By Dan Spalding
News Now Warsaw

WARSAW — Strong winds caused minor damage across a wide area of northern Indiana, including Kosciusko County, Friday night.

A spokesperson for the National Weather Service said winds reached 50-70 mph for a short but intense storm that arrived in Warsaw at about 7:30 p.m.

The storms caused power outages to more than 27,000 NIPSCO customers across the service area.

NIPSCO reports about 140 customers in the Warsaw area without power as of early Saturday morning.

More than half a dozen severe thunderstorm warnings were issued across parts of Northern Indiana Friday night.

Meteorologist Chris Roller said there was no significant damage but added that numerous large trees were downed.

“It was fairly widespread,” Roller said.

Oddly, the storm included very little rain.

The brief storm also caused problems for Fat & Skinny Tire Fest’s criterium races in downtown Warsaw. The first of four races, which was set to start at 7:30 p.m. had to be canceled because of the strong winds.

The first road race around the courthouse was paused and then canceled, but the next three races happened without problems, said Mike Cusick, president of Kosciusk County Velo, which organizes Fat and Skinny Tire Fest.

Opening ceremonies and the mass ride, which began around 6 p.m. were not affected.

More than 600 people participated in the mass ride from Winona Lake to Warsaw, Cusick said.

Pleasant and mostly sunny conditions are forecast for Saturday and Sunday. High temperatures are expected to be in the mid-to-upper 60s.