Power Outage in Fairbury, NE

Emergency manager reported downed powerlines.

Emergency manager reported power lines blown down.

Emergency manager reported power lines and trees down.

Emergency manager reported multiple trees and parts of roofs in the street. Town is without power.ER.

Emergency manager reported uprooted trees. Limbs up to 4 inches were broken off. Buildings were damaged from downed tree branches. There were numerous power outages in the Fairbury area.

Trees were blown down onto power lines.

Periods of freezing rain produced widespread ice accumulations across the county. General ice accumulations of a quarter to over a half was reported across the county. This resulted in significant tree damage, as well as widespread power outages.

A tree was blown down in the city of Fairbury that landed on a transformer and resulted in power outages.

Strong winds knocked down tree branches and caused numerous power outages in the city of Fairbury.

A survey from the emergency manager indicated an area of damaging winds in southwest Jefferson County. Damage included minor outbuilding damage, power lines downed, and center irrigation pivots overturned. The damage appears to have been caused by rear-flank downdrafts.

Thunderstorm wind gusts were measured at a mesonet site just southwest of Fairbury at 62 mph at 656 pm CDT and at 65 mph at 716 pm. The strong winds blew a semi off the road on Highway 8 southwest of Fairbury and did considerable tree damage, mainly south of town. The fallen trees damaged power poles and transformers, mainly south of Fairbury but also into that town. Power was knocked out to many people across the area.

Thunderstorm winds estimated at over 60 mph downed many large tree branches in town and also knocked over a least one power pole and power lines near Highway 15 and 708 Road. The winds were from the main thunderstorm which followed a period of outflow winds that occurred some 20 to 30 minutes prior.

An Assessment team from the NWS determined that a tornado tracked around 3 miles west through northwest of the Diller area. The damage path was around 300 yards at its widest. Trees and farm outbuildings were damaged along its path and 35 large power poles were snapped. A house in the area also sustained major damage to the roof and windows and the upper floor was partially shifted from the lower floor and a wall was bowed outward and garage destroyed. A center irrigation pivot was damaged at the tornadoes lifting point.

Emergency Management stated that between 1/2 and 3/4 of an inch of ice accumulation was common over much of the county. When the winds picked up during the winter storm/blizzard that followed the ice storm, the ice covered power lines began whipping in the wind causing scattered power outages over the region. Norris Public Power reported that 2500 customers in a 5 county area lost power from the storm.

Rain changed to a wet heavy snow during the predawn hours of November 16th. Snowfall rates through mid morning reached an inch or two per hour as visibilities dropped to a quarter mile or less. Total snowfall was 6 to 10 inches across most of the central and southern sections of the county. Higher amounts included 10 inches in Endicott, 8 inches at Diller and 6 inches in Fairbury. The slushy heavy wet snow caused several accidents and power losses in the morning but by afternoon it had mostly melted on roads.

Sustained winds of 35 to 40 mph with gusts of 60 to 65 mph prevailed over the county from late morning through early evening. Several weather recording stations reported wind gusts of 60 to 65 mph including one maintained by emergency management which recorded a 65 mph wind gust at 258 pm CDT. The strong winds downed trees and large limbs, power lines, caused some building damage in Fairbury and nearby Endicott and created very poor visibilities in blowing dust. The winds also flipped 2 semis. One semi was overturned southwest of Fairbury around 240 pm CDT and the other was blown over 1/2 mile east of Jansen on Highway 136 around 320 pm. The second resulted in minor injuries to the driver.

Wind equipment maintained by emergency management near Fairbury measured a wind gust of 65 mph. The strong winds downed isolated power lines and knocked down a few 2-3 inch diameter tree branches and caused other isolated damage in the area. The winds were from the south and caused by low pressure tracking north of the area.

Power lines were downed along Highway 136 from Jansen to Harbine by thunderstorm gusts estimated at over 60 mph. The strong winds were from the super-cell thunderstorm that produced a tornado a few miles to the west but had lifted by the time it reached the Jansen area. In Harbine large tree was uprooted and a city building was lifted in the air over 2 houses and dropped in the backyard of one of them.

Freezing rain accumulated around 1/2 inch across the county causing fairly widespread minor to moderate tree damage. However, downed power lines and damage to property other than trees was not too widespread.

Freezing rain accumulated around 1/4 of an inch over much of the county. The icing downed tree limbs and caused scattered power outages, however much of the ice began melting by mid morning as temperatures climbed above freezing.

Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated over 60 mph knocked down tree limbs and power poles in Fairbury.