Thunderstorm Wind — Hitchcock, Nebraska

2015-08-07 · near Stratton, Hitchcock, Nebraska

Event narrative

The high wind gust snapped the top of an 80 foot tree off, with the top of the tree flying over a nearby house. The wind also flipped a swing set. The house shook because the winds were so strong. Elsewhere around town there was widespread, major tree damage. Twelve to eighteen inch diameter trees were snapped and uprooted. Power poles were damaged which lead to power outages in town and the surrounding area. In town one garage and one unanchored mobile home were destroyed. There were many roofs damaged as well as siding on houses. A camper was overturned, damaged and resulted in one (direct) fatality.

Wider weather episode

During the evening a line of severe storms moved into Southwest Nebraska from Northwest Kansas. The highest wind speeds were along the leading edge of the squall line. The highest wind gust reported was 100 MPH at Stratton. Large hail was also reported as the squall line moved through, with the golf ball size hail near Stratton being the largest.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (40.1500, -101.2300)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 592029. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.