The warning is live in northwestern Dundy County
The National Weather Service in Goodland, Kansas has issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for northwestern Dundy County in southwestern Nebraska, effective from 2:28 PM MDT until 3:15 PM MDT on Sunday, September 20, 2026. This is not a garden-variety severe thunderstorm: the storm carries a CONSIDERABLE damage threat tag, with golf ball size hail and 70 mph wind gusts. This is the kind of storm that leaves a trail of battered roofs, shattered windows, and broken trees across the Sandhills edge of southwestern Nebraska — exactly the hail-and-wind work restoration and roofing crews see in the days that follow.
This is a live snapshot as of roughly 2:35 PM MDT. Conditions change fast — always verify with the National Weather Service for your specific county or ZIP code.
Northwestern Dundy County — Severe Thunderstorm Warning
- Issuing office: National Weather Service Goodland, Kansas (weather.gov/gld)
- Issued: 2:28 PM MDT, Sunday, September 20, 2026
- Expires: 3:15 PM MDT, Sunday, September 20, 2026
- Storm location at 2:27 PM MDT: 9 miles south of Pleasant Valley, or 16 miles southeast of Holyoke, moving east at 30 mph
Hazard detail, verbatim from the alert:
- Hail: Golf ball size hail — 1.75 inches — radar indicated
- Wind: 70 mph wind gusts — observed
- Damage threat tag: CONSIDERABLE
Expected impacts, verbatim from the alert: People and animals outdoors will be injured. Expect hail damage to roofs, siding, windows, and vehicles. Expect considerable tree damage. Wind damage is also likely to mobile homes, roofs, and outbuildings.
The storm will remain over mainly rural areas of northwestern Dundy County. Rural exposure does not mean low stakes here: farmsteads, outbuildings, grain bins, and pivot-irrigated ground take the hit first in storms like this, and isolated farm homes can be cut off from a fast damage survey after 70 mph gusts knock trees across roads.
Source: NWS alert via api.weather.gov; AWIPS identifier SVRGLD, VTEC /O.NEW.KGLD.SV.W.0333.260920T2028Z-260920T2115Z/
Stay safe this afternoon
The NWS instruction for this warning is direct: for your protection, move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a building. Large hail and 70 mph winds can shatter windows — stay away from them, and never shelter in a vehicle, a mobile home, or an outbuilding during a storm tagged CONSIDERABLE. If you are caught outdoors in farm country, get inside the sturdiest structure available; if none is reachable, protect your head and get as low as possible away from trees and power lines. Do not try to outrun a fast-moving hailstorm on a county road — golf ball hail destroys windshields in seconds.
What this means for restoration teams
A CONSIDERABLE-tagged hailstorm with observed 70 mph gusts is a high-probability generator of the jobs restoration and roofing contractors live on:
- Roof systems: golf ball hail bruises and fractures asphalt shingles, dents metal roofing, and cracks tile. Damage is often invisible from the ground — this is the classic adjuster-disputed claim, and contractors who photo-document first win it.
- Siding and windows: the alert explicitly calls out siding and window damage. Vinyl siding shatters under 1.75-inch hail; broken windows let rain in behind the building envelope.
- Vehicles: hail-dented vehicles across farmsteads and rural driveways — PDR (paintless dent repair) referrals and fleet work follow these storms.
- Trees and outbuildings: “considerable tree damage” plus likely wind damage to mobile homes, roofs, and outbuildings. Downed limbs on structures are immediate mitigation calls; roof tarping demand spikes tonight.
- Mold clock: any rain driven through broken windows or punctured roofing starts the 24–48 hour mold window. Saturated insulation and drywall from wind-driven rain need moisture mapping the same day.
The play: stage tarping and board-up crews now, keep an on-call rotation through tonight, and when the calls come, capture address, water source, and affected areas on the first call. Photo-document before any mitigation — hail claims live and die on pre-repair evidence. Moisture-map every room where rain entered, and keep the homeowner’s payment responsibility clear in writing before work starts.
FEMA & federal assistance
If the storm leaves your home uninhabitable or with damage beyond what insurance covers, federal help may be available once a disaster declaration follows: FEMA Helpline 1-800-621-3362 (7 a.m.–10 p.m. local time, 7 days a week). You can also apply at DisasterAssistance.gov, through the FEMA app, or find recovery centers at fema.gov/drc. Basic eligibility: U.S. citizenship or qualified status, identity verification, proof of occupancy or ownership, and unmet needs not covered by insurance. Apply as soon as it is safe to do so.
Looking ahead
The warning runs until 3:15 PM MDT. With the storm moving east at 30 mph, additional severe thunderstorms may ride the same boundary through the afternoon — watch for new warnings from NWS Goodland and NWS North Platte (a separate destructive hail warning is already active in adjacent Chase County, Nebraska). After the storm passes, the demand window opens: hail damage claims typically surface over the next several days as homeowners spot dented gutters, bruised shingles, and cracked windows, and restoration call volume follows the roofers’ inspections. Contractors should expect a second wave of calls 48–72 hours out as adjusters start scheduling.
Sources & how to verify
- NWS Goodland office page: weather.gov/gld
- NWS active alerts: api.weather.gov/alerts
To verify for your own county or ZIP: enter it at weather.gov or check your local NWS office page for the latest warnings.
This post is for informational purposes and is not an official weather warning. Always follow instructions from local authorities and the National Weather Service.
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