A preliminary investigation of the 27 June 2008 damaging wind event in the Omaha metro and surrounding areas

In the late afternoon on June 27, 2008, a damaging wind event swept across parts of east central Nebraska into west central Iowa, including the Omaha metropolitan area. The storms initiated just behind a seasonably strong cold front in north central Nebraska, then increased in intensity and pushed ahead of the front as they reached eastern Nebraska. The storms produced a swath of non-tornadic wind damage that was 4 to 6 miles wide and nearly 90 miles long, with wind speeds estimated up to 110 to 115 mph in the post-storm damage survey. A series of downbursts were noted both on radar and in the subsequent damage survey, contributing to areas of enhanced damage along the swath.

Many features of interest were noted in the radar signatures and damage survey of the storm, as well as in the impact to a storm-weary Omaha metropolitan area. This preliminary study will investigate some of the environmental factors that contributed to the unusually strong convective wind event, as well as the radar presentation of the event and the correspondence of radar signatures to areas of enhanced damage noted in the storm survey. The study will also touch on the impacts of this event to the Omaha area as one of a series of severe weather episodes affecting the city in 2008.