Lightning in Polk County, Nebraska

Six employees working on the construction of a new grain elevator on the northeastern fringe of Shelby were sent to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries when lightning struck the structure.

An upper level disturbance in westerly winds aloft helped to intensify storms over the High Plains and carry these storms east during the night of July 6th and into the morning hours of July 7th. Instability had increased across central and south central Nebraska during the overnight period. A line of thunderstorms had moved across central Nebraska during the early morning hours of July 7th. This line of storms moved through Polk County around 8 AM CDT. The front end and strongest part of the line of storms had already moved through the area when lightning struck a grain elevator on the northeastern fringe of the town of Shelby. Six employees who were working on the construction of the grain elevator were sent to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries due to the lightning strike.