Tornadoes · United States · Nebraska · 2013

EF0 tornado, Comstock, Nebraska, May 29, 2013

This EF0 tornado ran 0.3 miles across Custer County on May 29, 2013, touching down at 4:46 PM CDT and reaching 35 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
May 29, 2013
Touchdown
4:46 PM CDT (21:46 UTC)
Path length
0.3 miles (0.4 km)
Path width
35 yards (32 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Custer County
Touchdown point
41.560, -99.260
Lift-off point
41.560, -99.260
Record number
1305291546-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A deep upper level trough of low pressure intersected a cold front, with strong to severe thunderstorm development the result.

At 1545CST, a tornado briefly touched down a half mile west of Comstock with no damage produced. Average path width was 35 yards.

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

The warnings

11 minutes of warning. NWS LBF issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:35 UTC, 11 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 18:06 UTC and running to 00:47 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
05:57 UTC09:04 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchLBF
18:06 UTC00:47 UTCTornado WatchLBF
20:09 UTC21:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBF
20:50 UTC21:15 UTCTornado WarningLBF
21:00 UTC21:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBF
21:15 UTC22:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBF
21:35 UTC22:00 UTCTornado WarningLBF
21:42 UTC00:30 UTCFlash Flood WarningLBF
21:58 UTC22:30 UTCTornado WarningLBF
22:51 UTC02:00 UTCFlash Flood WarningLBF
00:23 UTC03:30 UTCFlash Flood WarningLBF
03:12 UTC09:00 UTCFlash Flood 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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:42 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), 12:00Z

9.8 hours before the tornado, 122 km from the path. May 29, 2013.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 12:00Z on 2013-05-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 10 joules per kilogram, CIN -359, lifted condensation level 1032 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 2013-05-29The 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 40 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 47 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
10 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-359 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1032 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
6 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
40 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
133 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1
0-3 km lapse rate
4.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

2.2 hours after it, 122 km from the path. May 30, 2013.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 00:00Z on 2013-05-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 89 joules per kilogram, CIN -102, lifted condensation level 671 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 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 2013-05-30The 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 -44 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 55 knots.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 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
89 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-102 J/kg
Surface CAPE
44 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
671 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
55 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-44 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-41 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.3
0-3 km lapse rate
5.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Ord/Sharp Field (ODX), 27 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
19:53 UTC7465120° 17 kt231000
20:40 UTC69.864.4110° 15 kt23998
20:53 UTC7065120° 13 kt24998.6
21:03 UTC69.864.4120° 15 kt20998.6-RA
21:26 UTC6864.4110° 10 kt19998.3-TSRA BR
21:53 UTC6865100° 14 kt20996.3VCTS
22:00 UTC6864.4100° 15 kt20996.3VCTS
22:22 UTC64.460.8320° 35 kt43998VCTS SQ
22:24 UTC62.655.4310° 28 kt43998.3VCTS SQ
22:30 UTC57.253.6330° 22 kt43999.7-TSRA SQ
22:53 UTC5554310° 16 kt261000.7-TSRA BR
22:55 UTC55.453.6320° 19 kt23999.7+TSRA BR
23:03 UTC55.453.6320° 17 kt281000.3+TSRA FG
23:09 UTC55.453.6310° 12 kt221001+TSRA BR
23:42 UTC55.455.4310° 12 kt1000VCTS RA BR

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

The radar

The North Platte radar (KLNX), 118 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:47 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
21:25 UTCHAIL 1.753 N WeissertCuster, NE
21:35 UTCFLASH FLOOD1 E MernaCuster, NEFLOOD WATERS FLOWING ACROSS THE ROAD.
21:45 UTCHAIL 1.752 W SargentCuster, NE
21:46 UTCTORNADO1 W ComstockCuster, NETORNADO ON THE GROUND ONE HALF MILE WEST OF COMSTOCK.
22:10 UTCHAIL 1.25BurwellGarfield, NE
22:28 UTCHAIL 18 Ne BurwellGarfield, NE
22:30 UTCHAIL 18 Ne BurwellGarfield, NE
23:05 UTCTORNADO6 Ne AshtonHoward, NE
23:23 UTCHAIL 12 Se CotesfieldHoward, NE
00:00 UTCFLOODCotesfieldHoward, NESPOTTER WAS LOOKING FOR STORM DAMAGE AROUND COTESFIELD LAST EVENING. NONE WAS FOUND BUT WATER RUNNING ACROSS NON-PAVED ROADS OUTSIDE OF TOWN. AT SOME LOCATIONS THE DIRT ROADS WERE WERE BEING WORN AWAY AND WERE DOWN TO ON
00:13 UTCFLASH FLOOD4 Wnw Broken BowCuster, NEBRIDGE WASHED OUT ON THE CALLAWAY ROAD.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2013 tornado in NebraskaEvery tornado in Nebraska since 1950Warnings in force in Nebraska nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of May 29, 2013

25 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 299:50 AM MDTEF0Rio Blanco, CO1.040
May 292:56 PM CDTEF0Clay, NE0.525
May 293:30 PM CDTEF0Briscoe, TX0.750$5,000
May 293:35 PM CDTEF0Logan, KS0.125
May 293:44 PM CDTEF0Hall, TX0.650
May 293:45 PM CDTEF0Clay, NE0.015
May 294:20 PM CDTEF0York, NE0.015
May 294:21 PM CDTEF1Clay, NE4.375$200,000
May 294:36 PM CDTEF1York, NE8.4150$500,000
May 294:48 PM CDTEF1York, NE15.9400$1.5 million
May 295:00 PM CDTEF1Canadian, OK0.220$20,000
May 295:43 PM CDTEF0Gove, KS1.325
May 295:46 PM CDTEF0Clayton, IA to WI6.410$20,000
May 296:47 PM EDTEF2Schenectady, NY12.81,7601
May 296:57 PM EDTEF1Schoharie, NY1.6200
May 296:00 PM CDTEF0Butler, NE0.625
May 296:05 PM CDTEF0Howard, NE0.015
May 296:08 PM CDTEF0Wheeler, NE0.235
May 297:10 PM EDTEF1Saratoga, NY0.8200
May 296:42 PM CDTEF1Cleveland, OK0.110$40,000
May 296:50 PM CDTEF0Kearny, KS0.375
May 297:00 PM CDTEF0Kearny, KS0.3100
May 297:20 PM CDTEF0Kearny, KS0.175
May 297:21 PM CDTEF0Beckham, OK0.8150
May 298:10 PM CDTEF1Phillips, KS0.840$80,000

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.