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Possible Microburst Thursday Afternoon Caused Tree Damage In Northeast Lincoln

June 18, 2020 7:04PM CDT
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Possible Microburst Thursday Afternoon Caused Tree Damage In Northeast Lincoln
A tree was blown over onto a fence in the backyard of a home near 75th and Adams by winds from an apparent microburst on the back end of thunderstorms on Thursday, June 18, 2020. (Courtesy of John Haxby).
A tree was uprooted due to winds from a possible microburst in northeast Lincoln on Thursday, June 18, 2020. This photo was taken just southwest of 80th and Adams. (Photo Courtesy of Scott Ash)

LINCOLN–(KFOR June 18)–Thunderstorms that rolled through the Lincoln metro area early Thursday afternoon may have also caused a microburst that caused tree damage in northeast Lincoln.

John Haxby was watching the approaching thunderstorm near 70th and Bluff Road, saying he could tell it was a microburst.

“The cold air and RFD winds were hitting and they were rolling back up again,” Haxby told KFOR News.  “The winds were going straight down, instead of straight-line winds, where you have everything ripped or twisted.”

Microburst is a localized column of sinking air (downdraft) within a thunderstorm and is usually less than or equal to 2.5 miles in diameter, according to the National Weather Service’s website, weather.gov.

Haxby said as he drove back toward Havelock, all the branches on the trees were starting to bend over.  He talked to the National Weather Service in Valley, who estimated the winds to be anywhere from 70 to 80 mph.  No severe thunderstorm warning was in effect at the time.

In his neighborhood near 75th and Adams, Haxby said the start of the tree damage from what he saw started south toward Leighton Avenue and went north over toward the Mahoney Park area.  There were no other reports of structural damage, as of 6pm Thursday.

Another tree uprooted due to winds from a possible microburst in northeast Lincoln on Thursday, June 18, 2020. This tree is at the Mahoney Golf Course at 80th and Adams. (Photo by Scott Ash)

National Weather Service and Lancaster County Emergency Management officials may still need to verify any other possible damage and officially determine if it was a microburst.

Earlier Thursday afternoon, power was knocked out to just over 1,400 customers in a section of south-central Lincoln from 30th to 45th Streets, “O” Street to Sumner Street, when a tree limb was knocked down onto a power line, according to Lincoln Electric System officials.  Service was restored within 20 minutes.

Thursday’s late afternoon thunderstorms dropped heavy rain over portions of southern Lincoln and southern Lancaster County, prompting flash flood warnings.  Some rainfall estimates close to the Bennet area indicated about 3.5 inches of rain had fallen.

Lincoln News