A narrow, broken line of strong to isolated severe thunderstorms flared up along a cold front over southern portions of South Central Nebraska on this Friday afternoon. Although these storms yielded very few severe weather reports, one of them consisted of a brief landspout tornado in central Adams County.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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 GID wrote it up.
A narrow, broken line of strong to isolated severe thunderstorms flared up along a cold front over southern portions of South Central Nebraska on this Friday afternoon. Although these storms yielded very few severe weather reports, one of them consisted of a brief landspout tornado in central Adams County. This EF0-rated tornado, which touched down roughly 2.5 miles southwest of Juniata around 4:30 p.m. CDT, tracked only a very short distance but partially ripped the roof from a metal outbuilding along the way. About an hour later, a trained spotter northwest of Red Cloud reported a combination of nickel size hail and wind gusts to 75 MPH (as measured by a personal weather station).
This fairly localized and short-duration severe weather event got underway during peak afternoon heating along a classic, slowly-southeastward-tracking front. Initial development took place between 4:00-4:30 p.m. CDT, consisting of a broken line of convection extending roughly along a line from Minden-Hastings-Giltner. As is often the case, the landspout tornado near Juniata materialized early in storm maturity, just as the initial updrafts were strengthening in the presence of enhanced low-level vorticity along the surface frontal zone. As this broken line headed southeast around 20 MPH, most of it remained sub-severe and even weakened. However, the southwestern flank intensified through western Webster County, producing the aforementioned severe wind gusts before exiting southward into Kansas between 6:00-6:30 p.m. CDT. A short time later, a secondary narrow line of storms popped up over the York County area but remained sub-severe. By 8 p.m. CDT, all of South Central Nebraska found itself storm-free for the remainder of the night. In the mid-upper levels, the main driving force for this event was a broad shortwave trough sinking southeast across the Dakotas into eastern Nebraska over the course of the afternoon and evening. This wave was embedded within strengthening northwesterly flow aloft, with the Central Plains residing on the downstream side of a pronounced western CONUS ridge. At the surface, the aforementioned cold front roughly bisected South Central Nebraska from southwest-to-northeast around the time of storm development, trailing well-southward from a weak low pressure center in eastern North Dakota. Near and ahead of this boundary, modestly-unstable conditions were noted over the local area as temperatures warmed into the mid-80s F and dewpoints averaged in the mid-50s to around 60 F, promoting mixed-layer CAPE up to around 1500 J/kg in the presence of deep-layer wind shear up to 35 knots.
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 Hastings, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 1, 3:18 PM CST, 10 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Hastings NE 418 PM CDT WED JUN 1 2016 .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Thursday night) Issued at 417 PM CDT Wed Jun 1 2016 The main issue through these next 36 hours surrounds the uncertainty regarding seemingly-small shower/thunderstorm chances primarily during the daylight hours Thursday. This is another classic, subtle-forcing situation with some models (such as the GFS and NSSL WRF) acknowledging that at least some spotty activity is possible, while others (such as the NAM and some other 4km WRF runs) insist on keeping the entire CWA dry. At least for now, have officially confined any precip chances (POPs) for Thursday to counties mainly north of Interstate 80, but should activity develop, it may affect some other areas as well. Should anything develop, parameters do not appear very supportive of severe storms, but we have been somewhat surprised by this notion a few times recently, and have at least acknowledged a small hail/gusty wind possibility in the latest Hazardous Weather Outlook (HWOGID). Taking a quick look at the current scene as of 330 PM, an overall pretty darn pleasant one to kick off June, with sunny/mostly sunny skies CWA-wide and any appreciable convective instability shunted several counties off to our south and west. Occasionally gusty northwest breezes (especially earlier in the day) continue to subside as a broad surface high pressure ridge promotes a weak gradient. High temps are on pace to top out 75-78 most areas. In the mid-upper levels, fairly unremarkable west-to-east flow prevails, well to the south of a strong shortwave trough tracking east along the MN/Ontario border. Now looking ahead through each of the next 3 day/night forecast periods: This evening/tonight: Confidence is high that the vast majority (if not the entire) CWA stays dry through sunrise. However, this is not truly "guaranteed" especially for far northwestern counties. In theory, any thunderstorms that manage to develop to our west this evening will not survive eastward into the CWA. However, there is just enough subtle warm air/moisture advection in the 850-700 millibar layer, that a few models (such as the GFS) are spitting out some subtle QPF signals late in the night brushing the far northwest CWA. As a compromise between the previous dry forecast and actually going with a formal/iffy thunderstorm chance, decided to introduce a generic "slight chance of sprinkles" as a compromise. Otherwise, any tiny rain chances aside, light breezes should average southerly tonight. Low temps changed very little, mainly mid 50s. Thursday daytime: Although most models focus small chances for convection slightly north of our CWA (especially during the afternoon), previous shift introduced a slight chance of showers/storms to mainly counties north of Interstate 80, and given there are still small signs of this per some models, saw no reason to pull the plug on it. For the morning hours, these small chances are mainly driven by elevated moisture advection. However, kept much of the same area in small POPs during the afternoon given an outside chance that a few stronger storms could maybe even pop in a weakly-capped environment featuring as much as 500-1000 J/kg of mixed-layer CAPE. As already mentioned, if in fact storms do pop, they may affect counties farther south as well. In other departments, the main difference from today will be stronger south winds, with especially the afternoon hours averaging around 15 MPH from the south with higher gusts. High temps are aimed roughly 5 degrees warmer than today into the low 80s. Thursday evening/night: At least for now, the forecast remains dry post-00z/7 PM. However, this bears watching, as should any late afternoon storms still be affecting our northern zones by early evening, they may not just "magically" disappear and could linger for at least a few more hours. This scenario is supported by the 12z run of the EMC 4km WRF, but with limited support from most models and in collaboration with neighboring offices, have left the entire evening/night period dry for now. Steadier southerly breezes will help hold overnight low temps closer to 60. .MID TERM...(Friday through Saturday) Issued at 417 PM CDT Wed Jun 1 2016 This "mid term" period is a tale of two days, as Friday contains at least a chance (not a certainty) of strong to severe thunderstorm development along a passing cold front, while Saturday carries pretty high confidence in being a dry albeit, breezy and very slightly cooler day to kick off the weekend. A few more details follow: Friday/Friday night: Obviously the main focus here is on the current SPC Day 3 Marginal Risk of severe storms. Although for now this risk if mainly centered within the northeast 1/4 of the CWA, could easily see this risk eventually encompassing more of the area depending on just how far southwest at least isolated convection can "back- build" southwestward along the passing cold front. Although models still naturally vary on the details, the current expectation is that the majority of the day is dry and breezy from the south ahead of the front, with chances for at least isolated storms increasing by mid-late afternoon and into the evening before largely departing southeast of the CWA by midnight. As storms develop, severe looks like a decent bet as ML-CAPE climbs up to around 2000 J/kg in the presence of 30-40kt of deep-layer shear. Large hail and damaging winds the main threats as usual, with at least brief supercell structures possible until/unless storms develop into more of a southeastward-marching line with time. All this being said, severe weather is not a "sure thing" for our area, as the better forcing will reside slightly to our northeast along the track of an advancing upper level trough. Temp-wise, expect highs to spike into the mid-80s most areas ahead of the invading front, helping add to available instability. Saturday: In the wake of the departing system/cold front, this should be a dry/mostly sunny day although a few residual showers could come somewhat close to brushing our eastern zones and this bears watching. Otherwise, flow aloft turns more northerly in response to a building western CONUS ridge. It looks to be a breezy day with northwest winds generally 15-20 MPH with higher gusts. Despite the northerly winds, good mixing should promote highs only slightly cooler than Friday, and still have most areas into the 80-83 range. .LONG TERM...(Saturday night through Wednesday) Issued at 417 PM CDT Wed Jun 1 2016 Northwesterly upper level flow looks to remain in place across the region through the end of the weekend into the first half of the next work week. The upper level pattern is still well amplified Sun/Mon, but an area of low pressure moving in from the west coast will start to change that late in the period. This low will start breaking down the ridging over the Rockies as it moves east through the northern half of CA, filling as it moves into the central Rockies. The ridge axis also is shifted east, passing through our area mainly on Wed. The current forecast is dry, but uncertainties linger in whether it will actually stay that way. Monday evening/night is the first questionable period, thunderstorms look to develop over the front range/high plains during the afternoon along a surface trough axis, and will be a matter of whether or not things can linger far enough east to affect our CWA. At this point, the dry forecast is supported by the ECMWF and GEM, with the GFS showing a better chance for precip. The other time frame with some uncertainty is late Wednesday, and into Wed night (currently just beyond the official forecast period), as an upper level shortwave looks to cross the Plains. Will see how models trend timing/location-wise before inserting PoPs. Otherwise, the winds remain northerly on Sunday behind the frontal passage, before starting to turn back to the south on Monday ahead of the surface trough. Not looking at any notable changes in temperatures, with highs in the lower/mid 80s through Wednesday. && .AVIATION...(For the 18Z KGRI/KEAR TAFS through 18Z Thursday afternoon) Issued at 102 PM CDT Wed Jun 1 2016 General Overview: Confidence in VFR visibility and especially ceiling is rather high through the period. Confidence is also reasonably high in rain/thunderstorm-free weather, but this is not necessarily a "guarantee". More details follow: Ceiling/visibility: Only a limited smattering of mid-high level clouds is anticipated. Precipitation/thunderstorms: Although confidence in occurrence is simply too low at this time to advertise in the TAFs, there is probably a very small chance of a rogue shower/storm during the latter half of the period, and this will need monitored. Winds: Speeds should not be much of an issue, with most of the period averaging near/below 10kt, initially from the northwest this afternoon and then transitioning to more southerly tonight into Thursday. By mid-late Thursday morning, sustained speeds near/above 12kt will become possible. && .GID Watches/Warnings/Advisories... NE...None. KS...None. && SHORT TERM...Pfannkuch MID TERM...Pfannkuch LONG TERM...ADP AVIATION...Pfannkuch
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 330 PM CDT WED JUN 1 2016 NEZ060-021200- DAWSON- 330 PM CDT WED JUN 1 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR DAWSON COUNTY NEBRASKA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. A FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IS IN EFFECT FOR MINOR FLOODING ALONG THE PLATTE RIVER. PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST FLOOD WARNING STATEMENT FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. THROUGH AT LEAST THURSDAY...A FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IS IN EFFECT FOR MINOR FLOODING ALONG THE PLATTE RIVER. PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST FLOOD WARNING STATEMENT FOR DETAILS. ALSO ON THURSDAY...THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS WITHIN NEBRASKA COUNTIES PRIMARILY NORTH OF INTERSTATE 80. SHOULD ANY STORMS DEVELOP...THEY ARE CURRENTLY NOT EXPECTED TO BE SEVERE...BUT SMALL HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS CANNOT BE RULED OUT. ON FRIDAY AFTERNOON INTO FRIDAY NIGHT...THERE IS A SOMEWHAT GREATER...ALTHOUGH STILL NOT CERTAIN...CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT ALONG AN INVADING COLD FRONT. THERE IS AT LEAST A MARGINAL RISK THAT SOME OF THESE STORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE...CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED THROUGH TONIGHT. && MORE INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE FOLLOWING WEB PAGE: HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/HASTINGS KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-061>064-072>077-082>087- 021200- PHILLIPS-SMITH-JEWELL-ROOKS-OSBORNE-MITCHELL-VALLEY-GREELEY-NANCE- SHERMAN-HOWARD-MERRICK-POLK-BUFFALO-HALL-HAMILTON-YORK-GOSPER- PHELPS-KEARNEY-ADAMS-CLAY-FILLMORE-FURNAS-HARLAN-FRANKLIN-WEBSTER- NUCKOLLS-THAYER- 330 PM CDT WED JUN 1 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA...EXCEPT FOR DAWSON COUNTY...AND ALSO FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. ON THURSDAY...THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS WITHIN NEBRASKA COUNTIES PRIMARILY NORTH OF INTERSTATE 80. SHOULD ANY STORMS DEVELOP...THEY ARE CURRENTLY NOT EXPECTED TO BE SEVERE...BUT SMALL HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS CANNOT BE RULED OUT. ON FRIDAY AFTERNOON INTO FRIDAY NIGHT...THERE IS A SOMEWHAT GREATER...ALTHOUGH STILL NOT CERTAIN...CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT ALONG AN INVADING COLD FRONT. THERE IS AT LEAST A MARGINAL RISK THAT SOME OF THESE STORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE...CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED THROUGH TONIGHT. && MORE INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE FOLLOWING WEB PAGE: HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/HASTINGS PFANNKUCH
The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 28 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:22 UTC.
1 tornado, 1 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
This landspout tornado briefly touched down roughly 2.5 miles southwest of Juniata. Damage was confined to a roof being partially torn off of a metal outbuilding. Maximum wind speed was estimated to be between 75 and 80 MPH.
Hail was accompanied by 75 MPH wind gusts.
Wind (measured by a personal weather station) was accompanied by nickel size hail.
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, June 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: 633779, 633777, 633778.