Tornadoes · United States · Nebraska · 2001
F0 tornado, Gilead, Nebraska, June 13, 2001
This F0 tornado ran 3.0 miles across Thayer County on June 13, 2001, touching down at 10:45 PM CDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody.
The rating scale
Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.
F040 to 72 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
F2113 to 157 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.
F3158 to 206 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
F4207 to 260 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
F5261 to 318 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.
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.
The record
- Rating
- F0
- Date
- June 13, 2001
- Touchdown
- 10:45 PM CDT (03:45 UTC)
- Path length
- 3.0 miles (4.8 km)
- Path width
- 50 yards (46 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- Thayer County
- Touchdown point
- 40.170, -97.470
- Lift-off point
- 40.200, -97.470
- Record number
- 1068
What the Weather Service recorded
A wild night of weather struck south-central Nebraska with high winds, hail and tornadoes. Of the five tornadoes confirmed, the most damaging one occurred southeast of Hubbell. One farmstead sustained around one-half million dollars in damage, including losing several outbuildings, grain bins, and an exterior wall on the home. The other tornadoes were quite brief, but one did manage to produce minor damage on a farm in eastern Furnas county.Another area of widespread destruction occurred with straight-line winds in extreme southern Clay and northern Nuckolls counties. Winds estimated at 90 mph tore through grain bins, outbuildings, and trees. Major damage was had at a turkey farm near Lawrence. The damage extended east along State Highway 4 across northern Nuckolls county to the tune of over one million dollars. There were dozens of other reports of large hail across south-central Nebraska, which caused significant crop damage in some locations.
A brief tornado occurred north of Gilead.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
0 minutes of warning. NWS GID issued a tornado warning for this county at 03:45 UTC, 0 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 04:15 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00:23 UTC | 01:15 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID |
| 00:37 UTC | 01:00 UTC | Tornado Warning | GID |
| 00:59 UTC | 01:45 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID |
| 01:39 UTC | 02:15 UTC | Tornado Warning | GID |
| 02:11 UTC | 02:45 UTC | Tornado Warning | GID |
| 02:58 UTC | 03:30 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID |
| 03:04 UTC | 03:30 UTC | Tornado Warning | GID |
| 03:43 UTC | 04:15 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID |
| 03:45 UTC | 04:15 UTC | Tornado Warning | GID |
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 forecast that day
The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Moderate Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 01:05 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 air that afternoon
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.
Omaha, NE (KOAX), 00:00Z
3.8 hours before the tornado, 157 km from the path. June 14, 2001.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 4371 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -6 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 5078 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1290 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 37 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 22 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 151 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 175 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 2.5
- Supercell composite
- 17.4
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 6.7 K/km
Omaha, NE (KOAX), 12:00Z
8.2 hours after it, 157 km from the path. June 14, 2001.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 301 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -278 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 55 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1071 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 53 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 30 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 137 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 166 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.3
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.2 K/km
The surface observations
Beatrice Municip (BIE), 62 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02:15 UTC | 82.4 | 71.6 | 150° 17 kt | 25 | 999 | |
| 02:32 UTC | 82.4 | 71.6 | 160° 19 kt | 24 | 999.3 | |
| 02:54 UTC | 82.4 | 71.6 | 160° 22 kt | 31 | 998.6 | |
| 03:12 UTC | 82.4 | 71.6 | 160° 16 kt | 29 | 998.6 | |
| 03:37 UTC | 82.4 | 69.8 | 160° 22 kt | 28 | 999.3 | |
| 03:52 UTC | 82.4 | 69.8 | 150° 22 kt | 31 | 998.6 | |
| 04:13 UTC | 80.6 | 69.8 | 150° 22 kt | 29 | 998.3 | |
| 04:34 UTC | 80.6 | 69.8 | 150° 20 kt | 32 | 997.6 | |
| 04:52 UTC | 80.6 | 69.8 | 160° 22 kt | 34 | 996.6 |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2001 tornado in NebraskaEvery tornado in Nebraska since 1950Warnings in force in Nebraska nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of June 13, 2001
39 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 13 | 9:07 AM CDT | F0 | Jefferson Parish, LA | 0.1 | 25 | $10,000 | ||
| June 13 | 2:22 PM EDT | F0 | Richland, SC | 0.1 | 40 | |||
| June 13 | 4:50 PM CDT | F0 | Jones, MS | 0.3 | 100 | |||
| June 13 | 5:11 PM CDT | F0 | Hamlin, SD | 0.1 | 25 | |||
| June 13 | 5:40 PM CDT | F0 | Grant, MN | 0.5 | 25 | |||
| June 13 | 6:12 PM CDT | F0 | Big Stone, MN | 0.5 | 25 | |||
| June 13 | 6:51 PM CDT | F0 | Cuming, NE | 0.5 | 30 | |||
| June 13 | 6:53 PM CDT | F3 | Todd, MN | 12.0 | 100 | 3 | $5.0 million | |
| June 13 | 6:59 PM CDT | F0 | Grant, MN | 0.5 | 25 | |||
| June 13 | 7:00 PM CDT | F0 | Douglas, MN | 0.1 | 25 | |||
| June 13 | 7:12 PM CDT | F0 | Lincoln, MN | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| June 13 | 7:12 PM CDT | F0 | Lincoln, MN | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| June 13 | 7:18 PM CDT | F1 | Lincoln, MN | 0.5 | 100 | $50,000 | ||
| June 13 | 7:44 PM CDT | F0 | Todd, MN | 0.1 | 25 | |||
| June 13 | 7:45 PM CDT | F4 | Seward, NE | 8.0 | 400 | 2 | $1.0 million | |
| June 13 | 8:00 PM CDT | F2 | Morrison, MN | 4.0 | 50 | $200,000 | ||
| June 13 | 8:10 PM CDT | F2 | Crow Wing, MN | 5.0 | 880 | |||
| June 13 | 8:20 PM CDT | F0 | Lincoln, MN | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| June 13 | 8:32 PM CDT | F0 | Todd, MN | 0.1 | 25 | |||
| June 13 | 8:42 PM CDT | F0 | Lancaster, NE | 0.1 | 30 | |||
| June 13 | 8:46 PM CDT | F1 | Lincoln, MN | 2.0 | 100 | $2,000 | ||
| June 13 | 8:46 PM CDT | F1 | Republic, KS | 8.0 | 300 | $120,000 | ||
| June 13 | 8:52 PM CDT | F0 | Osceola, IA | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| June 13 | 8:55 PM CDT | F0 | Saunders, NE | 0.1 | 30 | |||
| June 13 | 8:58 PM CDT | F0 | Republic, KS | 5.0 | 100 | $40,000 | ||
| June 13 | 8:58 PM CDT | F0 | Hodgeman, KS | 0.1 | 30 | |||
| June 13 | 9:00 PM CDT | F0 | Hodgeman, KS | 2.0 | 50 | |||
| June 13 | 9:05 PM CDT | F1 | Thayer, NE | 3.0 | 150 | $500,000 | ||
| June 13 | 9:12 PM CDT | F0 | Hodgeman, KS | 7.0 | 250 | |||
| June 13 | 9:20 PM CDT | F1 | O'Brien, IA | 7.0 | 200 | $200,000 | ||
| June 13 | 9:20 PM CDT | F0 | Monona, IA | 0.1 | 30 | |||
| June 13 | 9:25 PM CDT | F0 | Furnas, NE | 0.5 | 30 | $10,000 | ||
| June 13 | 9:25 PM CDT | F0 | Thayer, NE | 0.5 | 20 | |||
| June 13 | 9:28 PM CDT | F0 | Pawnee, KS | 0.1 | 30 | |||
| June 13 | 9:31 PM CDT | F0 | Fillmore, NE | 0.2 | 20 | |||
| June 13 | 9:45 PM CDT | F0 | Rush, KS | 9.0 | 150 | |||
| June 13 | 10:00 PM CDT | F0 | Hodgeman, KS | 2.5 | 150 | |||
| June 13 | 10:10 PM CDT | F0 | Ida, IA | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| June 13 | 10:18 PM CDT | F0 | Cherokee, IA | 0.1 | 50 |
What this means
Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.
Sources
NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.