Thunderstorm Wind — Douglas, Nebraska

2003-07-05 · near Omaha, Douglas, Nebraska

Event narrative

A large bowing line of thunderstorms moved through the Omaha area bringing very strong winds and causing areas of substantial tree damage. A wind gust of 59 mph was recorded by Asos at Eppley Airfield at 1229 am cdt, while a wind gust of 84 mph was recorded on top of a building in downtown Omaha at 1233 am cdt and a 75 mph gust was recorded on a building on the Creighton campus at 1240 am cdt. OPPD estimated that cleanup expenses alone were around $200,000, with damage estimated at around 1.5 million dollars. At the peak, 60,000 customers were without power, some for the better part of a week. Many cars at several parking lots near the airport had their side windows broke out, probably due to the strong winds and the temperature contrast of a cool rain falling on cars which had sat out in the sun all day. The temperature when the rain and wind came through fell from the lower 80s down to the lower to mid 60s. This line of storms originated in northeast Nebraska from around Antelope, Pierce and Cedar counties and then bowed southeast causing the areas of extensive tree damage across counties in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa that night. In Omaha, much of the tree and house damage was in the central and eastern sections of the city where larger trees existed.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (41.2667, -96.0000)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5334152. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.