A few isolated thunderstorms developed along a southwest to northeast oriented wind shift line across southwest and north central Nebraska.
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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.
The episode as NWS LBF wrote it up.
A few isolated thunderstorms developed along a southwest to northeast oriented wind shift line across southwest and north central Nebraska.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS North Platte, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 11, 2:13 PM CST, 18 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service North Platte NE 313 PM CDT THU AUG 11 2016 .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Friday) Issued at 307 PM CDT Thu Aug 11 2016 Tonight and Friday...the sfc cold front across Ncntl Neb will be the focus for scattered thunderstorms late this afternoon and this evening. A subtropical disturbance is moving north from KS and poised to operate on the front. Around 1.5 inches of ambient precipitable water is in place. A second disturbance across Ern WY is forecast to move southeast through Nebraska tonight. This rain would be in the form of elevated thunderstorms. POPs for both systems are capped at 40 percent to reflect scattered storm coverage. Lows tonight fall into the 50s to mid 60s. The drier air moves into Wrn Neb overnight with residual 60+ dew points still in place across Ncntl Neb. A blend of guidance plus bias correctionsuggested highs in the low to mid 80s Friday. Dew points continue to slowly drop with light north winds reducing dew points into the 50s across all areas by late afternoon. CAPE and bulk effective shear are quite high this afternoon...3000-4000 J/KG and 40 to 50 kt which would support strong or severe storm development with any storms which become rooted in the lower layers of the atmosphere. .LONG TERM...(Friday night through Thursday) Issued at 307 PM CDT Thu Aug 11 2016 Friday Night through Sunday: The main concerns this period are precipitation chances through Saturday night and temperatures. Confidence is low for any strong storms during this period, with no severe storms expected. Northwest flow and cooler temperatures aloft at low-levels, compared to what we have seen early this week, should bring about near normal high and low temperatures for this period. The base of a long wave trough aloft at 500 hPa will be over roughly the eastern Central Plains at the start of the period while ridging will be ongoing over the west coast CONUS. The longwave trough will slowly move east over the upper Great Lakes as the west coast ridge becomes less amplified and moves east into the intermountain West/central Great Basin by early Sunday. Ridging will be ongoing across western and north central NE Sunday as the ridge then moves over the southern and central Rockies. By and large, northwest flow will prevail aloft around 20-25 kts in the first half of the period then becoming more weak thereafter. Two short-wave troughs will lead to slight chances for precipitation early tomorrow night then increased chances on Saturday. Meanwhile, the surface pattern will be rather innocuous, with elongated surface low pressure south and east of the forecast area at the start of the period and broad high pressure moving in. By Saturday afternoon, broad surface high pressure will be in place overhead across the Northern/Central Plains and the Upper/Middle Mississippi valley. This pattern doesn't change much by Sunday with the aforementioned broad area of high pressure centered now more over the Upper/Middle Mississippi valley and upper Great Lakes. By the start of the period, the atmospheric column will be notably drier compared to now, with precipitable water values approaching seasonal normals, at about 0.9-1.0 inches. May see a few isolated rain showers/thunderstorms across extreme western NE Saturday night, mainly before midnight, with the first disturbance. Otherwise, the best chances for precipitation will be Saturday afternoon/evening when a short-wave trough provides large-scale broad weak ascent as it moves southeast through the area. This combined with low instability on Saturday will provide the best chances for rain showers/thunderstorms during this period. In regard to thunderstorms, increased chances for thunderstorms primarily across western NE with rain showers more probable elsewhere. Afterward, Sunday is anticipated to be mainly dry across the forecast area with the aforementioned ridge building. SPC has the western two-thirds of the forecast area in a general thunderstorm area on Saturday, which appears appropriate given the instability, weak 0-6 km shear attributable to the weak flow aloft, and available moisture. Sunday Night through Thursday: Looking ahead, the general pattern appears mostly dry with a few opportunities for rain showers/thunderstorms. However, low likelihood for any severe weather or moderate-heavy rainfall through mid week at this time. Mid-level flow will stay primarily west northwest and temperatures aloft at low-levels stay moderated. In general, highs are anticipated to be slightly near normal during this period and low temperatures near to slightly above normal. Start to see more appreciable differences in the deterministic guidance in the large scale pattern beginning Wednesday with the ECMWF being stronger in amplitude and different in phase/location with mid-level trough over the Canadian Prairies - GFS is a bit slower in comparison. This will more so influence and complicate temperatures/PoPs a bit Thursday and lowers confidence. && .AVIATION...(For the 18Z TAFS through 18Z Friday afternoon) Issued at 1243 PM CDT Thu Aug 11 2016 The SREF and ECM suggest VFR cigs late tonight and Friday morning. By 06z this evening...the cold front moving through Ncntl Neb this afternoon should be south and east of the area. Drier air will be in place with dew points in the lower 50s. This will reduce the risk of MVFR cigs...currently underway across parts of Western and North Central Nebraska. Scattered strong to severe thunderstorms are possible ahead of a cold front moving through North Central Nebraska this afternoon and this evening...mainly affecting areas east of highway 83. Isolated strong or severe thunderstorms are possible across Western Nebraska...associated with an upper level disturbance moving through Northeast Wyoming this afternoon. These storms will affect Western Nebraska later this afternoon and this evening. && .LBF Watches/Warnings/Advisories... None. && SHORT TERM...CDC LONG TERM...ET AVIATION...CDC
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE 1221 PM CDT THU AUG 11 2016 NEZ004>010-022>029-035>038-056>059-069>071-094-120530- SHERIDAN-EASTERN CHERRY-KEYA PAHA-BOYD-BROWN-ROCK-HOLT-GARDEN- GRANT-HOOKER-THOMAS-BLAINE-LOUP-GARFIELD-WHEELER-ARTHUR-MCPHERSON- LOGAN-CUSTER-DEUEL-KEITH-PERKINS-LINCOLN-CHASE-HAYES-FRONTIER- WESTERN CHERRY- 1221 PM CDT THU AUG 11 2016 /1121 AM MDT THU AUG 11 2016/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA THIS AFTERNOON WITH SCATTERED STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING ALONG THE FRONT. THE AREA OF CONCERN IS GENERALLY ALONG AND EAST OF A LINE FROM SPENCER TO ATKINSON TO CALLAWAY TO HAYES CENTER. ISOLATED STRONG OR SEVERE STORMS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS WESTERN NEBRASKA ALSO. LARGE HAIL AND WIND DAMAGE ARE THE THREAT WITH ANY STORMS WHICH BECOME SEVERE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. THUNDERSTORM CHANCES CONTINUE THROUGH THE WEEKEND. AT THIS TIME THE PROBABILITY FOR SEVERE WEATHER IS LOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED THROUGH TONIGHT. && GET YOUR WEATHER...HYDROLOGICAL...AND CLIMATE INFORMATION AT HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/NORTHPLATTE (ALL LOWERCASE)
The North Platte radar (KLNX), 105 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:32 UTC.
11 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Landspout reported. Radar indicated an isolated shower in the vicinity.
Brief touchdown of landspout tornado, pictures provided via social media.
Estimated wind gust of 60 mph.
Golf ball sized hail with 60 mph wind gust.
Thunderstorm wind gusts measured 64 mph.
Thunderstorm wind gusts measured at 67 mph.
Sustained winds of 58 mph gusting to 72 mph at the North Platte ASOS.
Measured 62 mph wind gust reported.
Large trees knocked over south of town.
Relayed report from media via social media, trees uprooted near C street in North Platte.
Strong winds were reported by South Oak Manor in North Platte Nebraska.
Wind speed measured at North Platte Regional Airport.
Winds blew over a large evergreen tree near the town bank and knocked over the powerline.
Coop Observer reported 70 mph winds.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nebraska in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Nebraska, 2016Warnings in Nebraska, August 2016
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: 649779, 648367, 648576, 648368, 648633, 648617, 649581, 648629, 648369, 648372, 648375, 648595, 648373, 648592.