Dorchester Times: Severe Weather Week, March 22-26

Sunday, March 14, 2021

Severe Weather Week, March 22-26

Winter weather is still fresh in our minds -- and it continues to hit parts of Nebraska this weekend.

But severe thunderstorm season is just around the corner. And it's time once again for Dorchester-area residents to become better informed on how to protect themselves.

According to Jefferson/Saline County Emergency Management Director John McKee, Severe Weather Awareness Week in Nebraska is March 22-26.

The National Weather Service says that on Wednesday, March 24, communities should test their tornado drills/warnings at 11 a.m. This is a change from past years. Outdoor warning sirens will sound when the test tornado warning is issued.

Now is the time to go over family and business plans on what to do if a tornado is headed your way. What do you do if you're caught while traveling in you automobile?

Knowing the difference between a watch and a warning is crucial to understanding the information being issued by the NWS. A watch means severe weather is possible. A warning means severe weather is imminent and one should take action. This involves seeking shelter immediately, seeking further information about the nature and duration of the threat and as always, getting forecast updates from a reliable source.

The most recognizable phenomena of severe weather is a tornado. In Nebraska, the months which see the most tornadoes are May and June.

If you haven't already done so, sign up for free weather alerts sent to your email or your mobile phone.

12 comments:

AnonymousMarch 9, 2009 at 8:39 PM
it kinda crazy...no comments on severe weather, but over thirty on whether we should change the alumni basketball tournament.
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AnonymousMarch 9, 2009 at 9:55 PM
this would be a waste for me and the old lady......................... my great granddaddy had a old pawnee chief perform a hex to protect my 300 acres from any tornado ........................havent had a problem since .........................same goes for stray dogs ......................but thats because of another chief that goes by the name of my trusty 308 winchester........................................
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AnonymousMarch 9, 2009 at 10:55 PM
to cynical richard...

I am sure the humane society would love to come to your 3 acres.
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AnonymousMarch 10, 2009 at 12:06 AM
The chief would take care of the humane society to ..................that i promise......................................
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AnonymousMarch 10, 2009 at 6:42 AM
cynical richard

its amazing how people cant post stuff on here because it downgrades others, but you can get away with threathening to kill animals and human.

what wrong with this world??
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AnonymousMarch 10, 2009 at 2:08 PM
Cynical Richard is a strange dude but I have no issues with him getting rid of stray dogs around his farm or feedyard. This is the midwest where reality and practicality still reign.
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AnonymousMarch 10, 2009 at 9:06 PM
to the fulton street gal

You are about as nuts as cynical richard.

How can you make comments like that.

Just because they live in the country it is alright to kill animals.

I guess we have a different set of guidelines when it comes to village vs. rural.

Is there a magical number where this should be allowed to happen?

Perhaps 1.345 of a mile
come on
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AnonymousMarch 10, 2009 at 9:34 PM
This from someone who wouldn't stop to help a dying child (human child) in the street. Yeah I know your type. Hitler was a animal rights nut as well.
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AnonymousMarch 10, 2009 at 10:25 PM
Fulton street.

What the ???

Where did this come from? YOu are the one who said it was ok to shoot animals.

I didnt say anything about kids

i guess its ok do drive down fulton street and pick off animals.

have a good day and keep your pets in your yard
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AnonymousMarch 11, 2009 at 7:46 PM
Let's see if my creative juices are flowing since I would like this comment to actually be pertinent to the original topic. How about this?

I hope a tornado comes along and sweeps up both Cynical Richard and his guns, while inflicting major damage on the stuffy, holier than thou annoymous writer.

The rest of us will all be spared because we attended BJ's weather seminar.

Have a good day.
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AnonymousMarch 12, 2009 at 10:23 AM
To the times staff < Nice work on the pictures on the blog I like the tornado.
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AnonymousMarch 12, 2009 at 8:06 PM
Hey Bob

the rest of us were working.

didnt have a day off to go to the seminar

you know...got to make the money to pay to send your kid to school
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Dorchester: A Good Little Family Town

Dorchester, Nebraska (est. population 630) is located in northern Saline county. Close in proximity to Interstate 80, Dorchester is only 25 minutes from the state capital of Lincoln (est. population 250,000) and about 55 minutes from Omaha (metro population 725,000).

Dorchester's median resident age is 37 years. In 2005, Dorchester had a median family income of approximately $35,600. The median house value was about $63,000. About 95 percent of Dorchester residents commute to work via Interstate and highways.

The village has a quality public school, which received a $4.1 million expansion and modernization in 2008; it offers a small classrooms and individualized attention. Total enrollment of grades K-12 is around 230-250 students.

Ancestries of the Dorchester area are primarily German (42.4%), Czech (24.9%), Irish (12.5%), English (5.4%), and Dutch (4.9%).

Dorchester Historical Facts

* On July 4, 1871, the railroad reached Dorchester.
* Incorporated in 1881, Dorchester's population grew from 200 to 500 by 1882.
* In 1882, Dorchester had 90 buildings, 35 of which were businesses or public facilities. Brick buildings lined both sides of Washington Avenue for two blocks.
* Dorchester's longest-running newspaper was The Dorchester Star, which was published until the late 1940s.
* By 1889, Dorchester's population is said to have reached 800, while the town housed an opera house, a two-story brick schoolhouse with a bell tower, and four churches.
* By the 1910s, Dorchester had electricity, a water tower and a fire department.
* Dorchester's main arteries, Highways 6 and 33, were graveled in the 1940s.
* Dorchester's first irrigation well was drilled on Chris Weber's farm and rural electrification was finished following WWII.

A Village with History

Dorchester is one of the "alphabet towns" on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad line built west from Lincoln. The town site was selected for its pleasant location in the northern part of Saline County, about eight miles west of Crete. This situation is an attractive one, being on the level prairie land, midway between the West Blue River and Turkey Creek. The first named stream is three miles north, and the latter about the same distance south from the town. Dorchester was platted in 1870 and incorporated in 1881. The name "Dorchester" came from either for a suburb of Boston by that name or a town in England. No one is sure. Two of the very first settlers were James Seely and Edward McIntyre, who both made Dorchester their permanent home.

Dorchester: In The Beginning

Here is a look at Dorchester around 1890, less than a decade after its official incorporation, as documented by Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska:
* POPULATION: "About 300, and is made up of a substantial and progressive class of citizens, who are moral and industrious. ... The town grew but very little until the year 1879, for the reason that Pleasant Hill, on Turkey Creek, a short distance south, was the county seat and naturally drew a trade for quite a large scope of country."
* BUSINESS: "The business and professional interests of the town are represented by three general merchandise stores, two drug, one grocery, one furniture, two hardware, and two millinery stores, one bank, two restaurants, two hotels, three livery stables, a post office, one newspaper office, two elevators, two lumber yards, two coal yards, two blacksmith shops, two lawyers and four physicians."
* SCHOOL: "The schoolhouse is a good one. The schoolhouse was built in 1872, since which time the public schools have been continually kept up. The present schoolhouse is 24' x 40' in size, two stories high. The school is graded and consists of three departments. The house is found too small, and arrangements will soon be made to increase its size."
* CHURCHES: "There are three substantial churches."
* HOMES: "The residence portion of the village is made up of neat houses of different styles of architecture, but none of them very large."
* NEWSPAPER: "The Dorchester Star, which was established August 21, 1881, by H. C. Bittenbender, who edited it until January 19, 1882, when he sold it to Ryerson & Bullock, the present proprietors. The Star is a bright weekly paper, five-column quarto, in size, and is Republican in politics."