8/12/07 REPORTS:NE/IA

[Daniel Christianson]

Started off on Hwy 30 West , heard the warnings go out for Platte Co , Colfax Co NE. I got into Schulyer NE where i could see the line of storms coming, and they were coming fast, i wish it would of slowed so i could get some more pics, but that didnt work so well. I sat as the line got closer and basically overtop me, the winds picked up very quick, the trees started to sway back and fourth as well as the corn. I was a little iffy about being close to a pole, it was swaying pretty good for awhile so i backed off down the road a bit from Hwy 30. Wind blew for a good few minutes for the time it was strong then they calmed down and the rain fell along with it. It rained pretty good where i was at, after sitting there for awhile i headed north on Hwy 15, i then went East on 91 and got into Snyder NE, where there were branches down, and a bar sign blown over. I stopped to move some of the branches due to the fact people think they can just drive over them like nothing? I then ended my chase out by West Point where police still had 275 blocked off, i didnt see no 3 ft of water but the ditches were quite full, there was alot of atwer on the road but if a NWS employee says there was 3 ft of water i guess there was. All in all a good mood changer since i had a car accident last week.

(This is looking West from Hwy 30/Schulyer Exit)

This out by West Point, i guess prb just wind, instead of straight line winds.

Ill try and get some vid of the sign, and trees, i shot it on Hi-8 so i have to edit the footage onto the computer.

 

[Dustin Wilcox]

Favored the Southern end of the line as I figured if there was any hope for supercell structures it would be on the southern end of the line or from new development further South. Neither scenario panned out and I eventually opted to place myself in the path of the line. I basically intercepted the Line just South of Wahoo NE and eventually let it overtake me North of Ashland. The line produced pretty strong winds for an extended period of time, basically throughout the duration of the storm severe criteria winds were experienced, however during the peak of the downdraft winds gusted very strong for a while; I can not provide a exact speed but am pretty certain they were easily 70mph. After the storm passed I drove around the area for a while and shot some video, there was quite a bit of tree damage, some houses with missing shingles, a few power lines down, and entire corn fields laying over, however from what I observed that extensive of damage appeared to be fairly confined to a couple mile wide area. Here are a few video grabs

During the event, note the shingles on the house.

Another house with shingle and siding damage.

Large Tree uprooted

Tree snapped

Corn Damage, this is even on the East side of the field, the enitre field including middle was blown over completely
flat.

Powerpole Blown Over

Just a little of the extensive tree damage

 

[Dan Melby]

Didn't expect to chase today but I was suprised to see a strong bow echo racing toward central Iowa so I decided to go south to watch it blow over. The storm packed winds of 70+. These pics were taken looking south from West Des Moines. Winds were not too strong in Des Moines, but was one of the coolest shelf clouds I have ever seen. The camera does it no justice. I need to upgrade...

 

[Michael O'Keeffe]

Had bad chase in SE Nebraska yesturday. The anvil from the MCS killed off any oppurtunity of a supercell developing along the warm front. Here are some video stills of the insane and frequent CG that occured on the backside of the MCS near the town of Crete, NE. Thanks to Michael Carlson for nowcasting.

On the drive home we were given a beautiful sunset that we just had to take a pic of near Marysville, KS.