Tornadoes · United States · Nebraska · 2023

EF2 tornado, Ames to Uehling, Nebraska, May 12, 2023

Name: EF2 tornado, Ames to Uehling, Nebraska, May 12, 2023
Start: 2023-05-12T22:15:00.000Z
End: 2023-05-12T22:25:00.000Z
Location: Ames to Uehling, Nebraska

From Ames to Uehling, this EF2 tornado ran 5.5 miles across Dodge County on May 12, 2023, touching down at 5:15 PM CDT and reaching 800 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 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: May 12, 2023
Touchdown: 5:15 PM CDT (22:15 UTC)
Lifted: 5:25 PM CDT (22:25 UTC)
On the ground: 10 minutes
Path length: 5.5 miles (8.8 km)
Path width: 800 yards (732 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
County: Dodge County
Touchdown point: 41.446, -96.699
Lift-off point: 41.521, -96.667
Record number: 2305121615-01

The damage survey

50 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 120 mph.

Center pivot knocked over - photo 14 Tom Smith
Center pivot flipped. Poly RFD
DI24 eastern edge of damage. DOD 2. Width 1/10 th mile
MBS damage to walls, house moved fm foundation, softwood trees snapped

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.

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 then damaged several large power lines and caused substantial damage to outbuildings, trees, and structural damage to a home. The tornado then caused some damage to another house as well as trees before dissipating just north of County Road P.

This is part 1 of the tornado, Part 2 continues into Burt County. The 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 the Elkhorn River where a porch was ripped off and large trees damaged. The tornado crossed the Elkhorn River where significant tree damage was noted and several center pivots were flipped over. The tornado became wider and impacted additional farmsteads with EF-2 damage, especially as it approached County Road F up to the Dodge and Burt county line. At these farmsteads, several hog barns, machine sheds, and well-built outbuildings were destroyed. Farm equipment was significantly damaged. Windows were broken out of homes, roofs damaged, porches ripped off, and garage doors sucked out. Several people noted that their ears still hurt a day later due to the pressure drop during the tornado. Numerous livestock were injured or killed. The maximum width of this tornado approached one mile as it moved between County Road F and County Road B. A large cattle feedlot was impacted in extreme northeast Dodge county where very large grain bins and well built barns were destroyed. This tornado exhibited multiple vortex damage patterns at times. The tornado appears to have dissipated just north of County Road F in Burt County before developing a new tornado just to the north. Additionally, a satellite tornado was reported near the end of this tornado's life cycle.

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

The warnings

13 minutes of warning. NWS OAX issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:02 UTC, 13 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:45 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
22:02 UTC	22:45 UTC	Tornado Warning	OAX
22:08 UTC	22:23 UTC	Tornado Warning	OAX
22:24 UTC	23:15 UTC	Tornado Warning	OAX
22:26 UTC	23:15 UTC	Tornado Warning	OAX
22:54 UTC	23:21 UTC	Tornado Warning	OAX
22:56 UTC	23:09 UTC	Flood Advisory	OAX
23:01 UTC	23:46 UTC	Tornado Warning	OAX
23:07 UTC	23:45 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX
23:09 UTC	00:29 UTC	Flash Flood Warning	OAX
23:36 UTC	01:14 UTC	Flood Advisory	OAX
23:45 UTC	00:30 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX
23:56 UTC	00:06 UTC	Tornado Warning	OAX
00:20 UTC	01:00 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX
00:31 UTC	00:58 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX
00:55 UTC	04:00 UTC	Flash Flood 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

10.3 hours before the tornado, 32 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

1.7 hours after it, 32 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

Fremont Municipal Arp (FET), 14 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)	Temp (°F)	Dew point (°F)	Wind	Gust (kt)	Pressure (mb)	Weather
20:55 UTC	78.3	67.6	100° 15 kt	21	1008.8	VCTS
21:15 UTC	77	67.3	90° 13 kt	20	1008.5	VCTS
21:35 UTC	76.5	67.5	90° 13 kt	17	1008.1	VCTS
21:55 UTC	75.6	67.6	80° 14 kt		1007.5	VCTS
22:15 UTC	76	68	80° 14 kt	22	1006.8	TS
22:35 UTC	77	68	110° 15 kt		1006.4	VCTS
22:55 UTC	79.5	64.8	150° 15 kt	22	1007.1	TS
23:15 UTC	78.3	64.8	110° 11 kt	19	1006.8	-TSRA
23:35 UTC	73	64.6	270° 8 kt		1007.1	TS
23:55 UTC	65.5	61	290° 11 kt	20	1007.5	TS
00:15 UTC	69	62.6	0° 0 kt		1007.8	VCTS
00:35 UTC	67	63.5	250° 29 kt	43	1008.8	+TSRA

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

The radar

The Omaha radar (KOAX), 32 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:16 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)	Report	Where	County	Remark
20:31 UTC	HAIL 0.7	5 Ne Garland	Lancaster, NE
21:27 UTC	HAIL 1	Columbus	Platte, NE
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
21:53 UTC	HAIL 1.75	6 Ssw Leigh	Platte, NE	DELAYED REPORT.
21:53 UTC	TORNADO	5 Nnw Leigh	Stanton, NE	AN EF-1 TORNADO TRACKED DUE NORTH FOR APPROXIMATELY 9 MILES IN STANTON COUNTY. THE PRIMARY DAMAGE WAS SNAPPED TREE TRUNKS, WHICH AT TIMES INDICATED THE WIDTH OF THE TORNADO AS IT BISECTED AN EAST-TO-WEST TREE LINE. THERE
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
22:57 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.
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.
23:10 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.

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	5:17 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	EF1	Burt, NE	1.1	100
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.