Central U.S. warned of tornado outbreak
'Violent long-lived' twisters possible; areas already hit in recent days
Heather Olson and family friend Andy Vasa help clean up Thursday in Ceresco, Neb., after her family's home was hit by a tornado overnight.
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Bill Wolf / AP
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updated 5:12 p.m. ET June 5, 2008
OMAHA, Neb. - Severe storms popped up over the Great Plains on Thursday afternoon as forecasters warned of a potential tornado outbreak that could rival that of a June day in 1974 when 39 twisters touched down.
A funnel cloud was spotted over southwestern Nebraska, and flood warnings and watches were issued for much of the state as streams and rivers overflowed, thanks to recent rainfall of more than 5 inches in places.
Large hail, strong winds and at least two short-lived tornadoes whipped through western Kansas, with some damage reported west of Wichita. Large hail that damaged farm equipment was reported near Goodland, the National Weather Service said.
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In a strongly worded statement Thursday, the weather service warned that parts of Kansas could see hail bigger than baseballs and "a few strong to violent long-lived tornadoes."
Wichita State University canceled evening classes because of the weather predictions.
Computer forecasting models for Thursday resembled those on June 8, 1974, when 39 tornadoes raked the southern Plains, killing 22. The National Weather Service on Tuesday took the unusual step of giving advance warning of a possible tornado outbreak based on the conditions.
Forecasters had said severe thunderstorms would form in Kansas and move toward eastern Kansas, Nebraska, northwestern Missouri and Iowa. Heavy rainfall and flooding were also possible, especially late Thursday night in southeast Kansas.
"The highest risk is central Kansas and the entire central portion of the country," said Brad Mickelson, a weather service meteorologist. "There is a high risk of severe thunderstorms."
Singled out as at high risk were Omaha; Topeka, Kan.; Des Moines, Iowa; and south-central Minnesota, he said. The region at risk of severe thunderstorms stretched from northern Texas to Minnesota and Wisconsin.
On Wednesday, storms soaked the Midwest and then moved across to the mid-Atlantic region. Three deaths were blamed on the storms.
Tornadoes touched down in southern Iowa, causing isolated damage in rural areas. Many rivers flooded.
"The rivers haven't had a chance to go down, and with the heavy rains, they just keep going higher," said Brad Fillbach, another meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
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Fillbach said Creston, Iowa, which had a brush with a tornado Wednesday evening, had about 6 inches of rain by Thursday morning. Some roads were under 3 feet of water early Thursday.
"The weather has been real active this week. It'll be nice to get a few days to dry out and get these rivers back down," Fillbach said.
In the Washington metro area, Wednesday's storm downed tree lines and power lines, leaving more than 200,000 homes and businesses without electricity Thursday. Some outages could last for several days because of the severity of the damage, Pepco spokesman Bob Dobkin said.
