Tornadoes · United States · Nebraska · 2023
EF1 tornado, Bartlett to Ericson, Nebraska, May 12, 2023
From Bartlett to Ericson, this EF1 tornado ran 3.4 miles across Wheeler County on May 12, 2023, touching down at 3:11 PM CDT and reaching 50 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
- 3:11 PM CDT (20:11 UTC)
- Lifted
- 3:20 PM CDT (20:20 UTC)
- On the ground
- 9 minutes
- Path length
- 3.4 miles (5.5 km)
- Path width
- 50 yards (46 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- Wheeler County
- Touchdown point
- 41.830, -98.522
- Lift-off point
- 41.867, -98.557
- Record number
- 2305121411-01
The damage survey
12 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS GID and NWS LBF, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 107 mph.
- Pushed metal poles to west and blew out windows on two vehicles.
- Lofted debris across the road. Some minor scouring of gravel from road.
- Tornado track and location over open pasture land based on storm chaser video.
- Large limb broken and healthy tree sheared at top.
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 closed low pressure system moved slowly across the northern Plains and spawned multiple tornadoes across north central Nebraska.
This tornado touched down and mainly impacted open areas. However, a few stands of trees were damaged, with trunks snapped and large limbs lost.
This tornado touched down in open country northwest of Ericson. At this time, only tree damage was seen. Video evidence from multiple storm chasers support the occurrence of this tornado as well.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
41 minutes of warning. NWS LBF issued a tornado warning for this county at 19:30 UTC, 41 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 20:15 UTC.
The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 18:10 UTC and running to 22:42 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18:10 UTC | 22:42 UTC | Tornado Watch | LBF |
| 19:30 UTC | 20:15 UTC | Tornado Warning | LBF |
| 19:55 UTC | 20:45 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LBF |
| 20:25 UTC | 21:15 UTC | Tornado Warning | LBF |
| 21:01 UTC | 21:45 UTC | Tornado Warning | LBF |
| 21:43 UTC | 21:54 UTC | Tornado Warning | 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 0.10 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.
N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE (KLBF), 12:00Z
8.2 hours before the tornado, 189 km from the path. May 12, 2023.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 96 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -70 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1068 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 30 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 18 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 145 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 204 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.1
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.9 K/km
N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE (KLBF), 00:00Z
3.8 hours after it, 189 km from the path. May 13, 2023.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -61 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 299 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1009 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 4 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 11 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -43 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -3 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 7.1 K/km
The surface observations
Albion (BVN), 42 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18:15 UTC | 71 | 66.2 | 120° 13 kt | 22 | 1009.8 | |
| 18:35 UTC | 72.5 | 66.4 | 120° 16 kt | 23 | 1009.5 | |
| 18:55 UTC | 73.2 | 65.8 | 100° 19 kt | 25 | 1008.8 | |
| 19:15 UTC | 72.5 | 65.7 | 100° 19 kt | 25 | 1008.5 | VCTS |
| 19:35 UTC | 72 | 64.4 | 100° 16 kt | 23 | 1007.5 | TS |
| 19:55 UTC | 69.4 | 65.5 | 100° 10 kt | 23 | 1007.8 | RA |
| 20:15 UTC | 68.2 | 66.2 | 100° 15 kt | 24 | 1007.8 | +VCTSRA |
| 20:35 UTC | 65.8 | 64.4 | 140° 16 kt | 22 | 1008.8 | +VCTSRA |
| 20:55 UTC | 63.5 | 62.6 | 80° 9 kt | 22 | 1008.5 | -TSRA |
| 21:15 UTC | 64 | 62.6 | 110° 13 kt | 17 | 1008.8 | VCTS |
| 21:35 UTC | 64.6 | 62.4 | 90° 7 kt | 1008.5 | ||
| 21:55 UTC | 64.8 | 62.2 | 60° 10 kt | 1008.5 |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The North Platte radar (KLNX), 169 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:08 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.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18:34 UTC | TSTM WND GST 55 | 4 Wsw Ord | Valley, NE | STATION REPORTED A WIND GUST OF 55 MPH. |
| 19:05 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | 7 E Greeley | Greeley, NE | PEA TO PENNY SIZE HAIL FALLING. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR. |
| 19:23 UTC | HAIL 1 | 4 W Elyria | Valley, NE | PEA TO QUARTER SIZED HAIL. |
| 19:25 UTC | TORNADO | 9 W Spalding | Greeley, NE | NUMEROUS PHOTOS AND VIDEOS OF A TORNADO LOCATED WEST OF SPALDING. PUBLIC REPORT OF LEANING POWER POLES AND WINDOWS BROKEN OUT OF A PICKUP AT THE INTERSECTION OF HWY 281 AND HWY 91. TIME ESTIMATED BASED ON RADAR. |
| 19:48 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | Burwell | Garfield, NE | FLASH FLOODING IN AND AROUND BURWELL. WATER WAS OVER SOME OF THE ROADS. |
| 20:41 UTC | TORNADO | 4 Ne Ericson | Wheeler, NE | REPORT RECEIVED VIA SOCIAL MEDIA. |
| 21:09 UTC | TORNADO | 9 Nw Newman Grove | Boone, NE | A SHORT-LIVED EF-1 TORNADO DEVELOPED SOUTH OF HIGHWAY 32 AND TRAVELED TOWARD THE NORTHWEST FOR APPROXIMATELY 1.5 MILES. THE MOST INTENSE DAMAGE OCCURRED WHEN THE TORNADO DESTROYED A ONE YEAR OLD MACHINE SHED AND DEPOSITE |
| 21:19 UTC | TORNADO | 7 Ene Petersburg | Boone, NE | DAMAGE PATH ACROSS HIGHWAY 32. |
| 21:21 UTC | TORNADO | 9 Nw Newman Grove | Boone, NE | TORNADO DAMAGE, SMALL FARM BUILDINGS DAMAGED, DEBRIS ON ROADWAY. |
| 21:43 UTC | TORNADO | 8 S Chambers | Holt, NE | TORNADO ON THE GROUND 8 MILES SOUTH OF CHAMBERS. |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2023 tornado in NebraskaEvery tornado in Nebraska since 1950Warnings in force in Nebraska nowThe 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) | Deaths | 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 | 3:25 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 | 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.