Giant Tornado in Northeast Nebraska

[knightni]

http://www.omaha.com/article/20131004/NEWS/131009335/1694

 

Tornado strikes Wayne, Neb., as snow batters Panhandle

 

By Alissa Skelton , Emerson Clarridge and Emily Nohr

 

 

Apparent tornado hits eastern Nebraska; heavy snow forecast for Panhandle

 

 

 

Wayne resident Logan McPhillips had just rolled into his driveway Friday evening when he heard the town's tornado sirens sounding.

 

Confused because he thought nearby Stanton, Neb., was where storms were brewing, McPhillips got into his house and checked the weather on his phone. Then, he took a look outside.

 

“As I was looking out my back window, I saw just a sheet of rain coming,” he said.

 

When he emerged several minutes later after a tornado swept through, 26-year-old McPhillips saw trees uprooted, shingles and lawn decorations scattered and Wayne's eastern industrial edge demolished.

 

“Me and my wife just walked down to the softball complex, and that place is a mess,” he said. “Three or four field lights had fallen over, and their shed where they held all their field equipment in was destroyed, and it was all over the place.”

 

During the ordeal, McPhillips heard strong winds and trees and branches thrown onto the house. The wind then calmed down, and it began to hail the size of golf balls.

 

While half his wooden fence and shed were damaged, McPhillips said he was thankful that the damage wasn't worse.

 

“How the tornado didn't hit us,” he said, “I just don't know."

 

* * *

 

Gov. Dave Heineman Friday evening issued an emergency declaration for the area surrounding the northeast Nebraska town struck by a tornado about 5:30 p.m.

 

People were trapped in a building in Wayne, and a hazardous materials crew was en route to evaluate a gas leak at a supply company there, said Jodie Fawl, a spokeswoman for the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency, citing reports from authorities at the scene.

 

One patient with traumatic injuries caused by the tornado was initially treated at Providence Medical Center in Wayne and taken to Mercy Medical Center in Sioux City, Iowa, said Sandra Bartling, a Providence spokeswoman.

 

That hospital had treated seven "walking wounded" patients, though the nature of the injuries and conditions was not clear, Bartling said.

 

The hospital was in its disaster mode, and all of its staff had been called in.

 

At about 8:15 p.m., physicians at the hospital were expecting to receive by ambulance seven other patients who were injured in two auto accidents, though it was unknown whether the accidents were caused by the weather.

 

Jay Collier, a spokesperson for Wayne State College, said the tornado wasn't too far from the college. Collier said he had heard that most of the damage happened in a several-block area on either side of Highway 35, the main road through town.

 

Initial reports said Wayne East gas station, John Deere implement, Diest Chemical, Wayne Municipal Airport, the Wayne softball complex and other businesses in that area had been damaged, Collier said. The Wayne High School homecoming football game and dance were canceled.

 

"The tornado ripped through the east side of town about three blocks from the college," Collier said. "We are doing everything we can to assist the city."

 

After the tornado pushed through, Wayne resident Ryan Burns returned home to find half a tree sitting in his front yard.

 

“It was pretty scary,” he said. “I was pretty lucky I was at where I was (when the storm came through.)”

 

The 23-year-old Wayne senior studying industrial technology education was holed up on campus in the cinder block applied-science building during the storm.

 

When the storm finally lifted, Burns headed home, and on the way he saw the town's John Deere implement “completely on the ground” and barn maker Sand Creek Post and Beam “tilted on its side.” A gas station was damaged with broken windows, and another manufacturer had a gaping hole.

 

“It took me probably about five times as long to get home than it usually does because everyone was trying to get out and look,” he said.

 

Emergency managers are asking that Wayne residents stay away from the affected areas, Collier said, because "their presence is hindering emergency operations and emergency response."

 

Collier said the college has provided a trailer with Internet access and cellphone service for emergency management workers.

 

* * *

 

The National Weather Service in Omaha said a farm house was destroyed and at least one car was flipped during the storm. It is not known whether anyone was home when the tornado hit.

 

Storm chaser Chad Cowan tweeted that multiple homes had been destroyed south of Wayne. He posted a picture of a destroyed home Friday evening.

 

Fawl said three farmhouses in Antelope County were also damaged, but it wasn't immediately clear whether they were hit by a tornado.

 

Grocery store owner Amy Riesberg said she saw several uprooted trees blocking roads on the east side of town near her home. She rode out the tornado in her basement with two children. She said the power went out for at least 15 minutes. KCTY 104.9, a local radio station, also wasn't broadcasting, she said.

 

Riesberg owns the Quality Food Center, 517 Dearborn St., located on the east side of town in the downtown area. Customers were huddled in the back room while they waited for the storm to pass. Her store was not damaged, she said. Some of her employees reported seeing damage to at least three nearby local businesses.

 

Riesberg said she had planned to offer food and water to people in need. She's grateful the tornado didn't hit her house or store.

 

"I feel fortunate that I am alive and well and so are my children," she said. "We are going to do what we can to help everyone else in the community."

 

State emergency management officials are coordinating with the Red Cross and the National Guard to begin cleanup efforts.

 

The weather service has also issued a tornado watch until 10 p.m. for Buena Vista, Clay and Dickinson Counties in Iowa.

 

* * *

 

At of 9:45 p.m. Friday, 108 customers were without power in Douglas County and 68 in Sarpy. Outages were reported at Midtown Crossing on Friday evening.

 

More from the NWS

 

Is this type of weather weird for the time of year?

 

Dave Fobert of the National Weather Service Office in Valley, Neb., said a tornado in eastern Nebraska in early October "is not that unusual.''

 

"It's the reverse of spring,'' he said, "when you get the contrast in temperatures.''

 

Generally in spring, warmer conditions begin moving into eastern Nebraska and western Iowa, pushing out colder conditions, he said, which produces severe weather. In the fall, colder weather moves in from the west, which then pushes out warmer conditions, also producing the chance of severe weather.

 

Nebraska tornadoes by month since 1950

 

According to National Weather Service records, Thursday's tornado was the first in October in Nebraska since 2001.

 

Dating to 1950, Nebraska has seen 76 October tornadoes, the sixth-lowest monthly total.

 

Jan. Feb. March Apr. May June July Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec.

6 2 64 243 739 917 360 166 58 76 3 2

 

What's in the forecast for the Omaha area?

 

High temps for the Omaha area Saturday should be in the low 50s, with gusty winds out of the northwest. Sunday won't be as windy, with a high around 60.

 

Up to 18 inches of snow forecast for the Nebraska Panhandle

 

The Chadron area in the northern Nebraska Panhandle was expecting up to 18 inches of snow through tonight.

 

Mike Jamski of the National Weather Service Office in Cheyenne, Wyo., said that Chadron received a snow-rain mix Friday morning, which was expected to turn to wet snow by afternoon.

 

He said a blizzard warning was issued through 6 a.m. Saturday for the northern Nebraska Panhandle, where an area from Scottsbluff to Alliance could receive 12 to 18 inches of snow through tonight. South of Scottsbluff, said Jamski, may receive 4 to 10 inches of snow.

 

“These amounts of snow are unusual for the area in early October,'' Jamski said. However, he said, it's not unusual for the area to receive lesser amounts of wet snow early in the month.

 

Radio station KCSR in Chadron was reporting a fatal accident on U.S. Highway 20 Friday morning between Crawford and Whitney. Three people are reported to have died. A witness said the crash involved a semi truck and a pickup.

 

Dawes County Sheriff Karl Dailey advised that people should not travel as the area remains under a blizzard watch.

 

“The roads are treacherous. If you don't have to go anywhere, don't go.”

 

Like the Scottsbluff area, where rain fell all night before a sleety snow began falling at about 9 a.m., the Chadron area has also experienced freezing drizzle, which concerns Dailey.

 

“My biggest fear is that the snow has been slushy,” he said. “Once the temperature starts to tank, it is going to get unbelievably nasty.”

 

North of Chadron, a foot of snow had already fallen in South Dakota's scenic Black Hills. Residents are bracing for as much as 3 feet of snow, along with wind gusts of up to 70 mph.

 

Conditions in the Panhandle should start warming up by Sunday, he said, with high temps rising from 50 degrees Sunday to 60 by Tuesday.

 

What other areas are affected?

 

The stormy weather in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa is part of a system that was threatening much of the Midwest, with heavy snow in parts of the Nebraska Panhandle and South Dakota and possibly dangerous thunderstorms from Wisconsin to Oklahoma, the Associated Press reported.

 

The National Weather Service said the summerlike system hitting the eastern Plains on Friday was packing thunder, high winds, heavy rain and tornadoes.

 

Besides Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin and Oklahoma, other states in the path include Minnesota, Kansas, Missouri.

 

World-Herald staff writers Jay Withrow, Julie Anderson and David Hendee; the World-Herald News Service; and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

[witesoxfan]

This effected southeast South Dakota, northwest Iowa, and northeast Nebraska. Western South Dakota for 30-40 inches of snow.

 

I was in Sioux Falls this weekend, and on Friday it rained for 5 and a half hours of the 6 hour drive down there. The drive back was much more pleasant.