Tornadoes · United States · Nebraska · 2016

EF2 tornado, Irwin, Nebraska, June 28, 2016

Name: EF2 tornado, Irwin, Nebraska, June 28, 2016
Start: 2016-06-29T00:52:00.000Z
End: 2016-06-29T00:54:00.000Z
Location: Irwin, Nebraska

This EF2 tornado ran 1.0 miles across Cherry County on June 28, 2016, touching down at 6:52 PM MDT and reaching 150 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $50,000 of property damage.

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 mph
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 mphthis tornado
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: EF2
Date: June 28, 2016
Touchdown: 6:52 PM MDT (00:52 UTC)
Lifted: 6:54 PM MDT (00:54 UTC)
On the ground: 2 minutes
Path length: 1.0 miles (1.6 km)
Path width: 150 yards (137 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $50,000
County: Cherry County
Touchdown point: 42.090, -101.830
Lift-off point: 42.080, -101.810
Record number: 1606281852-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Thunderstorms developed over the northern Nebraska Panhandle and moved southeast. Storms intensified to include a few supercells. As the supercells moved southeast across southwest Cherry County into Grant County two tornadoes were sighted and confirmed. The greatest damage occurred in northern Grant County.

At 1852MST the tornado touched down and was intermittently on the ground for almost one mile. The tornado destroyed a four stall calving shed, took down a power line, snapped or twisted several large trees, and moved approximately 25 three quarter ton hay bales in various directions. A pole barn sustained damage with debris found a half a mile away. An empty 500 gallon fiberglass tank was found up to a mile east of this location.

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 00:41 UTC, 11 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 01:15 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 19:37 UTC and running to 01:57 UTC.

Issued (UTC)	Expired	Product	Office
19:37 UTC	01:57 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	LBF
00:24 UTC	01:15 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF
00:41 UTC	01:15 UTC	Tornado Warning	LBF
01:20 UTC	02:00 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF
01:57 UTC	03:53 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	LBF

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 Enhanced Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 21:39 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 North Platte, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Jun 28, 5:35 PM MDT, 1 hour 17 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 28, 5:35 PM MDT, 1 hour 17 minutes before

Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED
National Weather Service North Platte NE
635 PM CDT TUE JUN 28 2016

.SYNOPSIS...
Issued at 304 PM CDT Tue Jun 28 2016

H5 analysis from this morning has broad northwesterly
flow across the central CONUS. High pressure was located across
southern Colorado and over southeastern Utah. Embedded on the
periphery of this high a couple of shortwaves were noted. The first
over northwestern Arizona and a second over southeastern New Mexico.
North of the high, a nice shortwave was noted over the Idaho
panhandle. Across the eastern CONUS, a trough of low pressure
extended from eastern Ontario south into the upper Ohio Valley.
Little or no height falls were noted across the CONUS this morning
with the exception of the upper midwest where 50 to 90 meter falls
were noted over the eastern Great Lakes. At the surface, high
pressure was located over Minnesota and the eastern Dakotas.
Southwest of the high, southeast and southerly winds were noted
across western and north central Nebraska. An area of multi-cell
thunderstorms had bisected the forecast area today, and as of 3 PM
CDT, was exiting Custer county. Skies were clear to partly cloudy
and 3 PM CDT readings were in the 80s.

&&

.SHORT TERM...(This evening through Wednesday)
Issued at 304 PM CDT Tue Jun 28 2016

Surface based thunderstorms will develop across the northern
Nebraska panhandle and southwest South Dakota late this afternoon.
Initially supercells with large hail and damaging winds are
expected, with right storm motion to the SSE. Later this evening an
MCS should evolve with a bowing segment and damaging winds possible
across southwest Nebraska by mid evening. Farther east across north
central and central Nebraska, thunderstorm development will be
possible as well, but the most widespread activity will be across
western Nebraska closer to the shortwave aloft.

Expecting that an outflow boundary will be pushed well south of the
area Wednesday by tonight's MCS. This could limit the thunderstorm
potential some Wednesday afternoon. The most likely scenario will be
for development in the upslope favored areas of the Nebraska
panhandle, western South Dakota and eastern Wyoming during the late
afternoon. Shear supports some of these being severe. Other storms
aided by a shortwave aloft may form across southern South Dakota by
late afternoon as well, these could track into northern nebraska by
Wednesday evening.

.LONG TERM...(Wednesday night through Tuesday)
Issued at 304 PM CDT Tue Jun 28 2016

Mid term: Wednesday night through Friday: In the mid range,
thunderstorm chances are the main forecast concerns. For Wednesday
night, the shortwave currently over northwestern Arizona, will
rotate around the western periphery of the upper level high and will
cross northern Colorado on Wednesday. At the same time, a second
disturbance will track southeast from Montana and will approach the
western CWA Weds afternoon. The surface focus for thunderstorm
initiation will be somewhat in doubt though and will be dependent on
the strength and location of thunderstorms tonight and where the
boundaries lie down on Wednesday. There is some disagreement with
the GFS and NAM solutions this am on where the surface focus will
lie. The NAM has this boundary well south of the forecast area Weds,
which would favor location west and south of the forecast area for
the bulk of convection Weds night. In fact, the NAM this morning
lifts the Montana shortwave into northeastern Nebraska Weds night
and focuses the bulk of convection there while leaving the west dry.
The GFS soln is not as aggressive pushing the boundary west and south
and is preferred attm. That being said, have placed my highest pops
in the west and north for Weds night. On Thursday a reinforcing shot
of surface high pressure will build south into the Dakotas and
eastern Nebraska. This will keep the surface boundary locked down
across Kansas. Winds will be from the east on Thursday leading to
highs in the upper 70s to near 80. With the surface boundary well
south and west of the forecast area, precipitation chances will be
most favored in the south and west with dry conds expected in the
northeastern CWA. For Friday, the surface high will lift east into
Minnesota, switching the winds to the southeast, which will allow
the frontal boundary to lift north and east into the panhandle and
northeastern Colorado. Thunderstorm chances will expand east into
the remainder of the CWA for Friday/Friday Night as the frontal
boundary lifts onto the high plains of western Nebraska.

Long term: Saturday through Tuesday: A low amplitude pattern will
continue across the central CONUS through the weekend into next
week. This will facilitate an active weather pattern with periods of
showers and thunderstorms continuing. With the downstream pattern
becoming more zonal next week, warmer air will push into the region
from the swrn CONUS. This will allow highs to reach back into the
upper 80s lower 90s after highs in the lower to mid 80s this
weekend.

&&

.AVIATION...(For the 00Z TAFS through 00Z Wednesday evening)
Issued at 635 PM CDT Tue Jun 28 2016

Thunderstorms and severe weather should be numerous tonight along
and west of Valentine through Broken Bow. The forecast follows the
HRRR model which is the fastest and suggests storm activity could
be clear of the area by 10z. VFR is expected all areas thereafter
through 21z. Isolated thunderstorms are possible across northern
Nebrasksa west of Valentine from 21z onward.

&&

.HYDROLOGY...
Issued at 304 PM CDT Tue Jun 28 2016

Minor flooding is occurring along the North Platte river
at Lewellen and a flood warning was issued earlier today. Minor
flooding is forecast to continue for the next 48 hours at Lewellen.
River levels along the North Platte river at North Platte will
remain elevated through the weekend. However, at this time, no
flooding is expected along the North Platte river at North Platte.

&&

.LBF Watches/Warnings/Advisories...
None.
&&

SYNOPSIS...Buttler
SHORT TERM...Taylor
LONG TERM...Buttler
AVIATION...CDC
HYDROLOGY...Buttler

Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 28, 11:58 AM MDT, 6 hours 54 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
1258 PM CDT TUE JUN 28 2016

NEZ004>010-022>029-035>038-056>059-069>071-094-291800-
SHERIDAN-EASTERN CHERRY-KEYA PAHA-BOYD-BROWN-ROCK-HOLT-GARDEN-
GRANT-HOOKER-THOMAS-BLAINE-LOUP-GARFIELD-WHEELER-ARTHUR-MCPHERSON-
LOGAN-CUSTER-DEUEL-KEITH-PERKINS-LINCOLN-CHASE-HAYES-FRONTIER-
WESTERN CHERRY-
1258 PM CDT TUE JUN 28 2016 /1158 AM MDT TUE JUN 28 2016/

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF WESTERN AND
NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.

THERE IS A RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WEST OF A VALENTINE TO
BROKEN BOW LINE LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND WILL PERSIST INTO THE
EVENING. THE MAIN THREATS WILL BE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY.

AN ACTIVE WEATHER PATTERN WILL CONTINUE THIS WEEK ACROSS THE
OUTLOOK AREA AS A FRONT STALLS ACROSS THE REGION. THE FRONT WILL
BE THE FOCUS FOR THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT EACH DAY.

THERE IS A RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON ACROSS
NORTHWEST NEBRASKA AND THE NEBRASKA PANHANDLE...ALONG AND NORTHWEST
OF A LINE FROM MERRIMAN TO OSHKOSH.

PERIODIC CHANCES FOR THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE OVER WESTERN
NEBRASKA THROUGH THE WEEKEND.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS POSSIBLE ACROSS WESTERN NEBRASKA AND
SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

&&

GET YOUR WEATHER...HYDROLOGICAL...AND CLIMATE INFORMATION AT
HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/NORTHPLATTE (ALL LOWERCASE)

TAYLOR

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jun 28, 5:49 PM MDT, 1 hour 3 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
649 PM CDT TUE JUN 28 2016

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

0643 PM     TSTM WND GST     1 WNW HAY SPRINGS       42.69N 102.71W
06/28/2016  E65 MPH          SHERIDAN           NE   PUBLIC

            ESTIMATED WIND SPEEDS OF BETWEEN 60 AND 70 MPH

&&

MOLDAN

Local storm report, Jun 28, 6:16 PM MDT, 36 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
716 PM CDT TUE JUN 28 2016

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

0705 PM     TSTM WND GST     12 S RUSHVILLE          42.54N 102.47W
06/28/2016  E65 MPH          SHERIDAN           NE   PUBLIC

            WINDS WERE ESTIMATED BETWEEN 60 TO 70 MPH.

&&

MOLDAN

Local storm report, Jun 28, 6:42 PM MDT, 10 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
742 PM CDT TUE JUN 28 2016

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

0732 PM     TORNADO          8 NNW HYANNIS           42.11N 101.82W
06/28/2016                   CHERRY             NE   FIRE DEPT/RESCUE

            FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORTS A TORNADO NORTH OF HYANNIS

&&

MOLDAN

Local storm report, Jun 28, 6:43 PM MDT, 9 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
743 PM CDT TUE JUN 28 2016

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

0734 PM     TORNADO          15 N ASHBY              42.24N 101.93W
06/28/2016                   CHERRY             NE   STORM CHASER

            VISIBLE 15 TO 20 MILES NORTH OF ASHBY. REPORT RELAYED BY
            DISPATCH.

&&

CCOLE

Special weather statement, Jun 28, 6:46 PM MDT, 6 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
746 PM CDT TUE JUN 28 2016

NEZ008-290115-
BROWN NE-
746 PM CDT TUE JUN 28 2016

...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR CENTRAL BROWN COUNTY UNTIL 815 PM
CDT...

AT 746 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 8
MILES SOUTH OF JOHNSTOWN...OR 9 MILES SOUTHWEST OF AINSWORTH...MOVING
SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

NICKEL SIZE HAIL AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH
THIS STORM.

LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
HOFELD LAKE.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

&&

LAT...LON 4250 10007 4254 9998 4237 9974 4226 10002
TIME...MOT...LOC 0046Z 330DEG 12KT 4246 10000

SNIVELY

Local storm report, Jun 28, 6:51 PM MDT, 1 minute before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
751 PM CDT TUE JUN 28 2016

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

0734 PM     TSTM WND GST     4 N ANTIOCH             42.13N 102.62W
06/28/2016  E70 MPH          SHERIDAN           NE   PUBLIC

            SHINGLES TORN OFF THE ROOF OF THE RESIDENTS.

&&

MOLDAN

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

0.9 hours before the tornado, 147 km from the path. June 29, 2016.

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: 1615 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -71 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 2935 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1591 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 54 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 4 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 133 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.5
Supercell composite: 7.9
0-3 km lapse rate: 7.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

11.1 hours after it, 147 km from the path. June 29, 2016.

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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -81240 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1252 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 28 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 122 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 130 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0
0-3 km lapse rate: 2.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The North Platte radar (KLNX), 104 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:54 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
23:00 UTC	TSTM WND GST 60	14 N Ashby	Cherry, NE	ESTIMATED 60 MPH WIND GUST, TREE BRANCHES DOWN AND POWERLINE KNOCKED OUT.
00:00 UTC	TSTM WND GST 60	14 N Ashby	Cherry, NE	ESTIMATED 60 MPH WIND GUST, TREE BRANCHES DOWN AND POWERLINE KNOCKED OUT.
00:30 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	6 Nw Hyannis	Grant, NE	ROOF DAMAGE. HAY BALES DESTROYED. TREE BRANCHES DOWN. TIME ESTIMATED. HOME OWNER RETURNED HOME TO FIND THE DAMAGE.
00:32 UTC	TORNADO	8 N Ashby	Cherry, NE	FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORTS A TORNADO NORTH OF ASHBY
00:32 UTC	TORNADO	8 Nnw Hyannis	Cherry, NE	FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORTS A TORNADO NORTH OF HYANNIS
00:34 UTC	TORNADO	15 N Ashby	Cherry, NE	VISIBLE 15 TO 20 MILES NORTH OF ASHBY. REPORT RELAYED BY DISPATCH.
01:07 UTC	TSTM WND GST 70	4 Nw Hyannis	Grant, NE	IN ADDITION TO STRONG WINDS...HAIL TO THE SIZE OF QUARTERS ALSO FELL.
01:07 UTC	HAIL 1	4 Nw Hyannis	Grant, NE	70 MPH WIND DRIVEN HAIL
01:10 UTC	TSTM WND GST 70	5 W Hyannis	Grant, 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 2016 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 28, 2016

1 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 28	6:32 PM MDT	EF0	Cherry, NE	1.0	60

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.