Tornadoes · United States · Nebraska · 2011

EF0 tornado, Perry, Nebraska, June 19, 2011

Name: EF0 tornado, Perry, Nebraska, June 19, 2011
Start: 2011-06-20T01:20:00.000Z
End: 2011-06-20T01:25:00.000Z
Location: Perry, Nebraska

This EF0 tornado ran 2.5 miles across Red Willow County on June 19, 2011, touching down at 8:20 PM CDT and reaching 75 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.

EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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 19, 2011
Touchdown: 8:20 PM CDT (01:20 UTC)
Lifted: 8:25 PM CDT (01:25 UTC)
On the ground: 5 minutes
Path length: 2.5 miles (4.0 km)
Path width: 75 yards (69 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
County: Red Willow County
Touchdown point: 40.300, -100.707
Lift-off point: 40.307, -100.654
Record number: 1106191920-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Several rounds of severe storms moved across southern Nebraska during the evening hours, resulting in three tornadoes over Dundy and Red Willow counties. None of the tornadoes resulted in significant damage as they remained over open fields.

Storm chaser reported a large dusty tornado NNW of McCook. The county emergency manager did not receive any reports of damage from the tornado.

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

The warnings

21 minutes of warning. NWS GLD issued a tornado warning for this county at 00:59 UTC, 21 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 00:00 UTC and running to 05:45 UTC.

Issued (UTC)	Expired	Product	Office
00:00 UTC	05:45 UTC	Tornado Watch	GLD
00:59 UTC	02:00 UTC	Tornado Warning	GLD
01:31 UTC	02:30 UTC	Tornado Warning	GLD
01:36 UTC	02:30 UTC	Tornado Warning	GLD
04:45 UTC	05:28 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GLD
05:14 UTC	05:51 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GLD
05:45 UTC	07:43 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	GLD
13:41 UTC	20:00 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	GLD

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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 01:01 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.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Goodland, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Jun 19, 6:19 PM CDT, 2 hours 1 minute earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 19, 6:19 PM CDT, 2 hours 1 minute before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
519 PM MDT SUN JUN 19 2011

.DISCUSSION...
200 PM MDT SUN JUN 19 2011

UNSEASONABLY STRONG UPPER LOW AND ASSOCIATED TROUGH CURRENTLY
MOVING TOWARD THE FOUR CORNERS AREA WILL ROTATE ACROSS THE AREA
MONDAY THEN NORTHEAST INTO NORTHEAST NEBRASKA TUESDAY MORNING THEN
CLOSE TO THE GREAT LAKES AREA BY THE END OF THE DAY WEDNESDAY WITH
LARGE UPPER RIDGE BUILDING INTO THE SOUTHWEST PART OF THE COUNTRY.

FOR TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT INCREASING MOISTURE AND JET
DYNAMICS MOVE INTO FAR EASTERN COLORADO AFTER MIDNIGHT/EARLY
MONDAY MORNING THEN ON TOP OF THE AREA BY 00Z TUESDAY.
PRECIPITATION WILL INITIALLY BE LOCATED ACROSS THE FAR NORTH AND
NORTHWEST/WEST TONIGHT INCREASING ACROSS THE WEST OVERNIGHT AS THE
SYSTEM ADVANCES EAST. FOR MONDAY WIDESPREAD RAIN WITH A FEW
THUNDERSTORMS OVER MOST OF THE AREA EXITING MONDAY NIGHT FROM
SOUTHWEST TO NORTHEAST. RAINFALL AMOUNTS WITH THIS SYSTEM LIKELY
TO EXCEED AN INCH WITH PERHAPS TWO INCHES...GENERALLY ACROSS THE
NORTHWEST 1/3 OF THE AREA NORTH OF THE INTERSTATE.

UNDER THE EXTENSIVE CLOUD COVER AND PRECIPITATION TEMPERATURES
WILL STRUGGLE INTO THE 60S AND LOW 70S...FURTHER EAST BY HILL CITY
LOW 80S EXPECTED AS THEY WILL SEE MORE SUN AHEAD OF THE SYSTEM.
NORTHWEST WINDS OF 20 TO 30 MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS ALSO EXPECTED
ACROSS THE WESTERN 1/2 OF THE AREA MONDAY. TUESDAY WILL ALSO BE
WINDY FROM THE NORTHWEST BUT THERE WILL ALSO BE MORE SUNSHINE AND
WARMER TEMPERATURES WITH MID 70S TO AROUND 80 EXPECTED. FOR
WEDNESDAY A TAD WARMER WITH 80-85 ACROSS THE AREA.

THURSDAY-SUNDAY...SEASONAL TEMPERATURES EXPECTED WITH THE AREA IN
BETWEEN UPPER HIGH TO THE SOUTH AND UPPER TROUGH ACROSS THE FAR
NORTHERN PLAINS BY THE END OF THE PERIOD. LOOKS PRETTY DRY FOR
THURSDAY AND FRIDAY WITH PERHAPS SOME THUNDERSTORMS SATURDAY AND
SUNDAY...CONFIDENCE IN WHERE AND WHEN NOT REAL HIGH.

007
&&

.AVIATION...
519 PM MDT SUN JUN 19 2011

FOR THE OOZ TAFS...COMPLICATED WEATHER SCENARIO THIS TAF PERIOD.
THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED OVER NE CO AND SW NE AND MOVING
NORTHEAST. HIGH RESOLUTION MODEL DEPICTING THUNDERSTORMS MOVING
FROM NE CO INTO SW NE FROM 04-08Z. HAVE SHOWN THIS WITH A TEMPO
TSRA AT KMCK...AND HAVE VCTS AT KGLD. WILL HAVE VCTS GOING AT BOTH
TERMINALS TILL 12Z AT KGLD AND 14Z AT KMCK. AFTERWARDS...PRECIP ON
THE BACKSIDE OF LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA. HAVE
-SHRA AND VCTS WITH MVFR CIGS/VIS AT BOTH TERMINALS THROUGH END OF
TAF PERIOD. CIGS/VIS MAY BOUNCE FROM MVFR TO IFR AT TIMES IN
HEAVIER PRECIP.

BAS
&&

.GLD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
KS...NONE.
NE...NONE.
CO...NONE.
&&

Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 19, 3:35 PM CDT, 4 hours 45 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
235 PM MDT SUN JUN 19 2011

COZ090>092-KSZ001>004-013>016-027>029-041-042-NEZ079>081-201200-
YUMA-KIT CARSON-CHEYENNE CO-CHEYENNE KS-RAWLINS-DECATUR-NORTON-
SHERMAN-THOMAS-SHERIDAN-GRAHAM-WALLACE-LOGAN-GOVE-GREELEY-WICHITA-
DUNDY-HITCHCOCK-RED WILLOW-
235 PM MDT SUN JUN 19 2011 /335 PM CDT SUN JUN 19 2011/

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EXTREME SOUTHWEST
NEBRASKA...NORTHWEST KANSAS AND EAST CENTRAL COLORADO.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED GENERALLY ALONG AND NORTH OF
INTERSTATE 70 THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT. THE
BEST CHANCE FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE ACROSS YUMA COUNTY COLORADO
AND FAR SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA.

LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...TORNADOES...AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN
ARE ALL POSSIBLE.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY

AN UNSEASONABLY STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL SLOWLY MOVE ACROSS
THE TRI-STATE AREA MONDAY EXITING FROM WEST TO EAST MONDAY NIGHT.
WIDESPREAD RAIN WITH A FEW THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH MUCH
OF THE DAY. A FEW STORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE AND THE RAIN MAY BE
HEAVY AT TIMES.

FOR TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT
EXPECTED.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE NEEDED GENERALLY ALONG AND NORTH OF
INTERSTATE 70 THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jun 19, 5:47 PM CDT, 2 hours 33 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
447 PM MDT SUN JUN 19 2011

NEZ079>081-192315-
DUNDY-HITCHCOCK-RED WILLOW-
547 PM CDT SUN JUN 19 2011

...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GOODLAND HAS ISSUED A SIGNIFICANT
WEATHER ADVISORY FOR DUNDY COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA...HITCHCOCK
COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA AND RED WILLOW COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST
NEBRASKA...

AT 443 PM MDT/543 PM CDT/...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR
INDICATED THAT THUNDERSTORMS WERE RAPIDLY DEVELOPING ALONG A LINE
EXTENDING FROM 8 MILES NORTH OF HAIGLER TO MAX TO MCCOOK...MOVING
NORTH AT 20 MPH.

BE PREPARED TO TAKE SHELTER IN THE EVENT THESE STORMS INTENSIFY AND
BECOME SEVERE.

&&

LAT...LON 4000 10020 4001 10205 4035 10205 4035 10020
TIME...MOT...LOC 2246Z 252DEG 15KT 4013 10195 4016 10137
          4025 10063

024

Local storm report, Jun 19, 7:02 PM CDT, 1 hour 18 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
602 PM MDT SUN JUN 19 2011

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0544 PM     TORNADO          10 N BENKELMAN          40.20N 101.54W
06/19/2011                   DUNDY              NE   STORM CHASER

            TORNADO LASTED FOR 3 MINUTES. MULTIPLE SIGHTINGS OF THIS
            SAME TORNADO.

&&

MBULLER

Local storm report, Jun 19, 7:10 PM CDT, 1 hour 10 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
610 PM MDT SUN JUN 19 2011

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0604 PM     TORNADO          13 NNE BENKELMAN        40.23N 101.44W
06/19/2011                   DUNDY              NE   STORM CHASER

&&

BAS

Local storm report, Jun 19, 7:14 PM CDT, 1 hour 6 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
614 PM MDT SUN JUN 19 2011

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0547 PM     TORNADO          8 N BENKELMAN           40.17N 101.54W
06/19/2011                   DUNDY              NE   STORM CHASER

            TORNADO WAS IN AN OPEN FIELD AND LASTED 4 MINUTES.

&&

MBULLER

Local storm report, Jun 19, 7:57 PM CDT, 23 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
657 PM MDT SUN JUN 19 2011

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0640 PM     TORNADO          6 S PALISADE            40.25N 101.11W
06/19/2011                   HITCHCOCK          NE   TRAINED SPOTTER

&&

BAS

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

1.3 hours before the tornado, 92 km from the path. June 20, 2011.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

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: 1727 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -21 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 2881 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1157 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 44 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 121 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 293 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 2.2
Supercell composite: 17.6
0-3 km lapse rate: 7.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

10.7 hours after it, 92 km from the path. June 20, 2011.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

Mixed-layer CAPE: 163 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -253 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 75 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 570 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 51 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 159 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 34 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.5
0-3 km lapse rate: 4.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Goodland radar (KGLD), 136 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:18 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)	Report	Where	County	Remark
23:48 UTC	TORNADO	8 S Wauneta	Dundy, NE	CHASE COUNTY SHERIFF REPORTED TORNADO 8 MILES SOUTH OF WANETA
00:12 UTC	HAIL 1.75	10 S Hayes Center	Hayes, NE	PUBLIC REPORTED GOLF BALL SIZED HAIL 10 S OF HAYES CENTER
00:12 UTC	HAIL 1.75	10 Sw Hayes Center	Hayes, NE	PUBLIC REPORTED GOLF BALL SIZED HAIL 10 SW OF HAYES CENTER
00:13 UTC	FUNNEL CLOUD	6 Se Hayes Center	Hayes, NE
00:40 UTC	TORNADO	6 S Palisade	Hitchcock, NE
00:45 UTC	HAIL 1.75	9 Se Hayes Center	Hayes, NE	GOLF BALL SIZED HAIL 9 SE OF HAYES CENTER
01:20 UTC	TORNADO	7 Nnw Mccook	Red Willow, NE	MULTIPLE TORNADOES REPORTED
01:40 UTC	HAIL 1.75	Stockville	Frontier, NE
01:57 UTC	TORNADO	Indianola	Red Willow, NE	MULTIPLE TORNADOES REPORTED
02:00 UTC	HAIL 0.5	7 W Hayes Center	Hayes, NE
02:00 UTC	HAIL 1	7 Sw Hayes Center	Hayes, NE
02:30 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Cambridge	Furnas, NE	MAIN TRANSMISSION LINES BLOWN DOWN JUST NORTH OF CAMBRIDGE. AIR CONDITIONING UNITS BLOWN OFF OF HOSPITAL IN CAMBRIDGE.
03:00 UTC	HAIL 1	13 Ne Hayes Center	Hayes, NE	DELAYED REPORT OF PEA TO QUARTER SIZE HAIL. STORM TOTAL RAINFALL WAS 1.70 INCHES AT THIS LOCATION.
03:00 UTC	HAIL 1.25	12 Ne Wauneta	Hayes, NE	DELAYED REPORT OF HAIL THE SIZE OF QUARTERS WITH A FEW HALF DOLLAR SIZED STONES.
03:00 UTC	HAIL 1.75	15 Sw Maywood	Hayes, NE	ESTIMATED AROUND 10 PM CDT WITH EXTENSIVE CROP DAMAGE FROM THREE SEPARATE STORM CELLS.
03:08 UTC	HAIL 1.25	7 W Hayes Center	Hayes, NE	HAIL WITH 60 MPH WIND GUSTS.
03:12 UTC	HAIL 2.5	4 W Arapahoe	Furnas, NE
03:23 UTC	HAIL 0.5	7 W Hayes Center	Hayes, NE
03:30 UTC	FLASH FLOOD	5 Sse Hayes Center	Hayes, NE	LITTLE BLACKWOOD CREEK OVERFLOWED AND WASHED OUT A COUNTY ROAD.
03:30 UTC	HAIL 1	12 Ne Hayes Center	Hayes, NE
03:30 UTC	HAIL 2.5	2 E Hayes Center	Hayes, NE	HAIL RANGED FROM QUARTER TO GOLF BALL SIZE - WITH SOME HAIL AS LARGE AS TENNIS BALLS. ROOF DAMAGE AT RESIDENCE.
03:30 UTC	HEAVY RAIN 5.1	2 E Hayes Center	Hayes, NE	STORM TOTAL RAINFALL WAS 5.1 INCHES 2 MILES EAST OF HAYES CENTER. DELAYED REPORT.
03:36 UTC	HAIL 1.75	Cambridge	Furnas, NE
03:45 UTC	HAIL 1.5	18 Ne Hayes Center	Hayes, NE	DELAYED REPORT. LARGE HAIL TO PING PONG BALL SIZE CRACKED TRUCK WINDSHIELD AND PUNCHED HOLES IN VINYL SIDING ON HOME.
03:50 UTC	FLASH FLOOD	2 Ese Hamlet	Hayes, NE	WATER REPORTED OVER THE INTERSECTION OF HAMLET ROAD AND HIGHWAY 6 NEAR HAMLET. HEAVY RAINFALL OF AROUND 2.5 INCHES WAS REPORTED AROUND TIME OF THIS REPORT 6 MILES NORTH AND 3 MILES EAST OF HAMLET.
04:15 UTC	HAIL 1.75	5 Ne Curtis	Frontier, NE

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

This ground now

The live radar over the track Every 2011 tornado in Nebraska Every tornado in Nebraska since 1950 Warnings in force in Nebraska now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 19, 2011

13 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
June 19	1:57 AM CDT	EF0	Crawford, MO	1.3	60
June 19	1:58 AM CDT	EF2	Crawford, MO	2.8	80	3	$150,000
June 19	3:48 AM CDT	EF1	Perry, IL	3.2	250	1	$550,000
June 19	6:31 AM CDT	EF0	Perry, IN	0.2	65
June 19	6:39 AM CDT	EF2	Breckinridge, KY	1.0	60		$50,000
June 19	6:43 AM CDT	EF0	Breckinridge, KY	0.1	60		$5,000
June 19	3:00 PM CDT	EF0	Winnebago, IA	0.2	30
June 19	3:55 PM CDT	EF0	Dodge, WI	0.1	20
June 19	5:44 PM MDT	EF0	Dundy, NE	1.5	50		$35,000
June 19	5:59 PM MDT	EF0	Sedgwick, CO	0.1	50
June 19	6:01 PM MDT	EF0	Dundy, NE	1.9	50
June 19	8:12 PM CDT	EF0	Morris, KS	0.1	25
June 19	10:07 PM CDT	EF0	Atchison, MO	0.5	40

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.