Strong, damaging winds
A sharp upper-level trough moved into the Great Lakes region and an intensifying area of low pressure at the surface was moving from near Duluth, Minnesota into northwestern Wisconsin. With high pressure building to the west, there has been a very tight pressure gradient across most of the Plains region. This gradient and its corresponding winds were strongest early in the day in western Nebraska with winds gusts over 70 mph reported around Scottsbluff, McCook, and North Platte. Sustained winds over 30 mph were common this morning in western Nebraska with some sites occasionally hitting 50 mph for sustained winds.
Figure 1. 2-meter wind speeds at 624 CST this morning at Nebraska Mesonet sites
The 9:53 AM observation at McCook showed sustained winds of 52 mph with gusts to 71! Strongest wind gust that I can verify is from the Ellsworth Mesonet site where winds gusted to 80 mph at 10 meters. Wind gusts over 70 mph were reported at several other sites as well. Wind speeds were a bit less crazy in eastern Nebraska, but gusts over 50 mph were reported at Omaha Eppley Airfield (55 mph), Norfolk (57 mph), and at the Lincoln Municipal Airport (60 mph). For the Lincoln airport, this was the second biggest news item of the day. Many of the older Mesonet sites are tripod sites, meaning the wind speeds are measured at 2-meters and not the traditional 10-meters like they are at airport ASOS sites.
Figure 2. Maximum wind gusts at 10-meters
