Large tornado spotted in Iowa as severe storms blast Plains on Thursday
Several storm chasers, including FOX Weather Storm Tracker Brandon Copic, captured video of a tornado forming then rolling across the fields of Missouri Valley, Iowa, on Thursday evening.
Large tornado spotted in southwest Iowa
A massive tornado was spotted on Thursday evening outside of Thurman, Iowa, by FOX Weather Exclusive Storm Tracker Corey Gerken.
OMAHA, Neb. – The first round of severe storms pushed through the Plains on Thursday, during what is expected to be an active weekend of severe weather.
More than 1 million people were included in a Level 3 out of 5 risk zone by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center, with Omaha, Nebraska, in the bull's-eye. The danger isn't over, as more than 100 million Americans are under this threat through Sunday.
While the city proper missed out on seeing the strongest of the storms, it didn't prevent warning sirens from blaring on the north side of the city, and tornadoes from being spotted in nearby Iowa.
Several storm chasers, including FOX Weather Storm Tracker Brandon Copic, captured video of a tornado forming and then rolling across the fields of Missouri Valley, Iowa, on Thursday evening.
Tornado captured on camera rolling across Iowa
FOX Weather Storm Tracker Brandon Copic captured a tornado forming then rolling across the fields of Missouri Valley, Iowa Thursday evening.
In eastern Nebraska, winds of greater than 80 mph and baseball-sized hail caused what appeared to resemble a dust storm or even a gustnado around Schuyler, Nebraska.
The region was under various alerts at the time, and FOX Weather Exclusive Storm Trackers Corey Gerken and Brandon Copic captured the scenes on video.
The dust was so thick that it reduced visibility outside of Omaha and made travel treacherous.
Storm tracker's car blasted by 80+ mph winds as severe thunderstorm triggers dust storm
FOX Weather Storm Tracker Corey Gerken tracking storms in Schuyler, Nebraska pulled over just as severe thunderstorms plastered his SUV with 80+ mph winds.
Despite the scenes, there were no reports of any widespread damage and reported power outages generally stayed below a few thousand customers.
Based on radar data, the storms appeared to be big hail producers.
The threat of tornadoes continued well into the night with a large twister spotted around Tabor, Iowa, after sunset.
Videos and Doppler radar indicated that a strong tornado passed through Fremont County, and the National Weather Service office even described the event as a "particularly dangerous situation." The NWS upped the alert to a rare Tornado Emergency and said the twister was heading toward the town of Essex, Iowa.
Tornado spotted in Fremont County, Iowa. (FOX Weather)
The supercell impacted communities over dozens of miles, but because of nightfall, storm chasers and local officials were limited in determining the immediate scope of the damage.
Storm spotters described the tornado as being cone-to-wedge-shaped, but they, too, were limited to observing the vortex during time periods only when lightning illuminated the sky.
Hundreds of customers were reported to be without power around Essex as power poles were snapped and debris littered some roadways.
First responders were seen gathering Thursday evening, preparing to go into search and rescue mode for any potential victims trapped in debris.