The class of ‘26 was given a big Elkhorn South-spirited sendoff on Sunday with one last storm to carry them into the summer. 

Bad weather had been forecasted on graduation day for around a week, but the admin was waiting until the day of for a decision in order to see how the weather would play out. The hope was to be able to host it at Elkhorn Stadium as planned and have an outdoor graduation.

Knowing bad weather was a possibility, the district had already reserved an indoor space to fall back on if things went south the day of. If needed, they’d be able to move the graduation into Baxter arena instead. 

As the start time for graduation inched closer and the forecast for a storm seemed to grow bigger, graduates and family alike were on edge waiting to see where they needed to plan on going. Surprisingly, even with the storm just a few hours away, it was decided to have the graduation outdoors. 

It was definitely a gamble of a choice, but luckily the night was a success and everyone was able to get their diplomas and finish the ceremony. Leaving on the other hand was even more of an adventure. Just as graduation ended the wind started to pick up and the sky faded into an even darker color than before. If it wasn’t clear a storm was on its way before, it was definitely impossible to ignore now.

Most people rushed to their cars and tried to beat the storm home. Over the course of graduation, the forecasted thunderstorm ended up turning into a full force tornado and touched down in Gretna around an hour after graduation ended, and the Elkhorn area remained in a tornado warning.

Luckily no one got hurt and no serious damage took place, so the night was left with a thrilling end for graduates to conclude their time at Elkhorn South.