Also, heat warning in place next two days
From staff reports
Severe storm warnings for Wells County and all or parts of at least other Tuesday night came true with northern Wells County taking a significant hit.
A large portion of Ossian was without power and trees on top of power lines was a major concern. According to scanner traffic, a transformer was sparking in Ossian. Several locations had trees down, blocking roads in the darkness. At least one power-related fire was reported, and firefighters had to wait for utility crews to cut power before attempting to extinguish the fire.
At least one traffic accident was reported during Tuesday night’s storm.
A severe weather notice was sent to cell phones in Bluffton, and presumably to other local cell phones, shortly before 10:30 p.m.
The original severe weather notice, which was posted in late afternoon, called for storms in all of Wells and Adams counties plus parts of Huntington and Allen counties.
The storm traveled east and missed most of Bluffton. No rain or wind was noted in the city as crews were called to areas in northern Wells County.
Meanwhile, an excessive heat warning is in effect for Wells County and most of northern Indiana for Tuesday and Wednesday. The official start time for the warning is noon Tuesday and it will remain in effect until midnight Wednesday.
The National Weather Service forecast calls for a high of 99 on Tuesday and a high of 98 on Wednesday. The excessive heat warning does not extend to Thursday, but the high is still expected to be 94.
The heat warning means Hoosiers are joining the more than 100 million Americans who are being warned to stay indoors if possible. High temperatures and humidity are settling in over states stretching through parts of the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes and east to the Carolinas.
The National Weather Service Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland, said Monday 107.5 million people will be affected by a combination of heat advisories and excessive heat warnings and watches through Wednesday.
The heat wave, which set several high temperature records in the West, the Southwest and into Denver during the weekend, moved east into parts of the Gulf Coast and the Midwest Monday and will expand to the Great Lakes and east to the Carolinas, the National Weather Service said.
St. Louis, Memphis, Minneapolis and Tulsa are among several cities under excessive heat warnings, with temperatures forecast to reach about 100 degrees Fahrenheit, accompanied by high humidity that could make conditions feel close to 110 degrees Fahrenheit.
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