Storms that moved through Nebraska Sunday night brought much-needed rain to many parts of the state, as well as at least one tornado and damaging hail.
Heavy rain fell over wide swaths of the state, with Columbus, Fremont, Grand Island, Lincoln and York all receiving more than 1.5 inches of rain. Some areas in south-central Nebraska received as much as 5.5 inches, and the National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning.
The rain is a welcome respite from what has been a worsening drought situation across the state. The latest drought map update from the National Drought Mitigation Center released last Thursday showed that 98% of the state is in some level of drought, with more than 60% in severe drought or worse.
The same storm that brought the rain also brought hail and damaging winds to some parts of the state.
The Hitchcock County Sheriff’s Office said a tornado touched down near Stratton and did minor damage.
More severe weather could be on tap for Monday night, with the central part of the state in a marginal risk for severe weather, the eastern one-third in a slight risk and the southeast corner in an enhanced risk. More than 30 counties in eastern Nebraska are in a tornado watch until 9 p.m.
The most likely threats, according to the weather service, are hail, high winds and heavy flooding, with isolated tornadoes possible.
The Nebraska School Activities Association moved the Class A and Class B girls state soccer championship games in Omaha from the evening to the afternoon Monday because of the threat of severe weather.
Nathan Jurgensen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Office in North Platte, said the same weather system that caused Sunday’s severe weather is behind the threat for Monday.
“This system is taking its sweet old time getting out of here, and it’s going to give us a couple of waves of severe weather before it does finally exit off to the east,” he said.
Once the system does exit, it will bring much colder temperatures for Tuesday and Wednesday, with highs in most parts of the state reaching only the 50s and 60s.