EF1 tornado, Little Sioux to California Jct, Iowa, April 23, 2026

1. EF065 to 85 mph

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. EF2111 to 135 mph

   Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

4. EF3136 to 165 mph

   Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

5. EF4166 to 200 mph

   Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

6. EF5over 200 mph

   Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

7. Unrated

   The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Rating, as surveyed

EF1, preliminary

Date

April 23, 2026

Touchdown

1:46 PM CDT (18:46 UTC)

Lifted

1:54 PM CDT (18:54 UTC)

On the ground

8 minutes

Path length

2.9 miles (4.7 km)

Path width

500 yards (457 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Harrison County

Touchdown point

41.831, -96.034

Lift-off point

41.846, -95.983

Highest wind the damage implies

105 mph

Surveyed by

NWS OAX

Survey last edited

April 24, 2026

Record number

None yet. SPC numbers 2026 in the spring of 2027.

A tornado developed approximately 1.5 miles north-northwest of Little Sioux at 1:46 PM. The tornado began just southeast of the intersection of 120th Street and Dayton Avenue, flipping a center pivot. It continued northeast, damaging farm outbuildings, trees, and power poles near 120th Street and Early Avenue. Just over 1 mile northeast of this intersection, another center pivot was flipped over. The tornado then turned slightly more eastward and tore the fabric roofing off part of a hoop barn near Gage Lane and Easton Trail, where it came to an end.

Written by NWS OAX in the NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit. A survey is revised as better evidence arrives.

12 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS OAX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 105 mph.

• Two bent signs, debris in ditch.
• Debris scattered over a quarter mile stretch in the field.
• Wood panels on bridge missing.
• Plastic sheet removed off half the building.

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

A broken line of strong to severe thunderstorms impacted eastern Nebraska and southwest Iowa on April 23rd, 2026. The system was driven by a broad upper-level trough located over the western third of the United States, as additional shortwave energy rounded the ridge and pushed into the central Plains. In response to these features, strong lee troughing developed across the Great Plains. Southerly winds rapidly drew rich Gulf moisture northward, pushing dewpoints into the 60s. Surface observations showed a front draped from south-central Nebraska into northeast Nebraska and northwest Iowa, which slowly progressed eastward through the afternoon. This system brought strong winds throughout the vertical column, increasing deep-layer shear. This enhanced shear combined with steep lapse rates to provide a highly favorable environment for severe thunderstorms. A weak cap in place during the afternoon initially limited development until a few convective updrafts managed to punch through. The initial storms were isolated, posing a primary threat for large hail and tornadoes, particularly for those that interacted with the frontal boundary. Through the late afternoon and into the evening, convective development became much more widespread along the front as it slowly pushed eastward, bringing reports of hail, damaging wind gusts, and tornadoes. ||Numerous hail reports were received throughout the event. As storms matured, a southwest-to-northeast oriented broken line of supercells formed, extending generally from Lincoln, NE, through Omaha, NE, and into Little Sioux, IA. Wind gusts were measured up to 68 mph, and a tornado was confirmed near Little Sioux as a supercell approached the frontal boundary and underwent a storm merger. Within this corridor, hail ranging from 1 to 1.75 inches in diameter was widely reported. Further south, an additional strong supercell developed near Fairbury, NE. This storm tracked east-northeast, gradually growing upscale as it advanced. As the cell progressed, it produced hail up to 2 inches in diameter and spawned three brief tornadoes in southwest Iowa.

A tornado developed approximately 1.5 miles north-northwest of Little Sioux, IA at 12:46 PM CST. The tornado began just southeast of the intersection of 120th Street and Dayton Avenue, before flipping a center pivot. It continued northeast, damaging farm outbuildings, trees, and power poles near 120th Street and Early Avenue. Just over 1 mile northeast of this intersection, another center pivot was flipped over. The tornado then turned slightly more eastward and tore the fabric roofing off part of a hoop barn near Gage Lane and Easton Trail. Maximum wind speeds were estimated at 105 mph.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

9 minutes of warning. NWS OAX issued a tornado warning for this county at 18:37 UTC, 9 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 19:07 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 17:02 UTC and running to 22:48 UTC.

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 16:15 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

Tekamah (TQE), 16 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The Omaha radar (KOAX), 65 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 18:46 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2026 tornado in IowaEvery tornado in Iowa since 1950Warnings in force in Iowa nowThe forecast where you are

19 more have been surveyed in the United States that day, so far.

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. A survey can be revised, so the rating, the path and the casualties can all still change.

NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit, the record the survey teams file from the damage, and NOAA Storm Prediction Center storm reports. Neither is the official database for 2026, which SPC publishes in the spring of 2027.