Severe Weather Awareness Week: Hail and Wind safety
Janet Schwanz
LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Day 4 of 5 for Severe Weather Awareness week prompts the topic of hail and wind safety.
Damaging winds from severe weather can result in expansive losses like we have seen in derechos recently. Severe thunderstorms produce hail and strong winds, but there is particular criteria that storms need to produce in order to become severe-warned (one or more of the following):
When very strong wind gusts exceed 80 mph, you should take shelter like you would for a tornado.
NWS Hastings
The highest estimated thunderstorm wind gusts estimated in Nebraska came from storms back on June 28, 2023. In southwest Nebraska, a strong line of storms swept through Benkelman and produced widespread wind damage. The strongest wind gusts were estimated at 120 mph!
The strongest wind gust through Lincoln was 93 mph back on December 15, 2021.
As for hail, the speeds that some stones fall from the sky may impress you!
Stones that are 1-inch in diameter (the size of a quarter) are considered severe, along with everything larger in size:
Typical fall speeds of hail stones that are severe (1″+) can be around 25-40 mph.
It is possible for very large hailstones (diameters exceeding 4″/softballs) to fall at over 100 mph!
The largest hailstone in Nebraska was reported in Aurora, Nebraska from storms on June 22, 2003.
Hail and wind pose a lot of danger to anyone enjoying outdoor activities.
You can do your part to raise awareness and enhance safety – be sure to check the forecast and inform friends and family of your plans if severe weather is possible. Plan an evacuation route and know how long it would take to reach safety if and when bad weather strikes.
Reports submitted to the National Weather Service are sometimes brought up within our shows. We can show anything from funnel cloud reports to hail and wind reports!
We also appreciate any pictures or videos you can take – when it is safe to do so – sent into our newsroom or our Now Local News App.
Meteorologist Jessica Blum
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