Tornadoes · United States · Nebraska · 2014

EF0 tornado, Cody, Nebraska, June 6, 2014

This EF0 tornado ran 0.2 miles across Cherry County on June 6, 2014, touching down at 1:00 PM MDT and reaching 40 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 6, 2014
Touchdown
1:00 PM MDT (19:00 UTC)
Path length
0.2 miles (0.3 km)
Path width
40 yards (37 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Cherry County
Touchdown point
42.943, -101.283
Lift-off point
42.943, -101.283
Record number
1406061300-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Severe thunderstorms developed along a stationary front across Sheridan and Cherry County that produced large hail and two brief tornadoes. Additional severe thunderstorms developed in north central Nebraska during the afternoon and developed south into west central Nebraska by early evening.

At 1200MST, a tornado briefly touched down one mile west of Cody on top of a hill. No damage was reported. Average path width was estimated at 40 yards.

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

The warnings

20 minutes of warning. NWS LBF issued a tornado warning for this county at 18:40 UTC, 20 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 19:15 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 18:49 UTC and running to 02:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
17:52 UTC18:35 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBF
18:12 UTC18:35 UTCTornado WarningLBF
18:17 UTC18:57 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBF
18:18 UTC19:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBF
18:40 UTC19:15 UTCTornado WarningLBF
18:49 UTC02:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchLBF
19:01 UTC19:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBF
19:15 UTC20:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBF
19:49 UTC20:07 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBF
19:55 UTC20:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBF
20:01 UTC02:00 UTCFlash Flood WarningLBF
20:45 UTC21:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBF
21:20 UTC03:30 UTCFlash Flood WarningLBF
21:30 UTC22:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm 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 Slight Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 16:30 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.

Rapid City, SD (KRAP), 12:00Z

7.0 hours before the tornado, 180 km from the path. June 6, 2014.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Rapid City, SD at 12:00Z on 2014-06-06Temperature 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 -88170, lifted condensation level 691 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Rapid City, SD at 12:00Z on 2014-06-06The 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 100 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 35 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-88170 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
691 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
100 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
585 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.3
0-3 km lapse rate
4.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Rapid City, SD (KRAP), 00:00Z

5.0 hours after it, 180 km from the path. June 7, 2014.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Rapid City, SD at 00:00Z on 2014-06-07Temperature 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 475 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, Rapid City, SD at 00:00Z on 2014-06-07The 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 52 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 51 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
475 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
8 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
52 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
74 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Valentine (VTN), 61 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
17:52 UTC8053140° 19 kt231012.9
18:52 UTC7753130° 11 kt1012.9
19:52 UTC7257100° 13 kt1011.9-RA
20:28 UTC6359310° 26 kt421012.5+RA BR
20:35 UTC6059280° 31 kt391013.5+RA BR
20:43 UTC5858290° 15 kt361015.6+RA FG
20:52 UTC585830° 19 kt221014.6+RA FG
20:59 UTC605920° 21 kt1013.5+RA FG

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

The radar

The North Platte radar (KLNX), 124 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 18:58 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
17:41 UTCHAIL 0.56 S EliCherry, NE
18:30 UTCHAIL 14 S EliCherry, NE
19:00 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 E CodyCherry, NEA POWER POLE WAS SNAPPED APPROXIMATELY ONE HALF MILE EAST OF CODY...CAUSING A SEVERAL HOUR POWER OUTAGE IN CODY. DELAYED REPORT FROM JUNE 6TH.
19:00 UTCHAIL 16 W CodyCherry, NE
19:00 UTCTORNADOCodyCherry, NEDELAYED REPORT FROM JUNE 6TH. BRIEF TORNADO OCCURRED ONE MILE WEST OF CODY. SHORT LIVED TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN ON TOP OF A SANDHILL WITH NO DAMAGE NOTED. CORRECTED TIME OF OCCURRENCE BY DIRECT WITNESS.
19:05 UTCTSTM WND GST 60CodyCherry, NE
19:41 UTCHAIL 1.754 S EliCherry, NEPEA SIZE TO GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL ONGOING.
20:00 UTCHAIL 211 Wsw ValentineCherry, NE
20:15 UTCTORNADOCodyCherry, NEDELAYED REPORT OF TORNADO NEAR CODY. TIME IS APPROXIMATE. NO DAMAGE IS KNOWN AT THIS TIME.
21:00 UTCFLASH FLOODCodyCherry, NEFLOODING IN THE CITY OF CODY. CODY PARK WAS FLOODED WITH WATER BACKING INTO THE CITY PUMP STATION. DELAYED REPORT.
22:00 UTCFLASH FLOOD15 W ValentineCherry, NEFULL WASHOUT OF A PORTION OF GERMAN SETTLEMENT ROAD. MANY ROADS UNDERWATER WITH MULTIPLE PARTIAL WASHOUTS OF ROADS WEST OF VALENTINE.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2014 tornado in NebraskaEvery tornado in Nebraska since 1950Warnings in force in Nebraska nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 6, 2014

17 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 612:05 PM MDTEF0Sheridan, NE0.240
June 62:35 PM CDTEF1Independence, AR3.3752$250,000
June 61:51 PM MDTEF1Las Animas, CO8.64001$5,000
June 61:55 PM MDTEF0Kimball, NE0.925
June 61:56 PM MDTEF0Weld, CO0.150
June 63:00 PM CDTEF1Jackson, AR2.050$40,000
June 62:20 PM MDTEF0Weld, CO0.5100
June 62:46 PM MDTEF1Las Animas, CO1.4100$3,000
June 62:53 PM MDTEF0Sedgwick, CO0.1100
June 64:25 PM MDTEF0Colfax, NM0.8100
June 65:35 PM MDTEF0Curry, NM1.250
June 66:47 PM CDTEF0Kearny, KS0.525
June 66:58 PM CDTEF0Kearny, KS0.625
June 66:59 PM CDTEF0Kearny, KS0.325
June 67:15 PM CDTEF0Hartley, TX2.525
June 68:46 PM EDTEF0Bamberg, SC0.840$4,000
June 67:52 PM CDTEF0Ochiltree, TX1.670

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.