Tornadoes · United States · Nebraska · 2008

EF0 tornado, Brownlee, Nebraska, June 26, 2008

This EF0 tornado ran 0.2 miles across Cherry County on June 26, 2008, touching down at 6:15 PM MDT and reaching 20 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $3,000 of property damage.

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
June 26, 2008
Touchdown
6:15 PM MDT (00:15 UTC)
Path length
0.2 miles (0.3 km)
Path width
20 yards (18 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$3,000
County
Cherry County
Touchdown point
42.130, -100.830
Lift-off point
42.130, -100.830
Record number
0806261815-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A dryline moving east across western Nebraska sparked strong thunderstorms. Large hail and an isolated tornado were the initial threats, but as the evening progressed, the thunderstorms produced strong straight-line winds.

A tornado touched down briefly and took down 3 power poles.

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

The warnings

37 minutes of warning. NWS LBF issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:38 UTC, 37 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:15 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 23:07 UTC and running to 05:24 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
22:34 UTC23:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBF
23:07 UTC05:24 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchLBF
23:15 UTC00:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBF
23:33 UTC00:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBF
23:38 UTC00:15 UTCTornado WarningLBF
00:05 UTC00:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBF
00:32 UTC01:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBF
00:43 UTC01:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm 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 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:59 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

0.3 hours before the tornado, 113 km from the path. June 27, 2008.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 00:00Z on 2008-06-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 2305 joules per kilogram, CIN -106, lifted condensation level 2061 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 2008-06-27The 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 92 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 35 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
2305 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-106 J/kg
Surface CAPE
3276 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2061 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
92 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
198 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
8.7
0-3 km lapse rate
7.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

11.7 hours after it, 113 km from the path. June 27, 2008.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 12:00Z on 2008-06-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 333 joules per kilogram, CIN -504, lifted condensation level 1119 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 12:00Z on 2008-06-27The 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 46 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 43 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
333 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-504 J/kg
Surface CAPE
7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1119 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
46 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
187 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.9
0-3 km lapse rate
3.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Thedford (TIF), 29 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
22:30 UTC91.462.6140° 16 kt211008.8
22:50 UTC91.462.6140° 19 kt261008.5
23:10 UTC89.657.2150° 20 kt261007.8
23:30 UTC89.655.4140° 21 kt261007.1
23:50 UTC87.857.2130° 20 kt281005.8VCTS
00:10 UTC8659120° 17 kt251008.5
00:30 UTC80.651.8250° 26 kt321012.5-VCTSRA
00:50 UTC64.457.2300° 15 kt401013.2+TSRA
01:10 UTC6853.630° 4 kt291012.2-VCTSRA
01:30 UTC69.851.8110° 15 kt191010.2-TSDZ
01:50 UTC69.855.4160° 11 kt171010.5TS
02:10 UTC71.655.4140° 20 kt1008.5-DZ

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

The radar

The North Platte radar (KLNX), 28 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:16 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
23:20 UTCHAIL 11 Nw BrownleeCherry, NE
23:30 UTCHAIL 1.756 Ne BrownleeCherry, NE
23:40 UTCHAIL 0.884 Se BrownleeCherry, NEHAIL LASTED FOR 25 MINUTES. STRONG WINDS ALSO REPORTED BUT SPEED UNKNOWN.
00:00 UTCTSTM WND GST 65BrownleeCherry, NE
00:15 UTCHEAVY RAIN 2.5SenecaThomas, NEGAGE SURVEY SHOWED 2.00 TO 2.50 INCHES OF HEAVY RAIN.
00:15 UTCTORNADO6 N SenecaCherry, NEBRIEF TORNADO TOUCHDOWN TOOK DOWN 3 POWER POLES WHICH FELL IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS.
00:46 UTCHAIL 0.7517 Ssw ValentineCherry, NE

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2008 tornado in NebraskaEvery tornado in Nebraska since 1950Warnings in force in Nebraska nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 26, 2008

7 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 263:38 PM MDTEF0Washington, CO0.150
June 264:00 PM MDTEF0Washington, CO0.150
June 264:20 PM MDTEF0Yuma, CO0.325
June 266:45 PM MDTEF0Hamilton, KS0.950
June 267:10 PM MDTEF0Dewey, SD1.2100
June 267:40 PM MDTEF0Dewey, SD0.350
June 267:54 PM MDTEF0Dewey, SD0.250

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.