Tornadoes · United States · Nebraska · 2019
Unrated tornado, Kimball, Nebraska, June 22, 2019
This Unrated tornado ran 0.3 miles across Kimball County on June 22, 2019, touching down at 7:10 PM MDT and reaching 30 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 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 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.
Unratedthis tornado
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
- Unrated
- Date
- June 22, 2019
- Touchdown
- 7:10 PM MDT (01:10 UTC)
- Lifted
- 7:12 PM MDT (01:12 UTC)
- On the ground
- 2 minutes
- Path length
- 0.3 miles (0.5 km)
- Path width
- 30 yards (27 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- Kimball County
- Touchdown point
- 41.380, -103.660
- Lift-off point
- 41.381, -103.655
- Record number
- 1906221910-01
What the Weather Service recorded
Storm chaser observed brief landspout tornado just east of Highway 71 south of the Banner and Kimball County line. Landspout remained on the ground for around 2 minutes and remained over open fields leaving no discernible damage to apply any rating other than unknown.
Observer reported brief landspout tornado just east of Highway 71 south of the Banner and Kimball County line. Landspout remained over open fields leaving no discernible damage to apply any rating other than unknown.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
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 Cheyenne, WY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Jun 22, 5:45 PM MDT, 1 hour 25 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jun 22, 5:45 PM MDT, 1 hour 25 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Cheyenne WY 545 PM MDT Sat Jun 22 2019 .SHORT TERM...(Tonight - Monday Night) Issued at 209 PM MDT Sat Jun 22 2019 A brief break in shower and thunderstorm activity across southeast WY and the western NE Panhandle this afternoon. Showers will begin to increase again over the next few hours, and may become numerous as the next mid-level disturbance and associated vort energy track across the central Rockies. The most widespread activity is likely to occur between 00z and 06z per high-resolution model data. Quite cool thermal profiles will continue to support high elevation snow in the Snowy & Sierra Madre ranges. It is possible for some of the high peaks to see several inches of additional accumulation. Precipitation chances will linger through at least early afternoon on Sunday as the upper-level low drifts eastward. Drying from west to east on the back side of the aforementioned wave. We can expect a slow warming trend to commence on Monday w/ zonal flow aloft and H7 temperatures climbing to +8 to +10 deg C. .LONG TERM...(Tuesday - Saturday) Issued at 230 AM MDT Sat Jun 22 2019 Tuesday...Expect a mostly dry day due to ridging aloft and limited low and mid level moisture. Warming trend continues based on 700 mb temperatures. Wednesday-Friday...Quite warm as the flow aloft backs to southwest and heights and thicknesses rise. Warm temperatures aloft and limited low and mid level moisture will keep it mostly dry. && .AVIATION...(For the 00Z TAFS through Sunday afternoon) Issued at 545 PM MDT Sat Jun 22 2019 Current radar loop across the region shows isolated thunderstorms and a cluster of showers near Laramie eastward to the Nebraska border. Expect MVFR to IFR conditions due to low VIS with this activity at KCYS and possibly KBFF this evening. After 02z, convective activity should diminish to scattered rain showers before the next round of widespread rain and embedded thunderstorms develop by early Sunday morning. Expect lower CIGS and at least MVFR conditions for most of the western Nebraska panhandle and KCYS after 12-15z Sunday. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 209 PM MDT Sat Jun 22 2019 Fire weather concerns remain low over the next several days with a continued cool and wet weather pattern. A warming and drying trend is expected by mid to late week. && .HYDROLOGY... Issued at 119 AM MDT Sat Jun 22 2019 Elevated river levels for the upper North Platte will continue for the forseeable future as snowmelt continues. May see a brief respite in river levels as cold temperatures and mountain snow expected today into Sunday. Warmer temperatures return Monday and continue through the week...so expect an increase in snowmelt after Monday. && .CYS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WY...None. NE...None. && SHORT TERM...CLH LONG TERM...RUBIN AVIATION...TJT FIRE WEATHER...CLH HYDROLOGY...GCC
Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 22, 2:54 PM MDT, 4 hours 16 minutes before
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Cheyenne WY 254 PM MDT Sat Jun 22 2019 NEZ002-003-019>021-054-055-095-096-WYZ101>111-113-115>119-232100- Dawes-Box Butte-Scotts Bluff-Banner-Morrill-Kimball-Cheyenne- North Sioux-South Sioux-Converse County Lower Elevations- Niobrara County-North Laramie Range- Ferris/Seminoe/Shirley Mountains-Shirley Basin- Central Laramie Range and Southwest Platte County- East Platte County-Goshen County-Central Carbon County- North Snowy Range Foothills-Southwest Carbon County- Upper North Platte River Basin-Laramie Valley-South Laramie Range- South Laramie Range Foothills-Central Laramie County- East Laramie County- 254 PM MDT Sat Jun 22 2019 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of western Nebraska...east central Wyoming...south central Wyoming and southeast Wyoming. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT Scattered to numerous showers and a couple of thunderstorms are expected across much of the region this evening and overnight. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY Scattered showers will persist through Sunday afternoon. .Spotter information statement... Spotter activation will not be needed. WYZ112-114-232100- Sierra Madre Range-Snowy Range- 254 PM MDT Sat Jun 22 2019 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of south central Wyoming. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT Periods of rain and mountain snow will continue tonight. Several inches of snow accumulation is possible on the high peaks through Sunday. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY Rain and snow chances will gradually diminish on Sunday. .Spotter information statement... Spotter activation will not be needed.
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Jun 22, 4:43 PM MDT, 2 hours 27 minutes before
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</html>Special weather statement, Jun 22, 5:27 PM MDT, 1 hour 43 minutes before
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</html>Special weather statement, Jun 22, 5:56 PM MDT, 1 hour 14 minutes before
Special Weather Statement National Weather Service Cheyenne WY 556 PM MDT Sat Jun 22 2019 NEZ020-054-WYZ119-230045- Kimball NE-Banner NE-East Laramie County WY- 556 PM MDT Sat Jun 22 2019 ...SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT... At 555 PM MDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm over Albin, or 24 miles northwest of Kimball, moving northeast at 20 mph. Pea size hail and winds in excess of 30 mph will be possible with this storm. Locations impacted include... Albin. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Frequent cloud to ground lightning is occurring with this storm. Lightning can strike 10 miles away from a thunderstorm. Seek a safe shelter inside a building or vehicle. && LAT...LON 4131 10427 4144 10433 4164 10386 4144 10370 TIME...MOT...LOC 2355Z 236DEG 17KT 4141 10406 Brothers
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.
Denver, CO (KDNR), 00:00Z
1.2 hours before the tornado, 172 km from the path. June 23, 2019.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 194 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- 0 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 386 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1055 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 51 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 13 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 89 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 85 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.4
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 7.6 K/km
The surface observations
Kimball (IBM), 21 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00:00 UTC |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Cheyenne radar (KCYS), 99 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:08 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.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2019 tornado in NebraskaEvery tornado in Nebraska since 1950Warnings in force in Nebraska nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of June 22, 2019
3 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
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.