasting for 15 minutes as the storm passed overhead. After it was over, residents left their homes to find golf ball sized hail that damaged home siding, smashed home windows and windshields of cars that had been outside.
By 3 a.m., the thunderstorm had weakened considerably as it entered Phelps County.
Another pulse storm had occurred in the Sherman, Buffalo and Hall county area, but was weaker than the cell that hit Dawson County. Beda said they had yet to receive substantial reports of damage.
Damage to a home in Cozad, (Heather Heinemann, Courtesy)
Piles of hail still lingering at daybreak, several hours after it first fell, (Heather Heinemann, Courtesy)