Tornadoes · United States · Nebraska · 2016

EF0 tornado, Hay Spgs, Nebraska, July 6, 2016

This EF0 tornado ran 0.1 miles across Sheridan County on July 6, 2016, touching down at 3:18 PM MDT and reaching 10 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
July 6, 2016
Touchdown
3:18 PM MDT (21:18 UTC)
Lifted
3:19 PM MDT (21:19 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.1 miles (0.2 km)
Path width
10 yards (9 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Sheridan County
Touchdown point
42.550, -102.760
Lift-off point
42.550, -102.760
Record number
1607061518-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Supercells developed across northwest Nebraska during the afternoon, producing hail up to half dollar size and a couple tornadoes in Sheridan County. Additional tornadoes were reported late afternoon and early evening north of Ashby and southeast of Arthur. The storms grew upscale into clusters and segments, producing damaging winds across the Sandhills and southwest Nebraska. One storm produced a funnel cloud over North Platte.

At 1418CST a brief tornado touched down in a rural area with no damage reported. The tornado was rated an EF-0 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale with a peak wind of 65 MPH.

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

The warnings

1 minute of warning. NWS LBF issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:17 UTC, 1 minute before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 20:21 UTC and running to 03:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
20:21 UTC03:00 UTCTornado WatchLBF
21:17 UTC22:00 UTCTornado WarningLBF
21:59 UTC22:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBF
22:04 UTC22:30 UTCTornado WarningLBF
22:29 UTC23:00 UTCTornado WarningLBF
22:31 UTC23:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBF
22:43 UTC23:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBF
22:57 UTC23:30 UTCTornado 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 19:58 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

9.3 hours before the tornado, 169 km from the path. July 6, 2016.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Rapid City, SD at 12:00Z on 2016-07-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 48 joules per kilogram, CIN -380, lifted condensation level 810 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, Rapid City, SD at 12:00Z on 2016-07-06The 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 94 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 66 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
48 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-380 J/kg
Surface CAPE
12 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
810 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
66 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
94 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
429 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
3.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

2.7 hours after it, 169 km from the path. July 7, 2016.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Rapid City, SD at 00:00Z on 2016-07-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 238 joules per kilogram, CIN -182, lifted condensation level 3123 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 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 2016-07-07The 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 53 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 55 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
238 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-182 J/kg
Surface CAPE
102 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
3123 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
55 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
53 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
84 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
8.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Chadron (CDR), 42 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
19:20 UTC60° 9 kt1007.5
19:25 UTC60° 7 kt1007.5
19:30 UTC60° 8 kt1007.1
19:35 UTC120° 8 kt1007.1
19:37 UTC8757140° 7 kt1007.1VCTS
19:40 UTC140° 7 kt1007.1
19:45 UTC130° 4 kt1006.8
19:50 UTC120° 6 kt1007.1
19:53 UTC8657140° 4 kt1006.8TS
19:55 UTC150° 4 kt1006.8
20:00 UTC130° 3 kt1007.1
20:05 UTC190° 6 kt1007.5
20:10 UTC150° 6 kt1007.1
20:15 UTC140° 8 kt1007.1
20:20 UTC140° 9 kt1007.1
20:25 UTC130° 11 kt1006.8
20:28 UTC8560130° 11 kt1006.8VCTS
20:30 UTC130° 10 kt1006.8
20:35 UTC130° 12 kt1006.8
20:40 UTC 1006.4
20:45 UTC130° 11 kt1006.4
20:50 UTC140° 11 kt1006.4
20:53 UTC8958130° 12 kt1006.4
20:55 UTC130° 11 kt1006.1
21:00 UTC140° 11 kt1006.1
21:05 UTC130° 14 kt1006.1
21:10 UTC130° 12 kt1006.1
21:15 UTC 1006.1
21:20 UTC120° 12 kt1006.1
21:25 UTC 1005.8
21:30 UTC 1005.8
21:35 UTC 191005.8
21:40 UTC130° 12 kt1005.8
21:45 UTC 1005.8
21:50 UTC130° 14 kt1005.8
21:53 UTC8656130° 11 kt1005.8
21:55 UTC130° 10 kt1005.4
22:00 UTC120° 11 kt1005.4
22:05 UTC120° 10 kt1005.1
22:08 UTC8557140° 8 kt1005.1VCTS
22:10 UTC130° 8 kt1005.1
22:15 UTC100° 9 kt1004.7
22:20 UTC 1005.8
22:22 UTC8557320° 11 kt1006.1TS
22:25 UTC330° 12 kt1006.1
22:30 UTC8157 6 kt1006.8+TSRA
22:35 UTC78.8210° 8 kt1007.5RA
22:40 UTC 1006.1RA
22:41 UTC7661120° 16 kt271006.1TSRA
22:45 UTC 1006.1-RA
22:50 UTC60° 4 kt1006.8-RA
22:53 UTC756190° 4 kt1006.8TS
22:55 UTC110° 5 kt1006.4
22:59 UTC7561120° 6 kt1006.1
23:00 UTC120° 6 kt1006.1
23:05 UTC110° 5 kt1006.1
23:10 UTC140° 4 kt1006.1
23:15 UTC70° 6 kt1006.1

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

The radar

The Rapid City radar (KUDX), 175 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:16 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
21:05 UTCTORNADO7 Ene Box Butte DamDawes, NEDUST PLUME OBSERVED HALFWAY TO CLOUD BASE.
21:15 UTCTORNADO6 Sse Sand CanyonBox Butte, NE
21:18 UTCTORNADO10 Ssw Hay SpringsSheridan, NETORNADO LIFTED.
21:18 UTCTORNADO10 Ssw Hay SpringsSheridan, NETORNADO LIFTED AT 1619 LT.
21:25 UTCHAIL 115 S Hay SpringsSheridan, NE
21:42 UTCHAIL 122 N LakesideSheridan, NE
22:30 UTCHAIL 0.258 Sw ChadronDawes, NE
22:39 UTCHAIL 0.5ChadronDawes, NEPEA TO MARBLE SIZED HAIL.
22:40 UTCHAIL 0.5ChadronDawes, NESOFT HAIL.
22:45 UTCHAIL 0.5ChadronDawes, NE
22:47 UTCHAIL 0.8810 Nnw Hay SpringsSheridan, NE
22:50 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD20 Nw AshbySheridan, NETRAINED SPOTTER...LOCATED 5 MILES NORTH OF ASHBY...AND LOOKING NORTHWEST INTO SOUTHEASTERN SHERIDAN COUNTY...REPORTS A FUNNEL CLOUD.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2016 tornado in NebraskaEvery tornado in Nebraska since 1950Warnings in force in Nebraska nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of July 6, 2016

10 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 61:26 PM CDTEF1Ballard, KY4.4250$115,000
July 61:39 PM CDTEF1Massac, IL2.81602$350,000
July 63:40 PM MDTEF0Fallon, MT0.325
July 64:28 PM MDTEF1Meade, SD1.1100
July 64:56 PM MDTEF0Sheridan, NE0.110
July 65:25 PM MDTEF1Cherry, NE4.675$45,000
July 65:30 PM MDTEF1Cherry, NE0.550
July 67:03 PM CDTEF0McPherson, NE0.2100
July 66:55 PM MDTEF0Arthur, NE0.110
July 68:08 PM CDTEF0McPherson, NE0.520

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.