EF2 tornado, Murphy to Aaron Arpt, Nebraska, June 17, 2009

1. EF065 to 85 mph

   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 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

EF2

Date

June 17, 2009

Touchdown

8:59 PM CDT (01:59 UTC)

Lifted

9:17 PM CDT (02:17 UTC)

On the ground

18 minutes

Path length

5.1 miles (8.2 km)

Path width

450 yards (411 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$250,000

Crop damage

$75,000

County

Hamilton County

Touchdown point

40.873, -98.166

Lift-off point

40.878, -98.068

Record number

0906171959-01

Early on in the afternoon, a few scattered thunderstorms developed across eastern portions of South Central Nebraska, with one severe thunderstorm across Thayer County, where quarter to baseball size hail was reported. The main show came later during the early evening hours, after a surface warm front had moved north into the area. Near the front, good instability and shear was present, as was moisture. Scattered thunderstorms developed along the edge of the mid level cap near the surface front, and with the environment present, some became strong to severe. The main storm of the day developed in Buffalo County, then moved east across Hall and Hamilton Counties. In each of these counties, this storm produced a tornado, with the largest occurring in Hamilton County, along Highway 34 near the town of Aurora. This tornado caused EF2 damage to a home in its path, before dissipating a few miles west of Aurora. Other damage caused by this storm included downed power poles and derailed train cars, as well as roof damage to the Iams plant caused by strong inflow winds. Weaker tornadoes were reported on the south side of Grand Island in Hall County, as well as north of Gibbon in Buffalo County, where EF1 damage occurred at a few farmsteads. Penny to tennis ball size hail was also reported across the area, causing damage to crops, with one report of broken house windows in Valley County.

A large tornado touched down west of Aurora on Highway 34, then traveled east approximately 5 miles before lifting. In its path, it destroyed a house and several outbuildings, power poles, trees, and overturned about a dozen railcars. The occupants were able to seek shelter before the tornado struck. Numerous storm chasers documented this storm.

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

17 minutes of warning. NWS GID issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:42 UTC, 17 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 17:53 UTC and running to 02:00 UTC.

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 Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Moderate Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 01:02 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 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.

Aurora (AUH), 10 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 67 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:00 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.

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

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

The live radar over the trackEvery 2009 tornado in NebraskaEvery tornado in Nebraska since 1950Warnings in force in Nebraska nowThe forecast where you are

16 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.