NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) - Residents in much of Nebraska were cleaning up and waiting for power to be restored Thursday after a line of severe weather sent high winds, hail, heavy rain and at least a few weak tornadoes Wednesday evening and overnight.
Weak tornadoes were reported Wednesday evening in unpopulated areas near Venango and Grant in southwestern Nebraska and Thedford in northwestern Nebraska, according to the National Weather Service in North Platte. Only minor tree damage was reported from those tornadoes, meteorologist Shawn Jacobs said.
Law enforcement and weather spotters in each of those areas reported multiple weak tornadoes, Jacobs said. The weather service was working to determine whether there were multiple separate tornadoes in each area or whether people were seeing the same tornado at different spots, he said.
More damage was caused overnight by straight-line winds as the storms moved east, Jacobs said.
"We did get reports of winds up to 70 mph, which did cause some damage to trees, power lines and some outbuildings," he said.
There was potential for scattered strong thunderstorms across the state on Thursday, Jacobs said, but a higher risk of severe weather is likely Friday in parts of north-central and eastern Nebraska.