Thunderstorm Wind — Hitchcock, Nebraska

2025-05-18 · near Stratton, Hitchcock, Nebraska

Event narrative

An NWS Storms survey found evidence of straight line winds along Road 714 north of Stratton in the form of 50 yards of fence posts broken near poles. An additional 3 power poles were also found snapped roughly 3-5 feet from the surface. Further east along Road 714 hardwood trees had been uprooted. Further to the east a large 10 inch tree uprooted; additional trees around 2 foot in diameter were also uprooted.

Wider weather episode

Numerous severe storms moved into SW Nebraska from northeast Colorado and northwest Kansas and led to numerous reports of hail, wind and tornadoes. The strongest tornado was an EF 3 to the north of Stratton, Nebraska along with hail around 2 inches north of Stratton and in Benkelman as well. The EF 3 caused major damage to structures, electric poles, and farm machinery. The same thunderstorm also produced swaths of straight-line winds that also caused damage to electric poles, trees, and structures.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (40.1770, -101.2919)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1259555. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.