Tornadoes · United States · Nebraska · 2005

F0 tornado, Potter, Nebraska, June 27, 2005

This F0 tornado ran 17.0 miles across Cheyenne County on June 27, 2005, touching down at 5:10 PM MDT and reaching 250 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $10,000 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 mphthis tornado

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

  2. F173 to 112 mph

    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
F0
Date
June 27, 2005
Touchdown
5:10 PM MDT (23:10 UTC)
Path length
17.0 miles (27.4 km)
Path width
250 yards (229 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$10,000
County
Cheyenne County
Touchdown point
41.380, -103.420
Lift-off point
41.150, -103.220
Record number
128

What the Weather Service recorded

Tornado skipped along track as it moved SSE over open country in western Cheyenne county, NE.Damage primarily limited to trees.

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

The warnings

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

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 06:12 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.

Denver, CO (KDNR), 12:00Z

11.2 hours before the tornado, 155 km from the path. June 27, 2005.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Denver, CO at 12:00Z on 2005-06-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 29 joules per kilogram, CIN -346, lifted condensation level 2260 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 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, Denver, CO at 12:00Z on 2005-06-27The 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 52 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 42 knots.1939587897Sfc1 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
29 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-346 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2260 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
52 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
133 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Denver, CO (KDNR), 00:00Z

0.8 hours after it, 155 km from the path. June 28, 2005.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Denver, CO at 00:00Z on 2005-06-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 9 joules per kilogram, CIN -15, lifted condensation level 4529 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 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, Denver, CO at 00:00Z on 2005-06-28The 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 1 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 56 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 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
9 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-15 J/kg
Surface CAPE
179 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
4529 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
56 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
2 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
1 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
64 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
10.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Kimball (IBM), 31 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
21:10 UTC82.451.8140° 11 kt161014.6
21:30 UTC82.453.6140° 14 kt181014.6
21:50 UTC82.453.6140° 14 kt1014.6
22:10 UTC82.455.4140° 13 kt171014.2
22:30 UTC82.455.4170° 14 kt181014.2
22:50 UTC82.455.4170° 13 kt171013.9
23:10 UTC82.455.4180° 9 kt161013.9
23:30 UTC82.453.6170° 10 kt1013.5
23:50 UTC82.453.6150° 7 kt151013.9
00:10 UTC73.455.450° 13 kt231014.6VCTS
00:30 UTC73.457.270° 24 kt341014.6
00:50 UTC73.45970° 24 kt301014.2

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

The radar

The Cheyenne radar (KCYS), 125 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:08 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
20:44 UTCHAIL 0.75ScottsbluffScotts Bluff, NE
21:41 UTCTORNADO13 Se ScottsbluffScotts Bluff, NE
21:41 UTCTORNADO9 Ne HarrisburgBanner, NETORNADO ON THE GROUND 5 MILES SOUTH OF CR-38
21:50 UTCTORNADO10 Ene HarrisburgBanner, NECONFIRMED TORNADO BY AIR FORCE PERSONNEL
21:55 UTCTORNADO6 E HarrisburgBanner, NETORNADO TOUCHDOWN JUST EAST OF SR-71 ABOUT 10 MILES SOUTH OF THE SCOTTSBLUFF/BANNER COUNTY LINE
22:33 UTCTORNADO11 E HarrisburgBanner, NEBRIEF TOUCHDOWN
22:35 UTCTORNADO1 E ScottsbluffScotts Bluff, NETORNADO ON THE GROUND
22:38 UTCTORNADO17 Ese HarrisburgBanner, NE
22:40 UTCTORNADO10 Ese RedingtonMorrill, NEOBSERVED TORNADO WITH DEBRIS CLOUD
22:45 UTCTORNADO20 Ne KimballBanner, NEDAMAGE TO TREES, BARNS, POWER POLES, CENTER PIVOTS, ON CR 14, 10 MILES EAST OF SR 71
22:50 UTCHAIL 115 E HarrisburgBanner, NE
22:50 UTCTORNADO15 E HarrisburgBanner, NE
23:10 UTCTORNADO3 W DaltonCheyenne, NEOBSERVED TORNADO ON THE GROUND WITH ESTIMATED 1/2 MILE WIDE BASE
23:17 UTCHAIL 0.7518 Sw BridgeportMorrill, NEMOSTLY MARBLE SIZE WITH SOME PENNY
23:24 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD7 Nnw PotterCheyenne, NE
23:24 UTCHAIL 1.757 Nnw PotterCheyenne, NE
23:27 UTCTORNADO3 N PotterCheyenne, NE
23:35 UTCTORNADO3 Ne PotterCheyenne, NE
23:49 UTCHAIL 0.881 N PotterCheyenne, NE
23:59 UTCTORNADO5 E PotterCheyenne, NEBRIEF TOUCHDOWN OVER OPEN COUNTRY
00:06 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD5 W SidneyCheyenne, NE
00:24 UTCTORNADO8 W SidneyCheyenne, NETORNADO OVER OPEN COUNTRY
00:30 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 E PotterCheyenne, NETREES UPROOTED
00:30 UTCHAIL 0.755 Nw SidneyCheyenne, NE
00:39 UTCHAIL 0.888 S SidneyCheyenne, NE
00:39 UTCHAIL 0.888 S SidneyCheyenne, NE
00:39 UTCHAIL 0.88LorenzoCheyenne, NE
00:39 UTCHAIL 1.75SidneyCheyenne, NE
00:57 UTCHAIL 1LorenzoCheyenne, NE
01:09 UTCTORNADO4 W LorenzoCheyenne, NEBRIEF TOUCHDOWN OVER OPEN COUNTRY

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2005 tornado in NebraskaEvery tornado in Nebraska since 1950Warnings in force in Nebraska nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 27, 2005

4 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 273:41 PM MDTF0Scotts Bluff, NE0.350
June 273:49 PM MDTF2Banner, NE17.0250$300,000
June 277:09 PM MDTF0Cheyenne, NE0.150
June 277:09 PM MDTF0Logan, CO0.1100

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.