North Platte, Nebraska

... Clouds kept severe weather to a minimum on Friday...

Two severe thunderstorms moved out of the Nebraska Panhandle and
into Sheridan and garden counties on Friday afternoon. One of the
storms produced Golf Ball size hail and strong winds at a location
in Sheridan County... 4 miles southeast of Antioch... at 340 PM CDT
or 240 PM MDT. The other storm produced hail as big as quarters in
southwestern Garden County... 18 miles southwest of Oshkosh... at
415 PM CDT or 315 PM MDT. Doppler radar indicated that another
storm may have produced severe winds south of Mullen just after 6
PM CDT.

These storms weakened as they made their way east... and although
other storms formed over western and north central Nebraska into
the evening... they were not severe. This was due to a lack of warm
temperatures. Clouds kept highs in the 70s over a good portion of
the area... which did not provide enough atmospheric instability
for intense storms. The two severe storms that did occur formed in
an area that did see sunshine during the afternoon. A more
concentrated area of severe weather took place over northwestern
and north central Kansas during the afternoon and evening... where
sunshine allowed temperatures to soar well into the 90s. If that
hot air had moved into western Nebraska... then more of the storms
Friday may have been severe.