Storms bring wind, hail, rain

Powerful storms swept across Nebraska overnight, causing significant but scattered power outages, wind and hail damage.

Baseball- and golf ball-sized hail was reported in southwestern Nebraska, near Wellfelt. In northern Nebraska, large hail and winds in excess of 60 mph caused extensive crop damage in Boyd and Keya Paha counties, according to the National Weather Service.

In the Lincoln area, about 6,000 homes and businesses lost power, said Russ Reno, spokesman for Lincoln Electric System. The outages began about 4:45 a.m., and most customers had power restored by about 7 a.m., he said. As of late morning, about 40 customers remained without power, and Reno said they should be reconnected today.

Two-inch hail was reported one mile south of Lincoln, and at the intersection of Highway 2 and 27th Street. About 5 miles south of Lincoln, 1.6 inches of rain was reported in 30 minutes.

More than four inches of rain fell in the southwest part of Cherry County, in northern Nebraska.

A swath of southeastern Nebraska saw some of the worst severe weather. According to the National Weather Service, areas seeing heavy winds, rain and some hail included Friend, Milford, Crete and Falls City.

Straight-line winds blew through Unadilla, Neb., at 4:05 a.m., causing downed tree limbs and minor damage. That included a tree struck by lightning, which fell against a house.

Dan Crownover, chairman of the town board, said you could see the blackend end of the tree where the lightning struck. He said the storm started with hail, followed by 70 mph wind and lightning.

Crownover estimated that almost four inches of rain fell in Unadilla, but one mile to the east less than an inch fell. The town of about 320 is located 30 miles east of Lincoln.

The significant storm damage across the state prompted the Nebraska Forest Service to issue a reminder that homeowners be judicious in pruning damaged trees.

Also, users of the hiking-biking trails in southeastern Nebraska were reminded to keep an eye out for crews removing downed limbs.

World-Herald staff writer Jeff Beiermann contributed to this report.