Severe thunderstorms swept through Nebraska and produced baseball-size hail that surprised many residents. According to the National Weather Service, northern and eastern Nebraska, northeast Missouri, and western and southern Iowa are at risk for severe weather conditions.
Additionally, there will be severe thunderstorm outbreaks that are expected to hit South Dakota, Kansas, and Illinois. The baseball-size hail was reported in northeast Nebraska on Tuesday afternoon.
As the storms landed, the National Weather Service received reports of flooding and hail damage, accompanied by winds as strong as 85 mph. On Tuesday evening, the storms were just about to begin. Residents were advised to stay indoors.
Severe Thunderstorm Watch for SE Nebraska until 5am. pic.twitter.com/7rALXcM4M2
— Rusty Dawkins (@rustywx) June 4, 2014
RT @Connord64: flooding in Grand Island. Eddy St underpass and Broadwell Avenue in town. pic.twitter.com/0roM8CDvAB
— Rusty Dawkins (@rustywx) June 4, 2014
Bill Bunting, head of forecast operations at the Storm Prediction Center in Oklahoma said, “This is one of these days we can’t let our guard down. It’s unfortunately panning out as we thought it would. This is shaping up as a very dangerous evening.”
Nebraska residents shared their photos on Twitter and Facebook to show the extent of damage brought by the large hailstones. In Omaha, a police sergeant shared an image of a car that was dented by the hailstones.
Baseball-sized hail hits Nebraska: http://t.co/c4Ga5NxzUH pic.twitter.com/RrwsKIV26V
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) June 4, 2014
Here is Tuesday Baseball – size hail in Nebraska storm! pic.twitter.com/Wf9Yw7qoO8
— Pablo Pereira (@PabloWeather) June 4, 2014
Check out the hail damage in Blair, Nebraska. @WCL_Shawn pic.twitter.com/ExVyDk2LW2
— Ivory (@ivory_doug) June 3, 2014
AMAZING VIDEO! Baseball-size hail pelts Nebraska, watch it here –> http://t.co/cgI1lAHUlB Photo Courtesy: CNN. pic.twitter.com/Dk2exxWt3C
— News4Jax (@wjxt4) June 4, 2014
Other residents showed pictures of shattered windows of their vehicles and homes, due to the strong hail. Residents from low areas were evacuated in order to keep them safe from flooding and the threat of the storm.
Observation program leader for the National Weather Service in Nebraska Terry Landsvork said, “The storms, we call it training. It’s like a train going down the track. One car goes by, another one follows. That’s what’s happening.” He explained that the thunderstorms were moving over the same areas, referring to western Iowa and Nebraska.
In Iowa, Gov. Terry Branstad declared a storm disaster proclamation for Pottawattamie County on Tuesday night, as the storms landed while voters were on their way to the polls for the primary elections.
Image via NDN video