Tornadoes · United States · Nebraska · 2007

EF0 tornado, Enders, Nebraska, April 23, 2007

This EF0 tornado ran 0.5 miles across Chase County on April 23, 2007, touching down at 11:15 PM MDT and reaching 20 yards wide. It killed nobody.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado

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

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

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

  3. EF2111 to 135 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. EF3136 to 165 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

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

  6. EF5over 200 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
EF0
Date
April 23, 2007
Touchdown
11:15 PM MDT (05:15 UTC)
Lifted
11:16 PM MDT (05:16 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.5 miles (0.8 km)
Path width
20 yards (18 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Chase County
Touchdown point
40.384, -101.617
Lift-off point
40.389, -101.611
Record number
0704232315-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A tornadic supercell developed late in the evening over southwest Nebraska.

A supercell produced two weak tornadoes that touched down briefly in open rangeland.

A trained spotter reported two weak tornadoes that touched down briefly in open rangeland.

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

The warnings

17 minutes of warning. NWS LBF issued a tornado warning for this county at 04:58 UTC, 17 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 05:30 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 02:53 UTC and running to 09:18 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
02:53 UTC09:18 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchLBF
04:58 UTC05:30 UTCTornado WarningLBF
05:28 UTC06:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBF
06:00 UTC06:00 UTCFlash Flood WatchLBF
12:00 UTC01:25 UTCWind AdvisoryLBF

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 01:11 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), 00:00Z

5.3 hours before the tornado, 119 km from the path. April 24, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 00:00Z on 2007-04-24Temperature 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 -100064, lifted condensation level 1952 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 00:00Z on 2007-04-24The 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 98 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 40 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-100064 J/kg
Surface CAPE
3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1952 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
98 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
288 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
6.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

6.7 hours after it, 119 km from the path. April 24, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 12:00Z on 2007-04-24Temperature 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 -55820, lifted condensation level 658 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 2007-04-24The 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 60 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 52 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
-55820 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
658 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
60 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-130 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Imperial Municip (IML), 14 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
03:53 UTC584690° 23 kt301009.1-RA
04:53 UTC554980° 22 kt281007.5-RA
05:00 UTC53.648.280° 21 kt281007.5-RA
05:53 UTC555190° 20 kt1005.8-RA
06:07 UTC51.848.2280° 26 kt341008.5-RA BR
06:10 UTC48.244.6280° 12 kt341008.8+RA BR
06:16 UTC48.244.6310° 14 kt171008.5+RA BR
06:18 UTC48.246.4290° 12 kt171008.5+RA BR
06:23 UTC48.246.4310° 15 kt221008.5+RA BR
06:32 UTC5046.4320° 18 kt221008.8RA BR
06:53 UTC4844320° 27 kt341010.2-RA BR

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

The radar

The Goodland radar (KGLD), 114 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 05:17 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
04:35 UTCTORNADO3 Ne HaiglerDundy, NE2 TORNADOES REPORTED BY POLICE...DISIPATED AT 0439Z
04:57 UTCTORNADO11 Nne HaiglerDundy, NE
05:45 UTCHAIL 113 W ImperialChase, NE

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2007 tornado in NebraskaEvery tornado in Nebraska since 1950Warnings in force in Nebraska nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 23, 2007

24 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 236:14 PM CDTEF0Harper, OK0.230
April 236:51 PM CDTEF0Harper, OK0.230
April 237:43 PM CDTEF0Mitchell, TX4.050$8,000
April 236:47 PM MDTEF1Wallace, KS12.050$2,000
April 237:03 PM MDTEF0Wallace, KS5.075
April 238:04 PM CDTEF0Clark, KS1.450
April 238:04 PM CDTEF0Nolan, TX0.650
April 238:06 PM CDTEF0Val Verde, TX0.220
April 238:10 PM CDTEF1Clark, KS7.8150
April 238:22 PM CDTEF0Comanche, KS1.775
April 238:34 PM CDTEF0Val Verde, TX1.030$100,000
April 238:37 PM CDTEF0Comanche, KS1.650
April 239:00 PM CDTEF0Nolan, TX0.950
April 239:20 PM CDTEF0Taylor, TX0.350
April 239:38 PM CDTEF0Thomas, KS6.025$48,000
April 239:41 PM CDTEF0Jones, TX0.750
April 239:02 PM MDTEF0Sherman, KS0.510
April 2310:15 PM CDTEF1Thomas, KS13.050$16,000
April 2311:00 PM CDTEF1Rawlins, KS2.550
April 2311:15 PM CDTEF1Rawlins, KS12.5100$305,000
April 2311:44 PM CDTEF1Rawlins, KS6.075$26,000
April 2310:49 PM MDTEF0Yuma, CO0.510
April 2311:00 PM MDTEF0Phillips, CO0.150
April 2311:16 PM MDTEF0Chase, NE0.320

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.