Lincoln County tornado ranked as F-3 storm

NORTH PLATTE (AP) -- On a scale of vicious storms, the Lincoln County tornado that destroyed one home and damaged six others between Brady and Maxwell was rated the worst to hit the county since 1989.

 National Weather Service officials in North Platte said the twister was an F-3 on a tornado scale of F-1 as the mildest to F-5 as the worst.

 So how powerful is an F-3? Weather officials said just 25 percent of all tornadoes get to that stage. Winds in such a storm reach 158 mph to 206 mph.

 The storm was strong enough that weather service radar picked it up nearly 40 minutes before the spinning funnel touched down. It was on the ground about 20 minutes and was a quarter-mile wide.

 The weather service said it also was an unusual storm cell because it spun off several funnels around the major vortex.

Overnight storm brings tornadoes, downpours to western Nebraska

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Weather mayhem: Collapsed trees, stacked cars and a destroyed wood-frame house are part of the path of destruction Wednesday after a tornado touched down in Maxwell.

 In the northern Panhandle, residents of Lakeside reported more than 4 inches of rain Wednesday, while 2.75 inches fell in Alliance, 2.8 inches at Hemingford and more than 2 inches fell near Chadron.

 The temperature dropped overnight in Alliance to 36 degrees early Thursday, with a wind chill of 11 degrees.

 Hail fell in an area about 10 miles south of Chadron, damaging wheat fields. The state Department of Roads sent out a snowplow about midnight to move hail off U.S. 385.

 Broken Bow in central Nebraska reported about 3 inches of rain, and the Valentine area had about 2 inches.

 In northeast Nebraska, Dixon, northern Boone and Antelope counties received 4 inches or more of rain.

 On Thursday, heavy rain fell in eastern Nebraska and a flash flood watch was issued for Burt, Dodge, Washington, Douglas, Sarpy, Saunders and Butler counties.

 In Saronville in Clay County in south-central Nebraska, lightning struck a privately owned church building on the main street Wednesday night, causing a smoldering fire that broke out Thursday and damaged the building. Sutton and Clay Center firefighters battled the blaze, which was brought under control about midmorning.

 Cleanup began Thursday near Maxwell, 13 miles east of North Platte, after a tornado leveled one farmhouse and destroyed four vehicles. Five more farmhouses were severely damaged when a tornado ripped through an eight-mile patch of farmland in the area.

 Two people, Sue Taylor and her daughter, Heather, suffered minor injuries when their farmhouse was destroyed. Sue Taylor said she looked out the picture window and saw the twister at the end of the driveway.

 "It was a huge, boiling mass of absolute black," she said. "I could see it swirling and moving right toward us, fast." Lincoln County emergency management director Deb Bertrand said the damage was stunning.

 "It broke your heart to see the destruction that happened so quickly and so completely," she said.

 One family spent Wednesday night at a local motel, but others found friends or family to stay with, Bertrand said. Cleanup, also largely being handled by friends and family, began Thursday, she said.

 At least four tornadoes touched down near North Platte Wednesday night, said Dave Wert, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in North Platte.

 The worst damage came from the tornado near Maxwell.

 Besides Taylor's home, five other farmhouses were damaged but remained intact. Farm equipment, vehicles and out buildings were destroyed.

 The tornado also took down trees and at least 50 power lines, knocking out electricity for several hours in an area between Gothenburg and Maxwell, said Dawson Public Power District operations manager Kerry Teetor. Electricity had been restored in most areas after a few hours, he said.
 

The University of Nebraska, High Plains Climate Center provides this information as an educational service to the public.  Please do not further reproduce this report without permisiion from The Lincoln Journal Star.