A dangerous severe weather outbreak tore across the Plains and Upper Midwest on Sunday, spinning up tornadoes, dropping giant hail and driving destructive wind gusts that left damage in its path from Nebraska and South Dakota into Iowa and Minnesota. Storm trackers captured video and images of a large tornado moving across central Nebraska, while multiple tornado warnings were issued, including a rare Tornado Emergency near Hebron.
The outbreak packed enough force to send large hail up to 3.5 inches in diameter into parts of Nebraska and knock out power to thousands across portions of South Dakota near the Nebraska border. Storm reports also listed damaged buildings, overturned campers, downed trees and power lines, plus more hail and wind damage as warned storms pushed into the Omaha metro area and western Iowa overnight.
One of the starkest moments came when a tornado was captured crossing in front of a traffic camera along Interstate 29 near Salix, Iowa. Farther east, the National Weather Service said a dangerous severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado moved northeast at 55 mph and was located over La Vista near Ralston around 8:14 p.m. CT. The warning covered southeastern Omaha, Bellevue, Council Bluffs, Carter Lake and nearby communities through 9 p.m. CT, with forecasters saying the storm could still produce a tornado along with quarter-size hail and damaging winds. People in the warned area were urged to get into a sturdy building on the lowest floor and stay away from windows.
The timing matters because the weekend outbreak was not the end of the threat. Forecasters expected dangerous storms to fire up again on Monday, and the Storm Prediction Center had already issued a rare Level 4 out of 5 risk for parts of Kansas and Nebraska. They said conditions may support strong, long-track tornadoes, giant hail and widespread damaging winds, raising the stakes for communities already dealing with the damage from Sunday night.
The question now is not whether this system was serious. It was. The question is how much more of the central Plains it can hit before the atmosphere finally quiets down.
