Power Outage in Columbus, NE

A narrow, fast-moving, tornado began in the parking lot of a business along Howard Blvd where it tipped over a semi trailer and proceeded to cause roof, siding, fence, and tree damage. Approximately one block later, it caused the worst damage of the entire track where an attached garage and entire roof were removed from a ranch home. Much of the roof was deposited 20 to 100 yards downstream. The tornado proceeded to produce sporadic damage over the next two blocks and then a more consistent damage path for a 6 block period where many homes had minor to moderate roof damage and several trees were snapped or uprooted. There was then another 5 blocks of sporadic minor to moderate tree and roof damage followed by a 2 block stretch of continuous minor to moderate roof and siding damage. The tornado then travelled across open fields until reaching the Indian Hills neighborhood where it snapped two power poles and caused generally minor damage to a fence and shingles, with no further damage downstream. The entire 2.7 mile track occurred in approximately 2 minutes.

A narrow, fast-moving, tornado began in the parking lot of a business along Howard Blvd where it tipped over a semi trailer and proceeded to cause roof, siding, fence, and tree damage. Approximately one block later, it caused the worst damage of the entire track where an attached garage and entire roof were removed from a ranch home. Much of the roof was deposited 20 to 100 yards downstream. The tornado proceeded to produce sporadic damage over the next two blocks and then a more consistent damage path for a 6 block period where many homes had minor to moderate roof damage and several trees were snapped or uprooted. There was then another 5 blocks of sporadic minor to moderate tree and roof damage followed by a 2 block stretch of continuous minor to moderate roof and siding damage. The tornado then travelled across open fields until reaching the Indian Hills neighborhood where it snapped two power poles and caused generally minor damage to a fence and shingles, with no further damage downstream. The entire 2.7 mile track occurred in approximately 2 minutes.

Spotters reports some minor snow accumulations of an inch or two, but more notable was ice accumulation of one or two tenths of an inch. The combination of winds gusting to 48 mph during the event, along with the ice created a few power outages and galloping transmission lines.

Numerous trees and power lines were blown down in and around Columbus. Trampolines were blown over, with some of them wrapped around power poles.

Power lines were blown down near Tarnov.

A semi trailer, u-haul trailers, and a power pole were blown over by damaging thunderstorm winds.

Wind gusts were estimated up to 80 mph 10 miles north of Columbus. Near the city of Columbus, wind gusts were measured at 59 mph at the Loup Power Plant, 62 mph 1 mile northeast of Columbus, and 68 mph 1 mile west of Columbus. The emergency manager reported trees and power line damage throughout the county.

Within the city of Columbus winds were estimated at near 70 mph with numerous trees blown down, as well as power lines.

Thunderstorm wind gusts caused spotty tree damage in Columbus including a large hackberry tree which was downed in the town square which damaged a statue and ceremonial cannon. Some power outages were also noted in town.

A prolonged winter storm/blizzard hit the area closing many roads and highways and bringing most traffic to a standstill for a few days. Snowfall from the storm began Christmas Eve morning and lasted well into the 26th with substantial blowing and drifting snow and occasional periods of accumulating snow finally tapering off around midnight on the 27th. Northwest winds of 25 to 35 mph with gusts over 45 mph occurred for an extended period during the height of the storm. A peak gust of 49 mph was measured by the Awos in Columbus. Total snowfall from the storm was estimated at 14 to 18 inches over most of the county with around 16.3 inches measured in Columbus among the highest reported. A 19-year-old male was killed when he was struck by snow removal equipment when assisting its removal a few days after the storm. In addition, LPPD reported that 1,450 customers in Platte Center, Lindsay, Monroe, Tarnov and Creston temporarily lost power during the storm. The city of Columbus spent $43,000 alone just for labor for snow removal.

Rain changed to a brief period of freezing rain then to a heavy wet snow during the late evening hours of April 4th and continued into the morning of the 5th. The precipitation was accompanied by north winds of 25 to 35 mph with gusts to 50 mph. Although snowfall ended during the late morning of the 5th, the strong winds caused continued drifting snow in open areas into the afternoon hours. The ice and heavy wet snow caused scattered power outages across the county. Snowfall amounts were reported to have been around 4 to 6 inches across the county based on newspaper reports, amounts received from surrounding counties and visible satellite imagery taken the next day. Travel was extremely difficult at times.

Winds that were estimated to have gusted to 60 mph toppled a large evergreen tree on the north side of Columbus knocking the power out to 10 to 15 customers. Another 10 customers lost power around the Duncan area when a fallen tree snapped a rural line.

Freezing rain accumulated between 1/4 and 1/2 of an inch over much of the county. The icing downed tree limbs and caused scattered power outages.

Freezing rain accumulated between 1/4 inch and 1 inch in some locations on trees, power lines, vehicles and other untreated objects. The areas most hard hit in Platte county were to the west through north of Columbus. The weight of the ice, and a mix of light sleet that fell for a while Sunday, caused tree damage and also felled numerous power lines and power poles throughout the western and northern sections of the county. Around 500 power poles were snapped from near Monroe north toward Lindsay causing power outages in the region. Fallen trees also caused damage to cars and houses over the area most hard hit. The storm caused around 3.2 million dollars worth of damage to utility companies in the county.

The Columbus Awos recorded a 62 mph thunderstorm wind gust from this storm. The winds downed several trees and large branches in town, especially across the southeast section of the city. Between 50 and 60 homes lost power from tree branches falling on power lines. The limbs also blocked some roads and damaged vehicles and a few homes. Lightning from the storm struck a radio transmitter knocking several radio stations off the air for over 12 hours.

Gradient winds from the northwest at 30 to 35 mph with gusts over 40 mph downed a cell phone tower in Columbus. The tower fell on power lines and knocked power out to 1,500 customers for up to an hour and a half.

A possible thunderstorm microburst hit around a 1 mile area northwest of Columbus. The winds, estimated at over 70 mph, took a tin roof off of local power company cement block building. Four garage doors on that building were also destroyed or heavily damaged. Another nearby business sustained serious damage and a farmstead, also close by, had several large trees toppled by the winds one of which damaged a grain bin.

Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at 60 mph downed power lines, temporarily knocking power to parts of south Columbus.

A thunderstorm wind gust of 61 mph was recorded by the AWOS at the Columbus airport. This is from the same storm that produced hail up to 1.25 inches in diameter. The winds downed large tree limbs in town, several of which fell on vehicles or downed a few power lines.

Thunderstorm wind gusts knocked several branches and limbs down in town and also caused a tree to fall over on a power line resulting in a power outage.