Tornadoes · United States · Nebraska · 2004

F1 tornado, Amelia to Inman, Nebraska, May 16, 2004

From Amelia to Inman, this F1 tornado ran 6.0 miles across Holt County on May 16, 2004, touching down at 5:55 PM CDT and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $40,000 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.

  1. F040 to 72 mph

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

  2. F173 to 112 mphthis tornado

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

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. F4207 to 260 mph

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

  6. 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.

  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.

The record

Rating
F1
Date
May 16, 2004
Touchdown
5:55 PM CDT (22:55 UTC)
Path length
6.0 miles (9.7 km)
Path width
100 yards (91 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$40,000
County
Holt County
Touchdown point
42.220, -98.950
Lift-off point
42.220, -98.820
Record number
871

What the Weather Service recorded

The tornado touched down briefly in an open pasture.

The tornado took down power poles and uprooted numerous trees south of state highway 95 and then hit a farmstead as it crossed the highway about 3 miles south of Amelia ripping off the roof of a metal outbuilding and depositing it on the road. As it moved east-northeast, it overturned a center pivot irrigation system and uprooted more trees.

The tornado moved across open pastures.

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

The warnings

45 minutes of warning. NWS LBF issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:10 UTC, 45 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
22:10 UTC23:00 UTCTornado WarningLBF
23:04 UTC23:45 UTCTornado WarningLBF
23:45 UTC00:15 UTCTornado WarningLBF
00:13 UTC00:30 UTCTornado WarningLBF

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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 20:00 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.

N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE (KLBF), 12:00Z

10.9 hours before the tornado, 187 km from the path. May 16, 2004.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 12:00Z on 2004-05-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -81907, lifted condensation level 980 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 12:00Z on 2004-05-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 287 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 40 knots.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-81907 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
980 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
287 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
312 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2
0-3 km lapse rate
4.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE (KLBF), 00:00Z

1.1 hours after it, 187 km from the path. May 17, 2004.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 00:00Z on 2004-05-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 991 joules per kilogram, CIN -34, lifted condensation level 2157 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 00:00Z on 2004-05-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 24 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 27 knots.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
991 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-34 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1375 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2157 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
8 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
24 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
34 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
8.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

O Neill (ONL), 32 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
21:10 UTC64.455.4180° 10 kt141008.5
21:30 UTC64.457.2180° 7 kt1007.8
21:50 UTC66.257.2170° 12 kt161007.8
22:10 UTC6857.2160° 10 kt151007.1
22:30 UTC64.459150° 8 kt1006.8
22:50 UTC64.459150° 9 kt1006.4
23:10 UTC64.459140° 8 kt1006.1
00:11 UTC60.855.4100° 16 kt251005.8
00:30 UTC5955.4150° 12 kt171006.8
00:31 UTC60.855.4140° 12 kt1006.4
00:50 UTC5951.8160° 5 kt181006.8

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

The radar

The North Platte radar (KLNX), 143 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:53 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.

What was reported nearby

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

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
21:45 UTCHAIL 0.8815 N TaylorLoup, NE
21:45 UTCHAIL 0.8815 N TaylorLoup, NE
21:48 UTCTORNADO20 N TaylorLoup, NETOUCHDOWN REPORTED 3N OF INTERSECTION OF 183 AND 96
21:48 UTCTORNADO20 N TaylorLoup, NETOUCHDOWN REPORTED 3N OF INTERSECTION OF 183 AND 96
22:25 UTCHAIL 1.520 N BurwellGarfield, NESWAN LAKE COOP OBSERVER REPORTED 1.5 IN HAIL.
22:30 UTCHAIL 0.754 Ne RoseRock, NE
22:30 UTCHAIL 0.754 Ne RoseRock, NE
22:37 UTCHAIL 1.2518 Sw AmeliaGarfield, NE
22:37 UTCHAIL 1.2518 Sw AmeliaGarfield, NE
22:55 UTCTORNADO7 Sw AmeliaHolt, NE
22:55 UTCTORNADO7 Sw AmeliaHolt, NE
23:00 UTCHAIL 1.75InmanHolt, NE
23:02 UTCTORNADO3 Sw AmeliaHolt, NELARGE TORNADO ON GROUND MOVING NORTHEAST
23:02 UTCTORNADO3 Sw AmeliaHolt, NELARGE TORNADO ON GROUND MOVING NORTHEAST, CENTER PIVOT HIT 6 W OF CHAMBERS, 1 OLD SHED AND TREES DESTROYED.
23:15 UTCHAIL 116 Nnw TaylorLoup, NE
23:15 UTCHAIL 116 Nnw TaylorLoup, NE
23:48 UTCHAIL 113 Ese RoseRock, NE
23:48 UTCHAIL 113 Ese RoseRock, NE
23:53 UTCTORNADOInmanHolt, NETORNADO ON THE GROUND NEAR INMAN
23:53 UTCTORNADOInmanHolt, NETORNADO ON THE GROUND NEAR INMAN
00:21 UTCTORNADOPageHolt, NETORNADO TOUCH DOWN NEAR PAGE LIFTED 1M E
00:21 UTCTORNADOPageHolt, NETORNADO TOUCH DOWN NEAR PAIGE LIFTED 1M E

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2004 tornado in NebraskaEvery tornado in Nebraska since 1950Warnings in force in Nebraska nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of May 16, 2004

15 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 162:41 PM MDTF0Wallace, KS1.575
May 164:48 PM CDTF0Loup, NE0.120
May 165:15 PM CDTF0Phillips, KS2.050$50,000
May 165:28 PM CDTF0Logan, KS0.550
May 165:51 PM CDTF0Holt, NE0.230
May 166:48 PM CDTF0Sherman, NE1.050
May 166:49 PM CDTF0Holt, NE2.030
May 166:54 PM CDTF0Gove, KS0.550
May 166:57 PM CDTF0Howard, NE1.025
May 167:20 PM CDTF0Howard, NE3.050
May 167:21 PM CDTF0Holt, NE1.020
May 167:25 PM CDTF1Lane, KS0.5100$10,000
May 167:30 PM CDTF0Murray, MN1.0100$20,000
May 167:43 PM CDTF0Howard, NE2.575$250,000
May 168:31 PM CDTF0Scott, KS0.250

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.