© Jesse Almanrode/For The Sun-TelegraphResidents of Peetz, Colo., had a unique view of the tremendous storm cloud that passed directly over Sidney on Saturday. This storm had many points of rotation, but no tornadoes have been confirmed. It did produce hail up to the size of softballs that caused further property damage throughout Sidney.
Numerous reports of large hail filtered into the National Weather Service, beginning with a 6:52 p.m. reported from Kimball County. Trained weather spotters 12 miles northeast of Kimball and also 19 miles southeast of Harrisburg reported golfball-sized hail falling for several minutes.
The slow-moving supercell continued to affect mainly rural parts of both Kimball and Cheyenne counties before passing over Potter around 7:30 p.m.
At 7:25 p.m., the National Weather Service logged a law enforcement report that possibly tornadic winds had tipped a semi over on Interstate 80 approximately three miles west of Potter. A trained weather spotter report three minutes later suggested that two rope tornadoes had briefly formed.
The Nebraska State Patrol reported that 45-year-old Patricia Rawlins of Santa Clarita, Calif., was traveling westbound on Interstate 80 when her 2001 Freightliner was tipped onto its left side and blown into the median. Rawlins and a passenger were transported to Kimball Health Services with unknown injuries. The condition of both patients could not be ascertained on Monday.
The National Weather Service recorded a 7:30 p.m. report by emergency management personnel that strong winds had downed two large trees in Potter.
The storm's immensity was shown in two hazardous weather reports recorded by the weather service at 7:44 p.m. One trained weather spotter reported half-inch diameter hail falling four miles east of Potter while another trained weather spotter reported a funnel cloud five miles northwest of Sidney. At 7:53 p.m., law enforcement reported seeing debris from a tornado one mile northwest of Sidney.
At the same time the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for Sidney, the city's sirens began their long, unending wail to warn citizens that a tornado was on the ground nearby. At the time, City Manager Gary Person, who was observing the storm from Sidney's golf course, said he was seeing many points of rotation in the sky, but had not seen any tornadoes in town.
On Monday, Sidney Public Services Director John Hehnke said there have been no confirmed tornadoes and he was researching why the sirens were erroneously turned on.
As the storm continued to pass over Sidney, it sporadically dropped hail from 1-inch in diameter to more than 2.75-inches in diameter. A trained weather spotter reported quarter-size hail on the North Side at 8 p.m. with strong rotation to the west of Sidney. A few minutes later, the National Weather Service received a report from law enforcement of golfball-sized hail on the west side of town.
At 8:20 p.m., baseball-sized hail was reported in the North Side. At that time, residents in south Sidney reported hail up to the size of softballs.
By 9:04 p.m., the storm had moved into the Colton area, where the public reported mostly pea-sized hail falling. Doppler radar showed that the storm quickly lost its strength as it moved into Deuel County.
Hehnke on Monday said numerous reports of property damage included broken home and vehicle windows, but he had received no reports of injuries. Damage to city property was minimal, Hehnke said, reporting only that hail had caused a few new dents in some city-owned vehicles.
Cheyenne County was closely watched on Sunday for a severe weather event that did not manifest. A severe thunderstorm warning was issued Sunday evening for northwestern Cheyenne County as a potentially strong storm cell marched east across Banner, Morrill and Scotts Bluff counties.
***CLARIFICATION*** Printed in Wednesday's edition.
In Tuesday's storm story, it was reported that the Sidney emergency warning sirens were erroneously sounded during Saturday's supercell thunderstorm event. According to the Cheyenne County Communications Center, the sirens were turned on as a result of the National Weather Service's issuance of a tornado warning directly encompassing Sidney, as per the center's policy.
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