Power Outage in Oberlin, KS

Lightning damaged a substation, affecting power for residence of Decatur County. Some of the county had no power for up to seven hours.

Two rounds of high winds occurred across Decatur County. Mesonets across the county recorded wind gusts of 59-73 mph, with the strongest recorded gust located near Oberlin, Kansas. There was damage to a power pole that caused loss of power in Oberlin and damage to an unknown number of roofs across the county due to estimated gusts up to 100 mph.

The local fire department reported estimated winds of 80 mph as well as power lines down about 3 miles north of Oberlin, KS.

Blizzard conditions were reported in Oberlin. Many power outages were reported across the county due to poles and/or lines blown down. There were no accidents but many cars were off the road or abandoned. Up to 20 inches of snowfall occurred across the county, with two measured reports of 13-14 inches. One over the northeast part of the county and one over the south. A federal disaster was declared by President Donald J. Trump.

COOP observer reported several trees uprooted. House had part of its roof blown off, and several power poles were broken off.

Multiple 12-inch diameter trees down. Siding blown off of the house. Power lines also reported down.

A 14-inch tree branch was blown down in Oberlin, falling onto power lines which resulted in a power outage.

Freezing rain resulted in one inch of ice across much of the county. Widespread power outages occurred with tree and utility pole damage common.

Power poles downed, east wall of garage destroyed. Wind speeds estimated.

Small hail and local power outages also reported.

Power poles snapped, lines down and started a fire.

Tree limbs and power lines were down across Decatur County. In addition, a thousand foot irrigation pipe blew into two vehicles on Highway 83 due to the wind. No injuries.