0 | 1.25" | 50 | 243 |
---|---|---|---|
TORNADOES | HAIL | WIND | MILES |
May 4th featured a marginal risk for severe weather across central Nebraska. While the probability of tornadoes was near zero, it was still a weekend and a short drive to check out some storms.
![](https://nnwx.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/day1otlk_20190504_1630_prt.gif)
I took off from Grand Island a little after 1pm and drove up highway 2 with a plan to target the Brewster area north of Broken Bow just into the sandhills where a cumulus field had developed.
![](https://nnwx.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/VIS1800-1024x548.jpeg)
By this time a cell had started to go up northeast of Thedford along what appeared to be a wind shift boundary and it looked like additional storms would fire to the southwest and generally move in an east southeast direction. With that in mind I began northwest on highway 2 towards Broken Bow.
By the time I got to Ansley it looked apparent I would need to get north towards Burwell as the strongest storm was just north of Brewster, so I went north on US 183 and arrived in Taylor right at 20z.
![](https://nnwx.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/KLNX2003-1024x668.png)
![](https://nnwx.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/DSCF0149-HDR-1024x682.jpg)
The storm had a nice updraft base but not much for low level structure. It appeared to be making a direct path towards the Calamus Reservoir and I thought it’d be cool to see it approach the dam.
As I approached the dam, the lightning bolts started to pick up and as I turned onto the road that crossed the dam one struck in the reservoir just to my right.
![](https://nnwx.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/2019-05-04-Nebraska_000027-1-1024x576.jpg)
I drove to the other side of the dam and sat for a while watching the storm approach until I decided to head back across and begin the trek home when another bolt struck in view of the dash cam, this time striking a guardrail post 50 feet in front of the car.
![](https://nnwx.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Image1-1024x576.jpg)
This strike appeared to electrify the metal cabling of the guard rail as you can see sparks emanating from the cables between my car and the bolt. A little safety reminder to not stand next to metal fencing!
After that the storm let up on producing prolific lightning bolts and began to weaken so I decided to call it a day and head back home!
Chase Recap
START | END | DURATION |
---|---|---|
Grand Island, NE @ 04/1823Z | Grand Island, NE @ 04/2303Z | 04 hours, 40 minutes |
INTERCEPTS | CHASER ENCOUNTERS |
---|---|
None | None |