Severe thunderstorms rolled through the Omaha metro area this morning, leaving thousands of residents without electricity and prompting local utilities to begin tracking widespread outages across the region.
As of 8:30 a.m., Omaha Public Power District reported more than 1,000 customers without power, while MidAmerican Energy reported more than 103 additional outages, including at least two in Council Bluffs, Iowa, just across the river.
The storms arrived ahead of schedule for many residents who had been warned of the possibility of rough weather through the weekend, though forecasters had noted the situation would be a hit-or-miss setup rather than a widespread severe weather event.
What forecasters said ahead of the storms
Meteorologists had been tracking the storm potential since Friday, flagging a 40 percent chance of thunderstorms for the Omaha area today. The forecast called for spotty thunderstorms in the morning hours that were expected to diminish by midday, with a second round of development possible in the late afternoon, mainly south and east of the metro…