Seward County sheriff's dispatcher Jeremy Steckly said he had received reports of tornadoes east of Seward and near Bee, Cordova and Garland, but it was unclear which were really funnel clouds and which touched down. 

Debris and downed trees closed U.S. 34 from east of Seward to the Lancaster County line. It appeared the city, hit by pea- to golf ball-sized hail and driving rain, escaped the worst damage, and Steckly said the Sheriff's Office had received no reports of serious injuries through midnight. 

Trevor Tieken, a clerk at Gas 'N Shop along Nebraska 15 south of Seward, said he saw the funnel form, then touch down in farm fields just east of the highway at about 7 p.m. 

"It was perfectly formed at the tip, like one of those ice cream cones." 

He said the funnel was dark about halfway to the ground, and then he saw dust and debris. "This was the first funnel cloud I've seen. It was a beautiful thing if nobody lost property or lives with it." 

Seward volunteer firefighter Mark Hough, directing traffic along U.S. 34, said he and others spotted the tornado about three miles south of Seward at about 7:30 p.m. He estimated it stayed on the ground for as long as 20 minutes. 

"It was huge," he said. He said he'd never seen a tornado like that on the ground for so long. 

To his knowledge, Hough said, two homesteads along U.S. 34 two to three miles east of Seward were heavily damaged. 

A cluster of anhydrous ammonia storage tanks east of Seward owned by Dorchester Co-op also were damaged, and some gas was spewing from them late Wednesday night, contributing to the decision to close U.S. 34. 

Pounding rain forced traffic to slow and stop on Interstate 80. 

East of Seward, U.S. 34 was littered with splintered traffic sign posts, twisted guy wires and other debris. Firefighters set up roadblocks as they worked to control the gas leaks. 

A tornado was confirmed in northwest Lancaster County shortly after a warning was issued at 8:17 p.m., about the time law officers reported a very large funnel cloud between Seward and Malcolm. 

"We had one that was reported right by Pawnee Lake and another that was reported north of Malcolm," said Mike Burnett, spokesman for Lancaster County Emergency Management. 

"That one was watched clear up into Saunders County," Burnett said. "It's a pretty crazy storm." 

Nathan Johnson, 17, said he saw a tornado's funnel expand and contract several times before it touched down about seven miles west of Malcolm, along the Lancaster County line. 

"I saw the dust and stuff going up," he said. "It didn't seem to move very quickly or go crazy on the ground like I've seen on TV. I was at a safe distance, so it wasn't really scary. It was just awe - the way it came together and its destructive force. It was intriguing seeing all that power. It was really cool." 

No damage reports had been received in Lancaster County, he said. 

A second wave of storms, also moving northeast, hit Thayer and Jefferson counties. No serious injuries were reported. 

At 10:15 p.m., National Weather Service radar indicated a tornado six miles west of Fairbury moving northeast at 20 mph. 

A storm spotter reported numerous trees damaged and power outages in parts of southwestern Jefferson County around Reynolds, about 30 miles southwest of Beatrice. 

Dispatcher Joyce Jones of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said she had received reports of everything from grain bins destroyed to wind and hail damage, but no injuries. 

"You name it, we had it," she said. 

There were reports of at least one farmstead hit in Thayer County. Sgt. David Lee said the Thayer County Sheriff's Office had received reports of a possible tornado, as well as strong winds and marble-sized hail, near Hubbell, a town of about 200 people on Nebraska 8 near the Kansas border. 

Power remained out in Hubbell and Chester at 11:50 p.m. 

According to the weather service, Hebron also had tree damage and power lines down. 

There also were reports of water over Nebraska 53 near Alexandria and U.S. 136 south of the town. 

Jefferson County dispatcher Joyce Jones said power was out for a time in Reynolds and Nebraska 8 was blocked with downed trees. "We've had several tornado sightings." 

She said winds of 80 mph were clocked in southern Jefferson County. 

In Fillmore County to the north, golf ball-sized hail was reported in Exeter. 

Fillmore and Butler counties reported widespread hail and wind damage, but no injuries or tornado damage. 

In southern Saline County, phones and power were out and hail damage reported. No injuries were reported. 

York County reported no damage through 10:15 p.m. 

Tornado or funnel cloud reports late Wednesday night included: 

10:25 p.m.: seven miles southeast of Daykin, or 26 miles west of Beatrice, moving northeast at 25 mph. 

10:41 p.m.: five miles southeast of Bruning, or about 40 miles south of York, moving northeast at 15 mph. 

10:55 p.m.: over Daykin. 

11:55 p.m.: between Ong in Clay County and Shickley in Fillmore County.

 No further information on those tornadoes or funnel clouds was immediately available. 

The weather service had predicted a strong chance of severe weather Wednesday night, triggered by "a potent upper level low-pressure system" moving east over the Rockies. The system, which brought snow to the mountains of Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho and Montana, was colliding with a strong upper-level disturbance pushing a cold front through eastern Nebraska, Kansas and South Dakota. Reach Cory Golden at 473-7246 or citydesk@journalstar.com. 

The Associated Press and Journal Star staff members Veronica Daehn, Joe Duggan, William Lauer and Larry Peirce contributed to this report.