High winds most like contribute to turnover
CUSTER COUNTY - A semi overturned on Hwy 21 between Oconto and Broken Bow around noon Thursday, Jan 14. The accident occurred at the intersection with Ash Creek Road about 13 miles south of Broken Bow.
Broken Bow and Oconto Fire and Rescue units were on the scene. The semi was on its side on the east side of the highway.
The cause of the accident was most likely high winds, however, as of press time, the official accident report was not available. It was learned that the driver was not seriously injured.
Later in the day, the cab of the truck was removed. On Friday, a crane unit from Lexington was brought in to remove the trailer.
Thursday and Friday of last week saw high winds across the state of Nebraska. Custer Public Power reported no outages in their territory.
The following are top wind speeds reported by the National Weather Service Office in North Platte.
75 mph at Crescent
Lake Nwr, 9:58 p.m., 01/13/21
71 mph one M north of Valentine, 4:05 p.m., 01/14.21
71 mph 13 M WNW of Merritt Reservoir, 5:49 a.m., 01/14/21
70 mph one M ESE
of Imperial, 3:14 a.m., 01/15/21
70 mph at Valentine, 9:01 p.m. 01/13/21
70 mph one M ENE of Valentine, 8:59 p.m. 01/13/21
69 mph, eight M WSW of Callaway, 10:10 p.m., 01/14/21
67 mph at North Platte, 5:33 p.m. 01/14/21
67 mph at Broken Bow, 2:53 p.m. 01/14/21
66 mph seven M E of Lisco, 10:10 p.m. 01/13/21
64 mph at Ogallala, 10:15 p.m. 01/13/21
63 mph at Ainsworth, 6:15 p.m. 01/14/21
61 mph 14 M NNE Brownlee, 8:14 p.m. 01/14/21
60 mph at Thedford, 12:35 p.m. 01/14/21
59 mph, 2 M west of Halsey, 10:23 p.m., 01/23/21
The NWS states the observations are from a variety of sources and equipment and not all data listed are considered official. The NWS thanks the volunteer weather observers for their participation in collecting data.