Storms ravage Omaha with large hail, high winds; pleasant with storms west Wednesday evening
Severe storms did a lot of damage across Nebraska last night.
Initially large hail and isolated tornadoes were seen across northern Nebraska and Omaha yesterday evening, before storms transitioned to a wind threat across southeast Nebraska.
Omaha and surrounding areas could not catch a break – hail up to 4.5″ was observed in Bellevue with wind gusts peaking at 90 mph at Eppley Airport.
The largest hail was seen north of Whitman, from a tornado-producing storm. That report came in at 4″ which is slightly bigger than a softball.
Besides winds thrashing at Eppley, notable wind gusts were measured in southeast Nebraska in Fairbury, Harbine and Beatrice.
But as those storms depart early Wednesday, we’re left with a rather pleasant day for late June. The humidity will back off due to northerly winds bringing in drier air. Temperatures are expected to be seasonable in the upper 80s and nearing 90°.
Rain and thunderstorms return to the forecast for us at home by Thursday.
Wednesday evening, however, western Nebraska could be in for some stronger storms. As storms move into the Panhandle, the main threats will be damaging wind and large hail with a Slight (Level 2 of 5) risk before storms weaken into the Marginal risk as they advance east.
Widely scattered showers are expected with a lot of cloud cover on Thursday. That should keep temperatures a lot cooler throughout the day, only topping out near the lower 80s. The severe threat (as seen below) will heighten toward Thursday afternoon and night.
By Friday we’ll experience another cold front, driving the chance for more rain and strong to severe storms nearby. The timing right now looks to take the most intense storms south and east of Lincoln with a Slight (Level 2 of 5) risk out that way.
Multiple rounds of thunderstorms could eventually lead to some flash flooding and additional river flooding with heavy rain possible. We’ll look to clear out for a great upcoming weekend.
Meteorologist Jessica Blum
Twitter: JessicaBlumWx
Facebook: JessicaBlumWx
YouTube: JessicaBlumWx
