Tornadoes · United States · Nebraska · 2010

EF0 tornado, Broadwater, Nebraska, June 7, 2010

This EF0 tornado ran 1.0 miles across Morrill County on June 7, 2010, touching down at 8:28 PM MDT and reaching 100 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 7, 2010
Touchdown
8:28 PM MDT (02:28 UTC)
Lifted
8:35 PM MDT (02:35 UTC)
On the ground
7 minutes
Path length
1.0 miles (1.6 km)
Path width
100 yards (91 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Morrill County
Touchdown point
41.549, -102.782
Lift-off point
41.549, -102.782
Record number
1006072028-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Moist southerly winds brought 50 to mid 60 degree dew points into the area. Due to so much moisture present, low status formed and lasted through the early afternoon. The stratus caused the atmosphere to remain stable through the early afternoon until the stratus began to clear out. With the moisture still present during the afternoon and a strong jet stream overhead, thunderstorms that former over the higher terrain of Southeast Wyoming began to move eastward into the panhandle. The unstable conditions also allowed thunderstorms to develop in the panhandle during the late afternoon and evening hours.

Spotter at this location reported seeing a tornado. No damage was reported. Estimated duration, path length and width.

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

The warnings

45 minutes of warning. NWS CYS issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:43 UTC, 45 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 21:31 UTC and running to 04:02 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
21:31 UTC04:02 UTCTornado WatchCYS
00:43 UTC01:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningCYS
01:02 UTC01:30 UTCTornado WarningCYS
01:07 UTC01:44 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningCYS
01:43 UTC02:30 UTCTornado WarningCYS
02:24 UTC03:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningCYS
02:35 UTC05:37 UTCFlash Flood 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 00:59 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

2.5 hours before the tornado, 188 km from the path. June 8, 2010.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 00:00Z on 2010-06-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1563 joules per kilogram, CIN -199, lifted condensation level 756 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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 2010-06-08The 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 297 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 40 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
1563 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-199 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1903 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
756 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
297 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
284 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2
0-3 km lapse rate
4.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

9.5 hours after it, 188 km from the path. June 8, 2010.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 12:00Z on 2010-06-08Temperature 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 0, lifted condensation level 520 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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 2010-06-08The 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 -10 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
0 J/kg
Surface CAPE
4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
520 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
5 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-10 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-24 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
3.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Sidney (SNY), 53 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
00:53 UTC8266160° 15 kt211007.8
01:53 UTC7967150° 11 kt181008.1
02:53 UTC7567350° 13 kt1008.8
03:09 UTC6857.220° 23 kt371011.9
03:15 UTC66.257.2350° 27 kt351012.9VCTS
03:30 UTC64.455.410° 17 kt281012.5VCTS
03:44 UTC62.657.260° 11 kt271012.5+TSRA
03:53 UTC61570° 0 kt1013.2+TSRA BR
04:00 UTC60.857.20° 0 kt1012.2+TSRA BR
04:06 UTC60.857.20° 0 kt1011.9+TSRA BR
04:15 UTC60.857.280° 4 kt1012.2-TSRA BR
04:20 UTC60.857.280° 5 kt1012.2-TSRA

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

The radar

The Cheyenne radar (KCYS), 175 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:29 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
01:45 UTCHAIL 15 Nw BayardScotts Bluff, NEHAIL NOT SYMMETRIC. HAIL WAS INCH ACROSS BUT VERY THIN.
01:51 UTCTSTM WND GST 552 S BayardMorrill, NEREPORTED ALONG US HIGHWAY 26.
01:55 UTCTORNADO3 Sw BayardMorrill, NETORNADO SPOTTED. TOTALLY DAMAGED RV. RATED AN EF1 TORNADO.
02:29 UTCTORNADO5 Se BroadwaterMorrill, NESPOTTER AT THIS LOCATION REPORTED SEEING A TORNADO.

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 7, 2010

8 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 76:20 PM MDTEF0Sioux, NE0.5100
June 77:11 PM MDTEF0Bowman, ND1.725$50,000
June 77:23 PM MDTEF1Scotts Bluff, NE19.0100
June 77:24 PM MDTEF0Box Butte, NE2.0100
June 77:25 PM MDTEF0Scotts Bluff, NE0.3100
June 77:28 PM MDTEF0Scotts Bluff, NE0.3100
June 77:54 PM MDTEF1Morrill, NE2.0100$60,000
June 78:12 PM MDTEF0Bowman, ND0.325

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.