Tornadoes · United States · Nebraska · 2023

EF1 tornado, Oakland to Lyons, Nebraska, May 12, 2023

Name: EF1 tornado, Oakland to Lyons, Nebraska, May 12, 2023
Start: 2023-05-12T23:14:00.000Z
End: 2023-05-12T23:16:00.000Z
Location: Oakland to Lyons, Nebraska

From Oakland to Lyons, this EF1 tornado ran 1.1 miles across Burt County on May 12, 2023, touching down at 6:14 PM CDT and reaching 100 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 mphthis tornado
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.
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: EF1
Date: May 12, 2023
Touchdown: 6:14 PM CDT (23:14 UTC)
Lifted: 6:16 PM CDT (23:16 UTC)
On the ground: 2 minutes
Path length: 1.1 miles (1.9 km)
Path width: 100 yards (91 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
County: Burt County
Touchdown point: 41.743, -96.523
Lift-off point: 41.760, -96.525
Record number: 2305121714-01

The damage survey

145 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS OAX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 125 mph.

Center pivot irrigation flipped.
Di29, dod 2 center pivot: multiple spans twisted and overturned
Surrounding power lines & poles aren’t damaged.
DI24 DOD 2 ETS Powerlines snapped/ blown down

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

What the Weather Service recorded

A strong low-pressure system which had been slowly moving east off the Rocky Mountains finally progressed into central Nebraska. This left eastern Nebraska in the warm sector as a warm front moved north into the area. The SPC issued an Enhanced Risk for severe weather with a 30% hatched for severe hail. There ended up being 19 confirmed tornadoes (3 EF2, 8 EF1, 4 EF0, 4 EFU). There were numerous hail reports the largest of which was 4.5 inches in Pawnee County. Another 4-inch report was received in Richardson County. Flash flooding was also observed in a few locations.

This is part 2 of a tornado that started in Dodge County. After doing damage to trees along County Road E in Burt County. The tornado continued The tornado appears to have dissipated just north of Country Road F in Burt County before developing a new tornado just to the north. Additionally, a satellite tornado was reported at the end of this tornadoes life cycle. just east of this dissipating tornado.

Storm spotters reported a tornado just to the east of the much larger main tornado. This anti-cyclonic satellite tornado appears to have caused damage to center pivot irrigation systems and power lines as it traveled north for approximately one mile.

This tornado started around 620 PM near Burt County Road H, a little over 2 miles west of US Highway 77. The tornado started moving north northeast and then curved back to due north. As it moved north it gained strength and started destroying outbuildings and trees at various farmsteads, reaching EF-2 strength. By the time the tornado reached Burt County Road K, it became nearly 5/8 of a mile wide. Nearly a half mile span of double-wide wooden electrical transmission poles were snapped north of County Road L. The tornado, which was wrapped in rain, continued trekking to the north, damaging farmstead after farmstead, as well as uprooting and snapping trees. The tornado eventually weakened at 644 PM, 3 miles west of Lyons. Two people were injured by the tornado. One had a tree fall on a shed with the person inside, injuring his head. The other had cuts to the face from flying glass.

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

The warnings

20 minutes of warning. NWS OAX issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:54 UTC, 20 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 18:10 UTC and running to 02:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)	Expired	Product	Office
18:10 UTC	02:00 UTC	Tornado Watch	OAX
22:54 UTC	00:00 UTC	Tornado Warning	OAX
23:36 UTC	01:14 UTC	Flood Advisory	OAX
23:45 UTC	00:30 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX
23:56 UTC	00:32 UTC	Tornado Warning	OAX
00:20 UTC	01:00 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX
00:23 UTC	01:00 UTC	Tornado Warning	OAX
00:31 UTC	01:30 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX
00:55 UTC	04:00 UTC	Flash Flood Warning	OAX
00:56 UTC	01:45 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX
01:18 UTC	01:45 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX
01:59 UTC	02:30 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX

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 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 20:08 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.

Omaha, NE (KOAX), 12:00Z

11.2 hours before the tornado, 50 km from the path. May 12, 2023.

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: 413 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -14 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 963 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 616 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 30 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 52 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 44 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.6
0-3 km lapse rate: 5.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Omaha, NE (KOAX), 00:00Z

0.8 hours after it, 50 km from the path. May 13, 2023.

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: 1363 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -5 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 2040 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1536 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 40 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 156 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 331 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.6
Supercell composite: 8.4
0-3 km lapse rate: 8.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Tekamah (TQE), 29 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)	Temp (°F)	Dew point (°F)	Wind	Gust (kt)	Pressure (mb)	Weather
21:15 UTC			120° 17 kt		1009.5
21:20 UTC			130° 19 kt		1009.5
21:30 UTC			110° 18 kt	22	1008.8
21:35 UTC			110° 18 kt	22	1008.8
21:40 UTC					1008.5
21:45 UTC			110° 19 kt		1008.5
21:50 UTC			110° 19 kt		1008.5
21:54 UTC	78	65	120° 18 kt	27	1008.8
21:55 UTC			120° 18 kt		1008.8
22:00 UTC			120° 15 kt		1008.5
22:05 UTC			110° 17 kt		1008.5
22:10 UTC			110° 18 kt	22	1008.1
22:15 UTC			110° 19 kt		1007.8
22:20 UTC			110° 18 kt	22	1007.5
22:30 UTC			110° 19 kt	23	1007.8
22:35 UTC				28	1007.5
22:40 UTC					1007.1
22:45 UTC			110° 17 kt		1007.1
22:50 UTC			100° 18 kt	23	1007.5
22:54 UTC	78	66	100° 17 kt	25	1007.5
22:55 UTC			100° 17 kt	22	1007.5
23:05 UTC			100° 19 kt		1007.5
23:10 UTC			100° 19 kt		1007.5
23:15 UTC				24	1007.1
23:20 UTC	77	66	100° 18 kt		1006.8	VCTS
23:20 UTC					1006.8
23:25 UTC				26	1006.4
23:40 UTC				23	1006.8
23:45 UTC					1006.8
23:50 UTC				23	1007.1
23:54 UTC	77	67	100° 19 kt	27	1006.8	VCTS
23:55 UTC				26	1006.8
00:05 UTC					1006.8
00:09 UTC	77	67	100° 19 kt	34	1007.1	TS
00:15 UTC			100° 20 kt	29	1007.1
00:20 UTC				27	1006.8
00:35 UTC					1007.8
00:40 UTC					1008.8
00:45 UTC					1008.8
00:50 UTC					1009.1
00:54 UTC					1008.8	TS
00:55 UTC					1009.1
01:00 UTC					1009.1
01:05 UTC					1010.2
01:10 UTC					1010.5

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

The radar

The Omaha radar (KOAX), 50 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:11 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
21:46 UTC	TORNADO	3 W Hooper	Dodge, NE	A TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN JUST SOUTH OF HIGHWAY 275, DAMAGING A HOME, POWER POLES, AND NUMEROUS TREES AS IT ENTERED THE ELKHORN RIVER VALLEY. IT CAUSED EF-2 DAMAGE TO A HOME JUST SOUTH OF ELKHORN RIVER WHERE A PORCH WAS RIP
22:10 UTC	TORNADO	1 Ene Leigh	Colfax, NE
22:15 UTC	TORNADO	4 Ene Morse Bluff	Dodge, NE	A TORNADO DEVELOPED JUST NORTH OF THE PLATTE RIVER IN DODGE COUNTY, INITIALLY AS A WIDE DUST PLUME 4 MILES EAST OF NORTH BEND. THE TORNADO MOVED NORTHEAST WHERE IT FLIPPED MULTIPLE CENTER PIVOT IRRIGATION SYSTEMS. IT THE
22:17 UTC	TORNADO	4 Nne Leigh	Stanton, NE	AN EF-1 TORNADO TRACKED NORTHEAST FOR APPROXIMATELY 5 MILES IN STANTON COUNTY. THE MOST INTENSE DAMAGE OCCURRED AT A FARM NEAR THE START OF THE TRACK WHERE A HOG BARN WAS COMPLETELY DESTROYED AND DEBRIS WAS DEPOSITED UP
22:20 UTC	TORNADO	1 Ese North Bend	Dodge, NE
22:23 UTC	TORNADO	4 Ene North Bend	Dodge, NE
22:23 UTC	TORNADO	4 Nw Ames	Dodge, NE	FARMSTEAD DAMAGED. POWER LINES ALSO DOWN IN THE AREA.
22:23 UTC	TORNADO	4 Nw Ames	Dodge, NE	HOME DAMAGED FROM TORNADO.
22:24 UTC	TORNADO	5 Nw Ames	Dodge, NE
22:36 UTC	HAIL 2	2 Sw Morse Bluff	Saunders, NE	DELAYED REPORT.
22:37 UTC	HAIL 1.25	3 W North Bend	Dodge, NE	REPORT FROM MPING: HALF DOLLAR (1.25 IN.).
22:38 UTC	TORNADO	5 Sw Hooper	Dodge, NE	TORNADO DEBRIS SIGNATURE STILL ON RADAR.
22:39 UTC	TORNADO	7 Ese Stanton	Stanton, NE	UPDATED WITH NEW INFORMATION AND INCREASED RATING. AN INTERMITTENT TORNADO DAMAGE TRACK WAS NOTED ALONG THE WEST FLANK OF A FOCUSED AND ELONGATED AREA OF DOWNBURST WINDS. INITIAL DAMAGE WAS TO A CENTER PIVOT AND THREE WO
22:42 UTC	TORNADO	5 Wsw Hooper	Dodge, NE	A TORNADO DAMAGED A ROOF ON A HOG BARN, OVERTURNED SEVERAL CENTER PIVOTS, AND DAMAGED OUTBUILDINGS AND A BLOCK BUILDING AT A FARMSTEAD AS IT MOVED NORTHEAST. THIS TORNADO LIKELY DISSIPATED BEFORE THE STORM CONTINUED ON T
22:44 UTC	HAIL 1.25	2 Ese North Bend	Dodge, NE	REPORT FROM MPING: HALF DOLLAR (1.25 IN.).
22:44 UTC	TORNADO	6 Ssw Pilger	Stanton, NE	AN INTERMITTENT TORNADO DAMAGE TRACK WAS NOTED ALONG THE WEST FLANK OF A FOCUSED AND ELONGATED AREA OF DOWNBURST WINDS. THE DAMAGE WAS LARGELY TO TREES ALTHOUGH THERE WERE A COUPLE OF FARM OUTBUILDINGS DAMAGED ALONG THE
22:45 UTC	HAIL 1.5	3 Ne Morse Bluff	Dodge, NE	REPORT FROM MPING: PING PONG BALL (1.50 IN.).
22:45 UTC	TORNADO	4 Wsw Hooper	Dodge, NE
22:47 UTC	FLASH FLOOD	North Bend	Dodge, NE	REPORT FROM MPING: STREET/ROAD FLOODING; STREET/ROAD CLOSED; VEHICLES STRANDED.
22:48 UTC	TORNADO	3 W Hooper	Dodge, NE	CORRECTS TIME OF PREVIOUS TORNADO REPORT FROM 3 W HOOPER. SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE TO OUTBUILDINGS ON A FARM. DELAYED REPORT.
22:50 UTC	TORNADO	2 Wnw Hooper	Dodge, NE
22:55 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Pilger	Stanton, NE	UNOCCUPIED CAMPERS BLOWN OVER. MANY FARM STRUCTURES DAMAGED AND LARGE TREES SNAPPED AND BROKEN. POWERLINES AND LARGE TREES BLOCKING THE ROAD EAST OF STANTON.
22:57 UTC	TORNADO	4 E Scribner	Dodge, NE	MULTIPLE FARMSTEADS DAMAGED, LARGE POWER LINES DOWN, TREES SHREDDED. PATH APPROXIMATELY A HALF MILE WIDE.
22:57 UTC	TORNADO	4 Nnw Hooper	Dodge, NE	MULTIPLE VORTEX TORNADO WITH RAIN WRAPPING CURTAINS.
22:58 UTC	TSTM WND GST 62	Pilger	Stanton, NE	PERSONAL WEATHER STATION RECORDED A PEAK WIND GUST OF 62 MPH.
23:01 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Morse Bluff	Saunders, NE	REPORT FROM MPING: 1-INCH TREE LIMBS BROKEN; SHINGLES BLOWN OFF.
23:03 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	3 Wsw Uehling	Dodge, NE	REPORT FROM MPING: HOMES/BUILDINGS COMPLETELY DESTROYED.
23:05 UTC	TORNADO	3 W Uehling	Dodge, NE	TORNADIC DEBRIS SIGNATURE CONTINUES.
23:07 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Pilger	Stanton, NE	POWER LINES DOWN, LOTS OF TREE DAMAGE.
23:10 UTC	TORNADO	2 W Uehling	Dodge, NE	COMMERCIAL CATTLE FEED LOT HEAVILY DAMAGED, SEVERAL HUNDRED CATTLE LOOSE.
23:12 UTC	HAIL 1	1 W Ames	Dodge, NE	REPORT FROM MPING: QUARTER (1.00 IN.).
23:12 UTC	HAIL 1	1 W Ames	Dodge, NE	REPORT FROM MPING: QUARTER (1.00 IN.).
23:13 UTC	FLOOD	Ames	Dodge, NE	REPORT FROM MPING: RIVER/CREEK OVERFLOWING; CROPLAND/YARD/BASEMENT FLOODING.
23:13 UTC	TSTM WND GST 73	2 Se Oakland	Burt, NE	PERSONAL WEATHER STATION RECORDED A PEAK WIND GUST OF 73 MPH.
23:14 UTC	TORNADO	1 Wnw Uehling	Burt, NE	STORM SPOTTERS REPORTED A TORNADO JUST TO THE EAST OF THE MUCH LARGER MAIN TORNADO. THIS ANTI-CYCLONIC SATELLITE TORNADO APPEARS TO HAVE CAUSED EF-1 DAMAGE TO CENTER PIVOT IRRIGATION SYSTEMS AND POWER LINES AS IT TRAVELL
23:17 UTC	TORNADO	2 Nw Uehling	Burt, NE	VERY LARGE VIOLENT TORNADO.
23:19 UTC	TORNADO	2 Nnw Uehling	Burt, NE	LARGE, VIOLENT TORNADO.
23:20 UTC	TORNADO	4 Nnw Uehling	Burt, NE	* 2 INJ * THIS TORNADO STARTED AROUND 620 PM CDT NEAR BURT COUNTY ROAD H, A LITTLE OVER 2 MILES MILES WEST OF US 77 HIGHWAY. THE TORNADO STARTED MOVING NORTH NORTHEAST AND THEN CURVED AND WAS MOVING DUE NORTH. AS IT
23:23 UTC	TORNADO	3 Sw Oakland	Burt, NE	ANTICYLONIC TORNADO ORBITING THE MAIN TORNADO CONE.
23:23 UTC	TORNADO	3 Wsw Oakland	Burt, NE	TWO FARM OUTBUILDINGS DESTROYED. DELAYED REPORT.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the track Every 2023 tornado in Nebraska Every tornado in Nebraska since 1950 Warnings in force in Nebraska now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of May 12, 2023

32 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
May 12	12:34 PM CDT	EF1	Custer, NE	4.0	100
May 12	12:39 PM CDT	Unrated	Logan, NE	0.1	10
May 12	12:42 PM CDT	Unrated	Custer, NE	0.1	1
May 12	12:47 PM CDT	Unrated	Custer, NE	0.1	10
May 12	2:25 PM CDT	EF1	Greeley, NE	13.6	200		$300,000
May 12	3:11 PM CDT	EF1	Wheeler, NE	3.4	50
May 12	3:25 PM CDT	Unrated	Wheeler, NE	0.1	50
May 12	3:55 PM CDT	Unrated	Platte, NE	0.1	50
May 12	3:55 PM CDT	EF2	Wheeler, NE	7.3	75
May 12	4:00 PM CDT	Unrated	Custer, NE	0.1	10
May 12	4:09 PM CDT	EF1	Boone, NE	1.3	150
May 12	4:22 PM CDT	Unrated	Madison, NE	0.1	50
May 12	4:33 PM CDT	EF1	Pawnee, NE	3.0	80
May 12	4:53 PM CDT	EF1	Stanton, NE	8.9	200
May 12	5:01 PM CDT	EF1	Madison, NE	3.1	50
May 12	5:15 PM CDT	EF2	Dodge, NE	5.5	800
May 12	5:17 PM CDT	EF1	Stanton, NE	5.0	150
May 12	5:34 PM CDT	EF1	Stanton, NE	2.8	200
May 12	5:39 PM CDT	EF1	Stanton, NE	5.1	300
May 12	5:42 PM CDT	EF0	Dodge, NE	2.5	300
May 12	5:46 PM CDT	EF2	Dodge, NE	10.4	1,600
May 12	6:14 PM CDT	EF0	Wayne, NE	0.3	20
May 12	6:20 PM CDT	EF2	Burt, NE	11.3	1,150	2
May 12	6:34 PM CDT	EF0	Wayne, NE	0.7	20
May 12	7:03 PM CDT	EF2	Brown, KS	1.5	500
May 12	7:11 PM CDT	EF1	Jackson, KS	3.6	50
May 12	7:18 PM CDT	EF0	Brown, KS to NE	2.3	50
May 12	7:23 PM CDT	Unrated	Burt, NE	0.4	50
May 12	7:38 PM CDT	Unrated	Jackson, KS	0.0	10
May 12	7:43 PM CDT	Unrated	Burt, NE	0.5	20
May 12	7:49 PM CDT	Unrated	Jackson, KS	0.0	10
May 12	8:06 PM CDT	EF0	Kay, OK	0.3	10

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.