Tornadoes · United States · Nebraska · 2010

EF0 tornado, Harrisburg, Nebraska, June 22, 2010

This EF0 tornado ran 0.5 miles across Banner County on June 22, 2010, touching down at 5:18 PM MDT and reaching 30 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
June 22, 2010
Touchdown
5:18 PM MDT (23:18 UTC)
Lifted
5:20 PM MDT (23:20 UTC)
On the ground
2 minutes
Path length
0.5 miles (0.8 km)
Path width
30 yards (27 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Banner County
Touchdown point
41.489, -103.554
Lift-off point
41.489, -103.554
Record number
1006221718-01

What the Weather Service recorded

During the afternoon of the 22nd a short wave trough moved over the area. This in combination with surface heating and good moisture supply from the southerly winds sparked off storms in along and east of the Laramie Range in southeast Wyoming which tracked across portions of the Nebraska Panhandle.

Tornado touched down for 2 to 3 minutes. No damage reported as tornado was in open farmland.

Tornado reported on ground for approximately 2 minutes. Crossed Highway 71.

No damage reported as tornado was over farm land.

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

The warnings

20 minutes of warning. NWS CYS issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:58 UTC, 20 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:45 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 22:05 UTC and running to 03:03 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
22:05 UTC03:03 UTCTornado WatchCYS
22:31 UTC23:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningCYS
22:58 UTC23:45 UTCTornado WarningCYS
23:32 UTC23:45 UTCTornado WarningCYS

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 19:46 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

11.3 hours before the tornado, 182 km from the path. June 22, 2010.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Denver, CO at 12:00Z on 2010-06-22Temperature 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 -524, lifted condensation level 2264 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, Denver, CO at 12:00Z on 2010-06-22The 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 58 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
-524 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2264 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
58 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
1 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
142 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Denver, CO (KDNR), 00:00Z

0.7 hours after it, 182 km from the path. June 23, 2010.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Denver, CO at 00:00Z on 2010-06-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 34 joules per kilogram, CIN -94, lifted condensation level 4344 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, Denver, CO at 00:00Z on 2010-06-23The 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 -21 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 60 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
34 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-94 J/kg
Surface CAPE
159 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
4344 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
60 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
3 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-21 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
17 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
9.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Kimball (IBM), 35 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
21:10 UTC81.560130° 9 kt1015.9
21:30 UTC82.460.8120° 8 kt171015.2
21:50 UTC81.562.78140° 14 kt211015.2
22:10 UTC80.7862140° 13 kt181014.9
22:30 UTC80.661.34150° 15 kt191014.6
22:50 UTC79.8860.44160° 19 kt251013.9VCTS
23:10 UTC79.761.2190° 15 kt251014.2
23:30 UTC67.6452.52350° 11 kt201015.9HZ
23:50 UTC69.854360° 11 kt231015.9
00:10 UTC71.4254.3240° 9 kt1015.2
00:30 UTC73.5854.8660° 7 kt1015.6
00:50 UTC74.4855.7650° 3 kt1015.9

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

The radar

The Cheyenne radar (KCYS), 111 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:19 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
22:45 UTCTORNADO4 S HarrisburgBanner, NETORNADO ON THE GROUND FOR 2 TO 3 MINUTES.
22:49 UTCHAIL 0.8814 Sw HarrisburgBanner, NE
23:06 UTCTORNADO2 S HarrisburgBanner, NETORNADO REPORTED ON THE GROUND FOR APPROXIMATELY 2 MINUTES AT 506 PM..CROSSED HIGHWAY 71.
23:10 UTCHAIL 16 Sw KimballKimball, NE
23:10 UTCHAIL 1.752 S HarrisburgBanner, NEMEASURED AT HIGHWAY 71 AND COUNTY ROAD 14.
23:18 UTCTORNADO11 Ese HarrisburgBanner, NE
23:19 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD10 S HarrisburgBanner, NEFUNNEL CLOUD...HAIL SIZE OF GOLFBALLS REPORTED 5 WEST OF STATE HIGHWAY 71 ON COUNTY ROAD 16.
23:28 UTCHAIL 0.513 Ese HarrisburgBanner, NE
23:40 UTCHAIL 1McgrewScotts Bluff, NETIME ESTIMATED.
23:44 UTCHAIL 0.2512 Ssw BridgeportMorrill, NE
00:11 UTCHAIL 0.5DaltonCheyenne, NEPEA TO MARBLE SIZED HAIL REPORTED.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2010 tornado in NebraskaEvery tornado in Nebraska since 1950Warnings in force in Nebraska nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 22, 2010

11 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 224:30 PM EDTEF0Lebanon, PA0.150$10,000
June 224:42 PM MDTEF0Banner, NE0.530
June 225:06 PM MDTEF0Banner, NE0.530
June 225:38 PM MDTEF0Weston, WY0.030
June 226:20 PM MDTEF0Sheridan, NE0.010
June 228:30 PM EDTEF1Bradford, PA1.0250$100,000
June 229:12 PM CDTEF0Humboldt, IA0.935
June 229:15 PM CDTEF0Sac, IA0.830
June 2210:25 PM CDTEF0Wright, IA2.050
June 2211:10 PM CDTEF0Cherokee, IA1.250
June 2211:25 PM CDTEF0O'Brien, IA0.150

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.