Thunderstorm Wind — Douglas, Nebraska

2008-06-27 · near Mercer, Douglas, Nebraska

Event narrative

This is a continuation of the damage path from the bow echo that started in Dodge and Saunders county to the west. The damage path in Douglas county was about 5 to 7 miles wide and a NWS storm survey estimated winds of at least 70 mph and in some cases up to 100 to 115 mph. Wind equipment at the NWS office just outside of Valley measured 77 mph winds at 434 pm CDT just before the equipment failed. Meteorologists there estimated winds exceeded 80 mph at the office. The Awos at the Millard airport, just south of the severe damage swath, measured a wind gust of 59 mph at 450 pm.

The damage path crossed into the county from the Woodcliff area south of Fremont and spread toward and then just north of the Elkhorn area. In the Valley area trees were damaged or uprooted, a fireworks tent and its contents were destroyed, farm outbuildings were heavily damaged and center pivots were flipped. A house also lost its roof and crops were flattened or shredded to the ground. In western Douglas county several barns were destroyed or severely damage, including a few that caused severe injuries to livestock that necessitated euthanization. The damage swath then continued across west Omaha where 2 houses near 180th and Maple Streets sustained serious damage due to garage failures. Tree and power pole damage continued toward the 132nd and Maple Street intersection where more substantial damage was noted, including a damaged canopy at a gas station and a swath of broken light and power poles. That intersection was to remain closed then for the next 2 or 3 days while the poles were repaired or replaced and power restored. The damage path then continued through the Dundee area where more substantial tree damage was noted due to the concentration of larger and older trees. Finally the damage continued into downtown Omaha with damage noted to the outside of the Qwest Sports/Convention Center. Across the entire path, tree, home and other outside building or fence damage was observed or reported.

In all over 125,000 OPPD customers lost power, in some cases for a week or so. OPPD officials stated that it was one of the worst storms in its history, rivaling an early wet snowstorm in late October of 1997. Damage claims in the Omaha area alone was estimated to have reached $40 million from residents and between $2.6 million and $3.7 million from city property. OPPD was estimated to have sustained $10 million in damage, mostly in Douglas county.

Wider weather episode

A bow echo that developed northwest of Omaha produced a 3 to 7 mile wide swath of significant damage surrounded by a larger area of lesser damage from about 40 miles northwest of Omaha to 50 miles to the southeast. Wind speeds in the core of the damage path were measured at 77 mph at the NWS in Valley before the wind equipment failed. A private citizen reportedly measured 98 mph winds on their home weather equipment in far west Omaha. A storm survey done by the NWS estimated that the more significant damage was caused by straight-line winds which reached speeds of 100 to 115 mph in some areas.

The damage swath started in north central Saunders and south central Dodge counties and ended in southern Pottawattamie and northern Mills counties. Numerous trees were snapped or uprooted along the path of the significant damage along with snapped power and street light poles and scattered house and outbuilding damage. Corn and other crops in the path were shredded nearly to the ground.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (41.3776, -96.4280)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 100361. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.