Tornadoes · United States · Nebraska · 2003
F0 tornado, York County, Nebraska, June 22, 2003
This F0 tornado ran 0.2 miles across York County on June 22, 2003, touching down at 8:30 PM CDT and reaching 30 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $30,000 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
- June 22, 2003
- Touchdown
- 8:30 PM CDT (01:30 UTC)
- Path length
- 0.2 miles (0.3 km)
- Path width
- 30 yards (27 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $30,000
- County
- York County
- Touchdown point
- 40.930, -97.730
- Lift-off point
- 40.930, -97.730
- Record number
- 1250
The warnings
14 minutes of warning. NWS GID issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:16 UTC, 14 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:15 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00:21 UTC | 01:15 UTC | Tornado Warning | GID |
| 01:16 UTC | 02:15 UTC | Tornado Warning | GID |
| 02:50 UTC | 03:45 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm 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, with a 0.15 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 00:25 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 Jun 22, 2:00 PM CDT, 6 hours 30 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jun 22, 2:00 PM CDT, 6 hours 30 minutes before
SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA/NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 200 PM CDT SUN JUN 22 2003 NOT MUCH HAS CHANGED FOR CURRENT FCST BUT TO UP LOWS A BIT OVR NEXT FEW DAYS AND LOWER HIGHS SOMEWHAT THU...OTHERWISE THINKING PRETTY MUCH THE SAME. RIGHT NOW...WATCHING MOISTURE DISCONTINUITY IN FORM OF FINE LINE MOVE EWD OUT OF LBF TERRITORY. THIS WOULD BE LIKELY FIRST INITIATION POINT FOR CONVECTION TODAY...OVR NRN CWA IN VALLEY SHERMAN GREELEY OR HOWARD COUNTIES...POSSIBLY BUILDING SWD SOMEWHAT OVR TIME. LOTS OF JUICE IN THE FORM OF SFC DPTS UPR 60S TO LOW 70S EAST OF LINE...AND WITH SUN STARTING TO BREAK THROUGH GENERATING LOADS OF LL CAPE. SHOULD REACH CONVECTIVE TEMPS ALSO RATHER EASILY...ESPECIALLY NEAR AND S OF I80 CORRIDOR. LL SHEAR QUITE GOOD...HOWEVER MID TO UPR LVLS HAVE SOMETHING TO BE DESIRED. OVERALL...BEST CHC FOR TSRA WILL BE OVR NRN HALF OF CWA ALONG DEV WARM FRONT...WITH BEST CHC FOR SEVERE N OF I80 AND E OF HIGHWAY 281. STRONG OR ISOLATED SEVERE CANNOT BE RULED OUT OVR REST OF CWA...HOWEVER MUCH MORE STABLE CONDITIONS ENCROACHING UPON SWRN PORTION OF CWA. FOR NOW KEEPING WITH SCATTERED MENTION...40 POPS NE...30S EVERYWHERE ELSE BUT SWRN CWA WITH 20 POPS. FOR MON...CONTINUES TO LOOK QUITE HOT AND FAIRLY MOIST...HOWEVER MUCH TOO CAPPED OVR MOST OF OUR CWA...WITH INSTABILITY AXIS PUSHING FURTHER TO THE EAST. LEFT SMALL 20 POPS E AND NE CWA FOR AFT/EVE PERIOD FOR POINTS IN NERN ZONES...ESPECIALLY WITH LEFT OVR CONVECTIVE BOUNDARY(S) HAVING THE CHANCE TO PUSH INTO THIS AREA. HOWEVER...NOT MUCH OF CHANCE REALLY. BEYOND...NO REAL CHANGES EXCEPT ABOVE MENTIONED LOWERING OF TEMPS A BIT MORE THU BEHIND FRONT AS RELATIVELY COOL DRY AIR MOVES BACK FOR A DAY OR SO. .GID...NONE. 10
Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 22, 2:55 PM CDT, 5 hours 35 minutes before
KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087-231200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 255 PM CDT SUN JUN 22 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND PARTS OF NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT THERE IS A MODERATE RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO THE EVENING OVER PARTS OF SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS. IT APPEARS THE MOST LIKELY AREA FOR SEVERE STORMS WILL BE MAINLY NORTH AND EAST OF A GOTHENBURG TO RED CLOUD TO MANKATO KANSAS LINE. THIS WOULD INCLUDE THE TRI CITIES AREA. THE ATMOSPHERE HAS BECOME MORE UNSTABLE THIS AFTERNOON AS MORNING CLOUDS GAVE WAY TO INCREASED SUNSHINE. STRONG SOUTHERLY WINDS CONTINUE TO TRANSPORT AMPLE LOW LEVEL MOISTURE INTO THE REGION. IN ADDITION...A COLD FRONT THAT WAS LOCATED FROM JUST EAST OF AINSWORTH TO NEAR GOTHENBURG AND THEN SOUTH THROUGH MCCOOK SHOULD PUSH SLOWLY EASTWARD. OTHER BOUNDARIES THAT WERE PRODUCED FROM THUNDERSTORMS LAST NIGHT AND THIS MORNING WILL ALSO HELP TO INITIATE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT. ONE BOUNDARY WAS LOCATED NORTH OF FULLERTON AND ORD... WHILE ANOTHER WAS JUST WEST OF YORK AND EXTENDED SOUTH TO CONCORDIA KANSAS. IN ADDITION...WIND SHEAR PARAMETERS REMAIN FAVORABLE FOR GENERATING SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE REGION. THE COMBINATION OF ALL THESE FACTORS POINT TO THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT WITH SOME STORMS PRODUCING LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS AND TORNADOES. EMERGENCY MANAGERS SHOULD CONTINUE TO MONITOR THIS SITUATION THROUGHOUT THE AFTERNOON. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY EXTREMELY UNSTABLE CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO REDEVELOP LATE MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING OVER PARTS OF SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA...WITH SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE...MAINLY ALONG AND NORTH OF INTERSTATE 80. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND ARE POSSIBLE...AS ARE ISOLATED TORNADOES. THUNDERSTORM CHANCES FOR PARTS OF THE AREA WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MID WEEK WITH ADDITIONAL SEVERE WEATHER POSSIBLE BY TUESDAY AFTERNOON OR EVENING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED BY LATE THIS AFTERNOON INTO THE EVENING. EWALD
In the hours before
Local storm report, Jun 22, 7:00 PM CDT, 1 hour 30 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
700 PM CDT SUN JUN 22 2003
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0700 PM AURORA NE 2.75 INCH HAIL
06/22/03 HAMILTON REPORTED BY EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT.Local storm report, Jun 22, 7:26 PM CDT, 1 hour 4 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
726 PM CDT SUN JUN 22 2003
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0725 PM BRADSHAW NE 1.75 INCH HAIL
06/22/03 YORKLocal storm report, Jun 22, 7:27 PM CDT, 1 hour 3 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
727 PM CDT SUN JUN 22 2003
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0705 PM AURORA NE 4.5 INCH HAIL
06/22/03 HAMILTON REPORTED BY STORM
SPOTTER.Local storm report, Jun 22, 7:29 PM CDT, 1 hour 1 minute before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
729 PM CDT SUN JUN 22 2003
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0720 PM DESHLER NE TORNADO
06/22/03 THAYER REPORTED BY STORM
SPOTTER.Local storm report, Jun 22, 7:31 PM CDT, 59 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
731 PM CDT SUN JUN 22 2003
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0729 PM DESHLER NE TORNADO
06/22/03 THAYER TREES DOWN AND
ELECTRICITY OUT. DEBRIS
IN THE AIR.Local storm report, Jun 22, 8:07 PM CDT, 23 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
807 PM CDT SUN JUN 22 2003
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0800 PM 5 SW BENEDICT NE 1 INCH HAIL
06/22/03 YORK REPORTED BY LAW
ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.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
1.5 hours before the tornado, 122 km from the path. June 23, 2003.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 2534 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -65 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 2369 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1045 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 26 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 22 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 100 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 222 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 7.7
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.2 K/km
Omaha, NE (KOAX), 12:00Z
10.5 hours after it, 122 km from the path. June 23, 2003.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -59896 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2900 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 35 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 8 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 76 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 180 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.1 K/km
The radar
The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 91 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:28 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 June 22, 2003
14 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 22 | 4:15 PM EDT | F0 | Marion, FL | 1.5 | 100 | $50,000 | ||
| June 22 | 6:30 PM CDT | F0 | Thayer, NE | 4.0 | 100 | $200,000 | ||
| June 22 | 6:43 PM CDT | F2 | Thayer, NE | 3.0 | 200 | 1 | 7 | $10 million |
| June 22 | 7:00 PM CDT | F0 | Thayer, NE | 1.0 | 35 | |||
| June 22 | 7:08 PM CDT | F0 | Hamilton, NE | 2.0 | 25 | $30,000 | ||
| June 22 | 7:20 PM CDT | F0 | Thayer, NE | 2.0 | 50 | $100,000 | ||
| June 22 | 7:42 PM CDT | F0 | Hamilton, NE | 0.5 | 20 | |||
| June 22 | 7:50 PM CDT | F1 | Pope, MN | 0.1 | 25 | $10,000 | ||
| June 22 | 8:12 PM CDT | F0 | Republic, KS | 0.5 | 50 | $50,000 | ||
| June 22 | 8:20 PM CDT | F0 | Republic, KS | 1.0 | 75 | $20,000 | ||
| June 22 | 8:30 PM CDT | F1 | Republic, KS | 3.0 | 150 | $120,000 | ||
| June 22 | 8:58 PM CDT | F1 | Republic, KS | 2.0 | 150 | $60,000 | ||
| June 22 | 9:10 PM CDT | F2 | Republic, KS | 4.0 | 450 | $80,000 | ||
| June 22 | 10:17 PM CDT | F0 | Republic, KS | 0.5 | 50 | $10,000 |
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.