Tornadoes · United States · Nebraska · 2003
F0 tornado, Greeley to Spalding, Nebraska, April 18, 2003
From Greeley to Spalding, this F0 tornado ran 2.0 miles across Greeley County on April 18, 2003, touching down at 6:24 PM CDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $70,000 of property damage.
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
- April 18, 2003
- Touchdown
- 6:24 PM CDT (23:24 UTC)
- Path length
- 2.0 miles (3.2 km)
- Path width
- 50 yards (46 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $70,000
- County
- Greeley County
- Touchdown point
- 41.620, -98.530
- Lift-off point
- 41.650, -98.530
- Record number
- 791
What the Weather Service recorded
The severe thunderstorm which had spawned some brief tornados earlier was to blame for a short path tornado centered about 6 miles north of Greeley. The tornado upset 2 center irrigation pivots and damaged a shelter belt.
Another tornado set down west of Spalding and overturned a brand new center irrigation pivot in its path.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
28 minutes of warning. NWS GID issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:56 UTC, 28 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:45 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22:56 UTC | 23:45 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 General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 19:50 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.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, 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 tornado touched down at Apr 18, 2:30 PM CDT, 3 hours 54 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 18, 2:30 PM CDT, 3 hours 54 minutes before
SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA/NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 230 PM CDT FRI APR 18 2003 AS THOUGHT YESTERDAY...FIRST SHORTWAVE THROUGH AND FIRST BATCH OF CONVECTION INTO OMA AREA...AND NEXT...SFC AND UPR WAVE WEST OF OFFICE WITH 1MB PR PRESSURE DROPS AND LOW LOOKING TO MOVE OVR NRN HALF OF CWA. NOTHING ELSE HAS REALLY CHANGED MUCH...WITH MID 50 DPTS SHOWING ACROSS KANSAS COUNTIES WITH DRY PUSH WEST OF COUNTIES MOVING THIS WAY. SUNSHINE INFILTRATING SWRN PORTION OF FA WITH SFC TEMPS INTO 60S OVR KS AREA. EXCELLENT LL INSTABILITY WITH =8 LAPSE...HOWEVER MID LVL RATES FALL OFF SOMEWHAT. CONVECTION STARTING JUST WEST OF PHILLIPS AND ROOKS COUNTIES WITH NEW BATCH OF SHOWERS STARTING UP IN LBFS ERN PORTION. STORM MOTION NNE NRN HALF AND ENE SRN HALF. CLOUDS OVR NRN TWO THIRDS OF FA KEEPING LID ON THINGS ELSEWHERE. HUGE LL SHEAR MOVING INTO CWA WITH EXTREMELY STRONG LL ASCENT GOING ON. LL MOISTURE TRYING TO RETURN RAPIDLY INTO AREAS FROM SSE AHEAD OF LOW. DRY AIR ALREADY MOVING INTO HLC AS THIS IS WRITTEN. EXPECTING NEW BATCH OF TSRW TO START AND RIDE ACROSS NRN CWA...ROUGHLY N OF I 80 THROUGH MID EVE...WITH STRONGER CONVECTION OCCURRING AS TEMPS RISE WITH SUNSHINE SERN AND ERN ZONES. BEST CHC FOR SEVERE ACTION LOOKS TO BE MOSTLY E AND SE OF FA...HOWEVER COMBINATION OF INGREDIENTS...ESPECIALLY STRONG BOUNDARY LAYER SHEAR WILL PUT CHANCE FOR ROUGH ACTION INITIATING FROM MITCHELL AND JEWELL COUNTIES IN KS...UP THROUGH THAYER FILLMORE AND YORK COUNTIES IN NE. WOULD SAY THAT MAIN THREAT WILL BE FROM HAIL TO AN INCH AND POSSIBLE STRONG WIND WITH LCL RISING QUICKLY TO 4000 FT OR SO. ALSO POSSIBLE ISO TOR CHANCES WITH EARLY STRONG CONVECTION AND SMALL SUPERCELL FORMATION WHERE MOISTURE IS MORE PLENTIFUL...BUT AGAIN PROBABLY E OR SE OF FA. OTHERWISE SHARP LINE OF STORMS LOOK TO LIGHT UP FROM S TO N AND MAY CATCH OUR FAR ERN ZONES BEFORE RIDING INTO OMA AND TOP AREA. SHOULD BE RATHER BRIEF SEVERE POTENTIAL FOR US HOWEVER...IF AT ALL. OTHERWISE...MOST OF CWA EXCEPT FOR SWRN PORTION SHOULD HAVE DECENT CHC FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDER...WITH BEST CHC FOR ACTUAL WATER OVR NRN QUARTER. NEXT WEEK AS WHOLE CONTINUES TO LOOK ACTIVE. PUT CHC FOR SERN HALF CWA FOR LATER IN DAY SAT WITH TROUGH AXIS CONTINUING TO PULL OVR REGION...AND EXTREMELY VOLATILE SITUATION SETTING SOUTH OF OUR AREA...INTO SRN KS AND OK. CONVECTION LIKELY TO RIDE RIGHT UP AND INTO AT LEAST SERN PORTION OF FA. ANOTHER CHC FOR SUN AFTERNOON EVE WITH SHORTWAVE ENERGY MOVING IN OVR NERN ZONES AROUND BACKSIDE OF TROUGH. THROUGH REST OF EXTENDED...NO REAL CHANGES OTHER THAN STARTING CHANCES FOR PRECIP TUE WITH MORE SHORTWAVE ENERGY RIDING OVERHEAD...BUT LIKELY ELEVATED PRECIP ONLY. .GID...NONE. 10
Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 18, 11:59 AM CDT, 6 hours 25 minutes before
KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087-191200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 1159 AM CDT FRI APR 18 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND PARTS OF NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT A SURFACE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM SITUATED IN SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA AT NOON WILL MOVE EAST ACROSS THE STATE DURING THE AFTERNOON AND INTO THE EVENING. THUNDERSTORMS MAY DEVELOP TO THE EAST AND SOUTHEAST OF THIS LOW. EXTENSIVE CLOUD COVER WILL HELP LIMIT INSTABILITY EARLY THIS AFTERNOON...HOWEVER DRIER AIR WILL MOVE IN FROM THE SOUTHWEST RESULTING IN SOME CLEARING SKIES AS THE AFTERNOON WEARS ON. WIND SHEAR IN THE ATMOSPHERE WILL BE CONDUCIVE FOR SUPERCELL DEVELOPMENT THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...BUT AVAILABLE LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL BE BETTER IN THE EASTERN PARTS OF NEBRASKA AND KANSAS. STORM DEVELOPMENT IS POSSIBLE AFTER 3 PM...AND SOME OF THESE STORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE...WITH LARGE HAIL BEING THE PRIMARY SEVERE HAZARD. HAIL THE SIZE OF GOLFBALLS IS POSSIBLE MAINLY OVER AREAS EAST OF HIGHWAY 281. MINI SUPERCELL TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE AS WELL...ALTHOUGH THAT THREAT LOOKS TO BE FURTHER TO THE EAST OF THE LISTENING AREA. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING...MAINLY FOR AREAS ALONG AND EAST OF ROUTE 281. EWALD
In the hours before
Local storm report, Apr 18, 4:23 PM CDT, 2 hours 1 minute before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
420 PM CST FRI APR 18 2003
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
420 AM RURAL NE TORNADO HWY 21
04/18/03 DAWSON MILE MARKER 40
REPORTED BY STATE
PATROL.Local storm report, Apr 18, 4:30 PM CDT, 1 hour 54 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
430 PM CDT TUE APR 18 2003
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0424 PM 2N EDDYVILLE NE 0.75 TO .88 HAIL
04/18/03 DAWSON REPORTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT.
AT HIGHWAY 21 AND
BUFFALO ROAD.
10Local storm report, Apr 18, 5:20 PM CDT, 1 hour 4 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
420 PM CST FRI APR 18 2003
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
420 AM RURAL NE TORNADO HWY 21
04/18/03 DAWSON MILE MARKER 40
REPORTED BY STATE
PATROL.Local storm report, Apr 18, 6:15 PM CDT, 9 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
615 PM CDT TUE APR 18 2003
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0555 PM 2S NORTH LOUP NE 0.75 HAIL
04/18/03 VALLEY REPORTED BY LOCAL
FIRE CHIEF.
10The 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.
N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE (KLBF), 12:00Z
11.4 hours before the tornado, 182 km from the path. April 18, 2003.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- 0 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 8 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 491 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 50 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 31 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 329 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 414 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.2 K/km
N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE (KLBF), 00:00Z
0.6 hours after it, 182 km from the path. April 19, 2003.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -2 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 57 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 820 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 20 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 12 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -27 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -40 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 6.1 K/km
The radar
The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 146 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:24 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.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2003 tornado in NebraskaEvery tornado in Nebraska since 1950Warnings in force in Nebraska nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of April 18, 2003
8 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 18 | 5:00 PM EDT | F1 | Palm Beach, FL | 3.0 | 30 | |||
| April 18 | 4:20 PM CDT | F0 | Dawson, NE | 0.1 | 25 | |||
| April 18 | 4:47 PM CDT | F0 | Custer, NE | 2.0 | 20 | $20,000 | ||
| April 18 | 4:56 PM CDT | F0 | Custer, NE | 0.5 | 20 | $20,000 | ||
| April 18 | 5:25 PM CDT | F0 | Sherman, NE | 0.1 | 25 | |||
| April 18 | 5:40 PM CDT | F0 | Sherman, NE | 0.1 | 25 | |||
| April 18 | 5:55 PM CDT | F0 | Valley, NE | 0.1 | 25 | |||
| April 18 | 6:40 PM CDT | F0 | Greeley, NE | 3.5 | 50 | $40,000 |
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.