Power Outage in Cambridge, NE

A large and historic wildfire tore across parts of Gosper and Furnas counties on this Thursday afternoon-evening, remaining in the regional news headlines for several days while being gradually contained. Fueled by a nasty combination of extreme dryness and severe north-northwest winds frequently gusting 50-60+ MPH, this blaze scorched approximately 35,000 acres along a nearly 22-mile long and mainly 2-4 mile wide swath, making it the largest wildfire in at least many decades within South Central Nebraska. Dubbed the Road 739 Fire, it ignited around 12:30 p.m. CDT seven miles south-southwest of Elwood near the intersection of county Roads 739/420 (where it was determined that a dead tree limb blew onto power lines) and raged south-southeastward over the next several hours to the banks of the Republican River one to two miles west-southwest of Edison, where its forward progress was halted in the early morning hours of Friday the 8th. According to the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), eight residences were destroyed along with as many as 50 outbuildings/minor structures (in addition to many killed/injured livestock, damaged irrigation pivots, fences, etc.). Although no injuries were reported from the actual fire, tragically two traffic incidents involving emergency personnel occurred during the immediate fire response, one resulting in a fatality. In this most notable accident, the Elwood volunteer fire chief was killed and the Phelps County emergency manager seriously injured when the SUV they were riding in collided head-on with a truck hauling water approximately eight miles north of Arapahoe along Highway 283 (visibility was near-zero at the time due to a combination of blowing smoke/dust). In a separate accident, a Farnam volunteer firefighter was injured when the fire truck he was riding on dropped into a hole and overturned in a pasture approximately 11 miles southwest of Elwood. In the immediate aftermath of the fire, several area U.S. and state highways were closed for a time due to either active fire or heavy smoke, including highways: 283, 6/34, 46 and 89. Although the forward progress of the fire was halted within roughly the first 12 hours after it started, it took many more days to fully corral hot spots within the fire perimeter, as even nearly two weeks later the fire as a whole was officially only 80 percent contained. As for the overall fire response, in addition to at least 40 local fire departments from across the state, the following state agencies also deployed personnel for a few to several days: NEMA, Nebraska State Patrol, Nebraska State Fire Marshal and Nebraska Forest Service. In addition, the Nebraska National Guard deployed two UH-60 helicopters for aerial fire suppression (dropping buckets of water on hot spots) along with support vehicles and a 25-person Wildland Taskforce crew. According to the Nebraska Region 17 Emergency Management Coordinator, the extreme and aggressive behavior of the Road 739 fire was unlike anything he had ever encountered, noting that at times those battling the fire could not even see the front of their vehicles due to blowing smoke/dust. But as tragic as the Road 739 Fire was, it could have been even worse, as the tireless work of countless firefighters saved dozens of rural homes and also kept the fire from potentially spreading into the communities of Arapahoe and Edison (the fire got within approximately one mile of both, and an evacuation order was briefly in effect for Edison and nearby rural areas). Please note: Although the Road 739 fire was the largest fire of April 2022 to occur entirely within this South Central Nebraska area, the Road 702 fire that flared up 15 days later (April 22) was actually even larger overall, scorching approximately 44,000 acres including parts of western Furnas County in this local area. However, the majority of the Road 702 Fire focused just west of this coverage area (mainly impacting Red Willow County in the Extreme Southwest Nebraska coverage area).

Wind gusts estimated to be near 60 MPH resulted in downed powerlines at the intersection of Highway 6 and Highway 283.

A peak wind gust of 65 MPH was recorded at 6:09 PM CDT by a mesonet station located 5 miles north-northwest of Oxford. A gust of 62 MPH was recorded by mesonet stations located 1 mile north of Oxford and 2 miles north-northeast of Cambridge right at 5:54 PM CDT. These two stations also recorded wind gusts of 60 MPH earlier in the day, between 1:30 and 2:30 PM CDT. Tree limbs up to 6 inches in diameter were downed in Cambridge, and power lines were knocked down in Arapahoe.

A 71 MPH wind gust was measured by a mesonet station located 1 mile west-northwest of Cambridge. These winds were accompanied by quarter to golf ball size hail. Three power poles were snapped on Highway 34 west of Cambridge, and tree damage and downed power poles occurred in Cambridge, including at the Cambridge cemetery.

The highest total snowfall amounts included 10 inches in Wilsonville, 7.3 inches in Cambridge, and 5.0 inches in Beaver City. Near-blizzard conditions were reported, with falling snow and wind gusts near 50 MPH resulting in visibility down to one quarter to one half of a mile at times. Power outages lingered in some rural areas for several days thereafter.

This tornado crossed into Nebraska southeast of Beaver City and traveled north-northeast across rural areas of Furnas County south of Hollinger. Damage along the path was primarily to trees, power poles, some signs, outbuildings and small farm machinery. The tornado damaged mainly power poles and trees south of Highway 89. After it crossed Highway 89, the tornado clipped a barn and farm storage area northeast of Hollinger. The western side roof covering was ripped from the barn and several grain carts were moved on the property causing other damage. The maximum width was estimated from damage located approximately 4 miles north of the Kansas state line. The maximum wind speed was estimated to be 95 MPH.

A line of thunderstorms moved through Furnas County, with wind gusts estimated as high as 80 MPH. There was a measured gust of 60 MPH near Edison at 10:14 p.m. CDT. Across roughly the northern half of Furnas County, power poles and large tree limbs were downed, with some trees completely blown over. A barn was destroyed approximately 7 miles south of Cambridge. The town of Arapahoe lost power.

Wind gusts were estimated at 70 MPH, resulting in significant damage to a garage and barn. Trees of 1 to 2 feet in diameter, and power lines, were blown down.

Severe wind gusts occurred with a line of thunderstorms across portions of south central Nebraska and north central Kansas on the evening of July 2nd. Fairly typical summertime weather pattern occurred on this day in which scattered thunderstorms developed over the High Plains during the late afternoon, posing a tornado and large hail threat, then organized into a quasi-linear convective system (QLCS) as they shifted eastward through the evening into an increasing moist, and unstable environment. As is often the case with QLCS events in this part of the country during this time of year, severe wind gusts were the primary threat. Thunderstorm mergers over extreme southwest Nebraska and northwest Kansas promoted the development of a significant pool of cold air which caused a segment of thunderstorms, within the broader line of thunderstorms, to quickly accelerate eastward into western portions of the County Warning Area (CWA) between 7-8pm CDT. By the time this activity arrived it already had a history of producing widespread 60-70mph wind gusts, and even isolated 70-80+mph wind gusts in the vicinity of Hill City, Kansas. The bowing line of thunderstorms continued to produce a swath of severe winds as it moved through the southern half (or so) of the CWA through the late evening hours. For south central Nebraska, severe reports were confined to areas mainly along and south of Highway 6 in Furnas and Harlan Counties, though a Cooperative Observer in Gosper County estimated up to 70mph wind gusts. Damage to trees and power lines were the main impacts of the severe wind. The strongest thunderstorm cores, on the leading edge of the QLCS, exited the area to the southeast by around midnight. Trailing stratiform rain lingered for a couple more hours.||As mentioned above, the meteorological conditions were quite typical for this area for early July. A warm and moist air mass and steep mid level lapse rates supported very strong instability (MLCAPE 4000-5000 J/kg) across a large portion of the Central Plains. A broad upper level ridge axis was in place from the southern Plains into the Upper Mississippi River Valley, resulting in weak southwesterly flow aloft. Because of the upper ridging, deep layer wind shear was weak at less than 30 knots, with much of the shear owing to veering of wind direction in the low to mid levels. This indicates that primarily mesoscale features such as an MCV and a strong cold pool were the main factors that supported severe wind in this event, and not synoptic scale features. Downdraft CAPE values in excess of 1500 J/kg were indicative of the strong potential for cool pool development.

Lightning struck a power pole near the Oxford Cargill Dry Plant on the west edge of town. The charge followed the pole to an electrical box, and the resultant spark ignited a trash can nearby. The strike was also noted at another business in town, and tripped circuit breakers and exploded an aerosol can.

Severe thunderstorms in Furnas County produced 60 mph winds in Arapahoe and Cambridge. Power poles were snapped and there were several reports of six to ten inch tree limbs broken.