Nebraska, 1996

Tornado in Nebraska, May 8, 1996

May 8, 1996 · NWS GID · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A tornado set down 5 miles southwest of Gilead and traveled northeast. The tornado totally destroyed the St.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$2.0 million
Crop damage
$500,000
Events
1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS GID wrote it up.

A tornado set down 5 miles southwest of Gilead and traveled northeast. The tornado totally destroyed the St. Paul Lutheran Church and did extensive damage to the Parsonage. The roof of the church ended up entering the kitchen of the Parsonage. The tornado also did considerable damage to 3 other farmsteads along its path.

The radar

The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 82 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:06 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Thayer

When
May 8, 8:07 PM CST to 8:20 PM CST
Where
Thayer County, Gilead to 5 mi N of Gilead
Rating
F1
Path length
7 mi
Path width
150 yd
Property damage
$2.0 million
Crop damage
$500,000
Coordinates
40.080, -97.530

What these are

Tornado
A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Nebraska in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Nebraska, 1996Warnings in Nebraska, May 1996

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5550500.