A violent series of storms Wednesday that brought hail, lightning and strong winds to the Uintah Basin had utility crews and homeowners cleaning up widespread damage.

Lightning from the afternoon storms sparked fires in the Talmage, Duchesne and Fruitland areas, according to Duchesne County Emergency Management Director Mike Lefler. All of the fires were quickly contained, he said.

A cell the moved through the Neola area cut power to residents there, snapped off countless branches, and damaged at least one structure.

“I couldn't see 10 feet in front of me,” said Carl Ross, whose parents' barn was flattened by the winds.

“It was nasty,” Ross added, describing the deafening noise from the wind and the hail striking the roof of his parents' home and the blackness outside the home's windows.

“It was so black,” he said. “It looked like smoke.”

The storm also downed large trees in the Lapoint area, damaging a pickup truck and a home. Similar damage was reported in the Davis area of Uintah County.

In Vernal and Naples, the weather destroyed several power lines, prompting Rocky Mountain Power to ask its customers on Friday to conserve electricity.

“We have some extreme stress on our system,” said Rich Buelte, Vernal operations manager for the utility.

The transmission lines that run from the Flaming Gorge area to a distribution substation east of Naples reinforce the area's overall system, company officials said. A 138,000-volt power line that stretches across U.S. Highway 40 east of Naples, near the substation, was knocked down during the storm, according to distribution and transmission supervisor Randy Deets.

Utility poles were chopped down and power lines fell to the ground. The damage was visible throughout the day Thursday, and a crane was put in place to hold the disconnected power line above the highway as crews worked on repairs.

Deets said some of the damage may have been caused by a semi-truck that struck the fallen line sometime during the storm.

Buelte said the lines were repaired Friday and the work appeared to be finished on Saturday. The company, however, ran radio advertisements on Friday and Saturday asking local customers to reduce power usage.

Meteorologist Kevin Barjenbruch with the National Weather Service in Salt Lake City said, based on descriptions of the storm and photos of the damage, there didn't appear to be any evidence that a tornado may have touched down in the Uintah Basin. Instead, he said, the area was most likely hit by microburst winds. Microburst winds are localized columns of sinking air that can produce damage similar to, but distinguishable from, a tornado.