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A thin band of storms blew through northern Kosciusko County Wednesday evening, causing significant damage to trees and a few homes.
Although the storms were characterized by high winds and hail, no tornadoes were identified.
"I don't believe there were any tornadoes," said National Weather Service Meteorologist Mike Sabonis. "There was thunderstorm damage and hail damage, but I think the only tornado was in Hillsboro, Mich., northeast of Angola."
Sabonis said the thin band of storms traveled through Leesburg and North Webster, producing "penny- to nickel-sized hail."
While no tornadoes were identified during the storm system, Sabonis said there were "downburst events ... with very high winds."
Sabonis said Wednesday's very humid weather coupled with a weak front caused the storm conditions.
According to Kosciusko County Sheriff Aaron Rovenstine, damage was reported from Oswego to North Webster.
"Trees were down across roads and power lines were down," said Rovenstine. "A house was struck by lightning in North Webster."
A home on Sechrist Lake at EMS Lane B48 owned by Robert and Beverly Trout sustained deck, roof and structural damage when a large cottonwood tree was blown down.
The storms caused several power outages throughout the area. Nearly 3,400 Kosciusko REMC members lost electric power during the storms, and about 2,600 of those people lost power when a NIPSCO substation caught fire. The fire is believed to have been caused by the weather.
The first outages began around 6 p.m. Wednesday, and all power was restored by 6:30 a.m. today, according to Kimberly Shumaker, REMC communications specialist.
