Forecasters have posted a tornado watch for much of eastern Nebraska while the western end of the state awaited a last blast from winter. The National Weather Service reports the tornado watch roughly covered the northeastern quarter of the state, falling just short of the heavily populated counties that include Omaha and its suburbs. Hail to 2 inches is possible, as well as wind gusts to 70 mph.
Earlier, the forecasters had posted blizzard and winter storm warnings for most of the Panhandle through Tuesday morning. Snow accumulations ranging from 3 to 7 inches were expected by Tuesday morning. No roads had closed yet, but high winds with gusts to 55 mph made travel dangerous.
Check out webcams from the panhandle of Nebraska with the DOT highway cameras. http://www2.dor.state.ne.us/Webcams/Default.aspx.
The National Weather Service reports two tornadoes have touched down in northeast Nebraska.
The first touched down at 1:45 p.m. Monday about nine miles south of Brownlee. It was on the ground for about two minutes.
The second tornado was reported eight miles north of O’Neill just before 3:30 p.m. There were reports of downed power lines in the area.