NebWrap July 21, 2003 NEBWRAP Not-So-Big Kahuna, Highway Scoreboards?, Summer Of Twisters By Jim D. Berryman MissingNebraska.com Editor NOT-SO-BIG KAHUNA Seems Aurora’s world-famous mega-hailstone isn’t such a big kahuna after all. Oh sure, the hailstone that fell from the sky during severe thunderstorms in the Aurora area on June 22 was plenty big. Just not big enough to be the largest hailstone ever found in America. That so-called honor still belongs to Coffeyville, Kansas. According to an AP story last week, Nancy Knight of the National Center of Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, said weight is the most important element in determining the size of a hailstone. And the Coffeyville, Kansas hailstone from 1970 weighs more than Aurora’s. Reportedly, Aurora’s 2003 hailstone weighed 1.3 pounds and the Coffeyville hailstone weighed 1.7 pounds. Let’s just hope that town officials weren’t in the process of making an Interstate 80 sign proclaiming Aurora “Hailstone Capital of the World.” If so, they’ll have to stop the presses, or add “2nd biggest” to the text. -- HIGHWAY SCOREBOARDS? Speaking of signs along Interstate 80, it was announced last week that more electronic signs will be going up across Nebraska on the nation’s busiest interstate. These electronic scoreboard-like signs will alert motorists to accidents, construction, weather information, and Amber Alert messages. Here in Connecticut, these signs are used a little too often. Seems you go by one and all you see is bad news. “7 mile delay ahead”, "Rush Hour Delay”, “Accident at Exit 47…6 Mile Delay”. Never “Have a nice day”. At least to this point, the signs have not been used for advertising purposes. However, it would be no big shock to see the state selling time on the signs sometime down the road. Interstate 80 through Nebraska is very busy, even in desolate areas. In addition, construction to widen I-80 to three lanes in each direction is already under way between Lincoln and Omaha. These signs will come in handy, as Nebraska has quite a few alternative routes where a motorist can make a choice to exit the interstate for awhile, then get back on past the delay. I wonder if they will post the score of Husker games in progress…? If the signs were in place during last season it would keep with the “bad news” theme these signs tend to display. -- SUMMER OF TWISTERS The summer of twisters just keeps twisting right along. More tornadoes and wind and hail damage in Nebraska Sunday night. (07-20-03). Severe storms and tornadoes blew through eastern parts of the state. According to AP, grain bins were blown apart in an apparent tornado in Stanton county, southeast of Norfolk. It was raining baseballs near Platte Center and Silver Creek in Platte County. Wind knocked down trees and funnel clouds were spotted in Hamilton and York counties. Wind damage was also reported in Polk and Colfax counties. Luckily, no injuries were reported. It’s been an active season for severe storms in different parts of the state. Seems all corners of the state have been affected sometime during the summer. Nebraska tornadoes and the number of high-profile tornado events nationally has been a topic of interest to my east coast friends and co-workers. Some are astounded that this Nebraskan has never seen a real tornado. They think tornadoes drop out of the sky at a moment’s notice in Nebraska. I guess this summer they may just be right. Feedback/Suggest A Topic Previous NebWrap Columns: 07-14-03: Zoo Big 3-0, Determined Deshler, Happy Homecoming NebWrap 07-07-03: Boomin' 4th, Route 6 Kicks, Coyote Ugly, Keep My Number NebWrap 06-23-03: Trojans-Huskers, Poppin' Japan, Hospitality Sweet NebWrap 06-16-03: Stompin' Weekend NebWrap 06-09-03: Give Me A "C" NebWrap