Overnight storms produce destructive tornadoes in western Nebraska, left many without power in Omaha (2024)

A fast-moving overnight storm system produced 14 tornado warnings across 38 eastern Nebraska and southwestern Iowa counties and left thousands in Omaha without power Friday morning.

In western Nebraska, the storm system produced up to nine tornadoes Thursday evening, including one tornado that destroyed property near Lake McConaughy.

The storm began to roll through the Omaha metro area around 2:15 a.m. and exited around 3 a.m., said Becky Kern, a warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Valley.

Moving east at about 60 mph, the storm produced strong winds and pea-sized hail. Kern said Eppley Airfield recorded wind gusts of 63 mph. Meanwhile, gusts reached 71 mph in Missouri Valley, Iowa, and 75 to 80 mph in Bellevue.

The storm also produced small, radar-indicated “spin-up” tornadoes that caused the local weather service office to issue warnings. Spin-up tornadoes, Kern said, are very small, tight circulating tornadoes that can cause tornadic damage to trees and power lines over a very narrow area.

Kern said one spin-up tornado in the metro area went across southern Saunders County toward Ashland and crossed Interstate 80 south of Gretna. The tornado then went toward Offutt Air Force Base near Bellevue before it finally ended southeast of Offutt near Glenwood, Iowa.

Power customers weary; power crews fatigued

The strong storm system caused 11 Omaha Public Power District electrical circuits to lock out, which, at one point shortly before 4 a.m., knocked out power to more than 17,100 customers across 11 counties, OPPD said in press releases. By midafternoon Friday, about 2,600 customers remained without power.

Many of those customers were in Washington County. The power outage closed the Washington County courthouse and jail on Friday, Sheriff Mike Robinson said in an email.

OPPD spokeswoman Jodi Baker said most of the power outages were related to wind knocking down trees or knocking tree branches into power lines. Lightning also caused some power outages.

“We really feel for our customers who are already weary from these recent storm events, and areas like Washington County being hit hard twice in a month’s time,” Baker wrote. “Our crews understand how difficult it is to be without power, let alone to go through this again in such a short window. They’re working hard to bring power back, and they won’t let up.”

The overnight storms on Monday and Tuesday had knocked power out for more than 11,000 customers, including more than 9,000 in Douglas County.

“Overall fatigue of the crews is a challenge, considering the storm restoration effort earlier this week,” Baker wrote. “We’ve also had a lot of rain which makes it difficult to access and work on some of the areas where we’ve had outages.”

The storm system also blew dishes off a cellphone tower between Hooper and Scribner northwest of Fremont in Dodge County, Kern said.

22 buildings or homes destroyed at Lake McConaughy

The National Weather Service in North Platte, citing reports from local fire departments, said that at Lake McConaughy, a Thursday evening tornado destroyed 22 buildings, including homes, outbuildings and shops, and that another 39 homes were damaged.

The tornado also destroyed campers and knocked down trees and power lines. Some people had to be rescued from their basem*nts, the weather service said. No injuries were reported.

Photos posted on Facebook showed collapsed homes, roofs torn off, half-dollar-sized hail and downed tree limbs around the recreation lake situated about 15 miles north of Ogallala, or about 60 miles west of North Platte.

The Lake McConaughy tornado was just one of several twisters reported to have touched down, said John Stoppkotte, a meteorologist and science operations officer with the North Platte weather service. He added that crews had been out in the field Friday getting a clearer assessment of what happened.

“We’re kind of fine-tuning all that right now just to know which were funnels, which actually did damage and those kinds of things,” Stoppkotte said. “We’re kind of putting all those pieces together right now.”

Nebraska Game and Parks said in a press release that the Lake McConaughy State Recreation Area, as well as the nearby Lake Ogallala State Recreation Area, remained open with all campsites available, even though trees were down across Lake McConaughy’s north shore. Game and Parks said crews will work over the weekend to remove trees.

In Lancaster County, a wind gust of 60 mph was recorded near Pleasant Dale, while a gust of 66 mph was recorded near Milford in Seward County.

Winds brought down large tree limbs in Lincoln, causing power outages and blocking streets. At one point early Friday, Lincoln Electric System reported nearly 5,000 people were without power, but as of 10 a.m., that number was down to a few dozen.

Precipitation in the Omaha metro area was light compared to the storms that rolled through earlier this week, which dumped from 3 to more than 7 inches of rain. Kern said the weather service recorded 0.76 of an inch of rain from the early Friday storm at its office in Valley. Eppley Airfield recorded 0.82 of an inch of rain. Millard received 0.63 inches of rain.

Northeast Nebraska received more rain, Kern said. Norfolk received 1.4 inches.

The onslaught of storms has taken its toll in Omaha.

The Omaha Parks, Recreation and Public Property Department said in a press release Friday that it has closed a new boat ramp at Standing Bear Lake. The department said recent storms have entire ramp and side docks underwater. The ramp and side docks will remain closed until the lake’s water levels have receded enough to safe levels.

Omaha zoo seeks tree branches to feed animals

One person’s tree trash could be a zoo animal’s treasure.

On social media, Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium invited property owners who have downed tree branches to deliver those branches to the zoo. Zoo staff plan to feed donated branches and other vegetation that are safe to eat to various animals, including African elephants, giraffes and great apes.

The weather is expected to stay calm until at least late Saturday afternoon. On Saturday, there are chances for late afternoon and overnight rain showers and thunderstorms. Areas most likely at risk for storms are south of I-80, Kern said.

A weather service graphic shows a 70% to 80% chance of storms with a 5% to 15% chance of any given storm becoming severe.

Hail could measure up to the size of golf balls and winds could reach 70 mph. Precipitation could amount from 1 to 2 inches, which could cause some flash floods. More tornadoes, however, were unlikely, the weather service said.

With many people likely to camp over the holiday weekend, Kern urged those folks to have ways to receive warnings and seek shelter if needed.

This report contains material from the Lincoln Journal Star.