Tornadoes · United States · Nebraska · 2024
EF0 tornado, Waverly, Nebraska, April 26, 2024
This EF0 tornado ran 1.9 miles across Lancaster County on April 26, 2024, touching down at 3:03 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 mphthis tornado
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.
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
- EF0
- Date
- April 26, 2024
- Touchdown
- 3:03 PM CDT (20:03 UTC)
- Lifted
- 3:07 PM CDT (20:07 UTC)
- On the ground
- 4 minutes
- Path length
- 1.9 miles (3.1 km)
- Path width
- 50 yards (46 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- Lancaster County
- Touchdown point
- 40.950, -96.530
- Lift-off point
- 40.970, -96.500
- Record number
- 2404261403-01
The damage survey
63 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS OAX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EFU. The highest wind the damage implies is 158 mph.
- Storm chaser video with time and location stamps indicate that this is the approximate ending point of the tornado as the ground circulation ceased.
- Approximate end point according to video and satellite based evidence.
- Approximate start point based on satellite and video evidence.
- Approximate end point based on satellite and video evidence.
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
On the morning of April 26th, a potent negatively-tilted shortwave trough ejected out into the central Plains. Upper air analysis shows a jet streak on the downstream side of this trough with substantial divergence aloft over Nebraska. At the surface, morning cloud cover and drizzle across much of eastern Nebraska and western Iowa quickly gave way to partly cloud skies as a warm front moved north through the area, just after noon. At the same time, thunderstorms initiated along a pacific front/dryline in south-central Nebraska. One supercell produced several tornadoes from south-central Nebraska into Boone County, resulting in an EF-2 tornado just west of Cedar Rapids. A second round of supercells initiated in Jefferson and Saline counties. These long-track supercells produced the worst tornado outbreak the Omaha WFO has seen in 10 years. 5 EF-3 tornadoes were surveyed, with several of these tornadoes just shy of an EF-4 rating. One of these EF-3 tornadoes impacted the northeast side of Lincoln, Nebraska where 70 people were reported trapped in a manufacturing plant that collapsed as the tornado passed. Another long-track EF-3 tornado hit portions of Elkhorn, Bennington and Blair, Nebraska. Eppley Airfield was hit by the third EF-3 tornado of the day, doing damage to aircraft hangars on the southeast side of the airport before hitting homes in far western Pottawattamie County. The last two EF-3 tornadoes of the day both impacted portions of Pottawattamie County. While one remained primarily in rural areas in the central part of the county, the final EF-3 of the day hit the town of Minden, Iowa head-on, resulting in 1 fatality and 3 injuries. This was the only fatality of the entire event. This tornado continued into Shelby County, narrowly missing the towns of Tenant and Harlan. A total of 24 tornadoes were confirmed across both Nebraska and Iowa portions of the Omaha CWA. The strongest tornado was the EF-3 that impacted Elkhorn and Blair, with peak estimated wind speeds at 165 miles per hour.||Along the warm front the day prior, scattered thunderstorms developed along the Kansas-Nebraska border during the evening hours. Most of these storms were sub-severe, however, one thunderstorm produced severe hail in and north of Odell, Nebraska for around ten minutes just before 9 pm CDT.
This tornado developed immediately prior to the dissipation of the Lincoln EF-3 tornado to its southeast. The tornado traveled northeast for nearly 3 miles, doing most of its damage to trees and powerlines, but also destroying two large outbuildings and causing window damage to a home. This tornado dissipated in a field as a new tornado developed quickly to its north according to video and satellite evidence. Peak estimated winds in this tornado were at 107 miles per hour, with a peak width of 150 yards and an average track width estimated at 100 yards.
A storm chaser with time and location stamps on their video tracked a tornado through mainly open fields. A damage survey team did find evidence of some minor tree damage at a few locations, sufficient to rate this as an EF-0 tornado.
A storm chaser with time and location stamps tracked a tornado through mainly open fields. A subsequent storm damage survey revealed that EF-0 damage had been done in the Lancaster County portion of this track. Beginning on Little Salt Road a quarter mile east of County Road 10, several large branches were observed to have been broken by the tornado. The tornado continued into Saunders County where it produced EF-1 damage to a farmstead on Emery Road between County Road 8 and County Road 7. Peak estimated winds from this tornado in Lancaster County were estimated to be around 75 miles per hour. The tornado was roughly 30 yards wide for its duration in the county before moving into southeastern Saunders County.
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 Omaha, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Apr 26, 1:06 PM CDT, 1 hour 57 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
- Severe thunderstorms Today and Saturday with strong tornadoes, large hail, damaging winds, and flash flooding possible. Greater flooding threat on Saturday night.
- Severe thunderstorms possible on Sunday as well, to a lesser degree, but brief tornadoes possible as well.
- Storms wrap up by Monday, with warmer temperatures arriving next week. Another round of showers and storms possible Tuesday/Wednesday.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 26, 1:06 PM CDT, 1 hour 57 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Omaha/Valley NE 106 PM CDT Fri Apr 26 2024 .KEY MESSAGES... - Severe thunderstorms Today and Saturday with strong tornadoes, large hail, damaging winds, and flash flooding possible. Greater flooding threat on Saturday night. - Severe thunderstorms possible on Sunday as well, to a lesser degree, but brief tornadoes possible as well. - Storms wrap up by Monday, with warmer temperatures arriving next week. Another round of showers and storms possible Tuesday/Wednesday. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 1224 PM CDT Fri Apr 26 2024 Skies are clearing from the southeast this afternoon as storms are starting to develop near the center of the surface low across central Nebraska. There's already one supercell that has developed west of Grand Island. We're watching towering Cu start to develop across north-central Kansas and south-central Nebraska out near Hebron which will be our line of strong to severe thunderstorms for this afternoon. We have a primed environment with 2000-2500 J/kg of MLCAPE, 150-200 m2/s2 of 0-1 km helicity that increases to 200+ across southeast Nebraska. Seems like this could be a day where any individual storm will be capable of producing a strong tornado. Storms will be moving into the Lincoln area around 3 PM, the Omaha Metro around 4 - 5 PM, making it to the Missouri River around 5 PM, and out of our area by around 7 to 8 PM. Some of the CAMS show the potential for an additional storm or two trailing behind the main line, but the severe window for each area will center mostly around the main line of storms. Once storms clear the area this evening, we'll see clearing skies across most of our area. We will have low clouds spread south out of South Dakota overnight tonight into Norfolk, but probably won't make it as far south as Omaha. Saturday morning we'll be between systems, dry with light winds. We'll see a warm front lift north during the afternoon with the approach of our next low pressure system. We'll see initial storm development along and ahead of the warm front around 6-7 PM with several rounds of storms developing and training along the warm front which stalls somewhere along I-80. With training storms, we add the significant potential for flash flooding in addition to large hail, strong tornadoes, and damaging winds Saturday evening, with the significant severe threat possibly not ending until after midnight. We'll see a third chance for severe storms on Sunday as the center of the surface low passes over our area Sunday afternoon. This will be a lower threat, but should not be overlooked. This will be similar to what we saw about ten days ago where we had a couple brief tornadoes that popped up from low-topped supercells that developed in a similar environment as the surface low again passed right over our area. We could also see hail up to quarter-size and damaging winds up to 60 mph. All storms should finally exit our area after midnight Monday. For the extended forecast, we just don't have time right now to do an in-depth analysis beyond day three. See previous discussion below: We finally receive a break from the active weather pattern on Monday and into early next week, with just a few minor showers and storms possible Tuesday and Wednesday. Temperatures will generally top out in the 70s next week, with a few locations reaching the low 80s on Tuesday. && .AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z SATURDAY/... Issued at 1149 AM CDT Fri Apr 26 2024 IFR cigs this morning are starting to clear from the southwest this morning as the low pressure center starts its approach. Expect a period of improvement to VFR conditions with BKN or SCT cigs around 3500-4500 ft about an hour or two before thunderstorms move through the terminals this afternoon. Models suggest there could be one or two lines of thunderstorms that roll through. Went ahead and put one line in the TAFs, but will adjust to factor in for a second line of storms if it develops just behind the first. Storms should be east of the terminals by 00Z this evening, with clearing skies and winds turning westerly or southwesterly. Low clouds will spread south out of South Dakota into KOFK late in the TAF period around 04-06Z bringing MVFR to IFR conditions through the end of the TAF period. As of right now it does not appear they will get far enough south to impact KOMA or KLNK. && .OAX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NE...None. IA...None. && DISCUSSION...McCoy/KG AVIATION...McCoy
Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 26, 1:22 PM CDT, 1 hour 41 minutes before
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Omaha/Valley NE 122 PM CDT Fri Apr 26 2024 IAZ043-055-056-069-079-080-090-091-NEZ011-012-015>018-030>034- 042>045-050>053-065>068-078-088>093-270830- Monona-Harrison-Shelby-Pottawattamie-Mills-Montgomery-Fremont- Page-Knox-Cedar-Thurston-Antelope-Pierce-Wayne-Boone-Madison- Stanton-Cuming-Burt-Platte-Colfax-Dodge-Washington-Butler- Saunders-Douglas-Sarpy-Seward-Lancaster-Cass-Otoe-Saline- Jefferson-Gage-Johnson-Nemaha-Pawnee-Richardson- 122 PM CDT Fri Apr 26 2024 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of southwest Iowa...west central Iowa...east central Nebraska...northeast Nebraska and southeast Nebraska. .DAY ONE...This Afternoon and Tonight Severe weather is likely across much of eastern Nebraska and southwest Iowa this afternoon and evening. All hazards are possible, including large hail up to three inches in diameter, a few strong tornadoes, and thunderstorm winds up to 70 mph. Much of eastern Nebraska and southwest Iowa are in an enhanced risk of severe weather. The best timeframe for severe storms should be from 2 pm through 8 pm. Be prepared to implement severe weather safety plans this afternoon and evening. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Saturday through Thursday Another round of severe weather is likely late Saturday afternoon into Saturday night, especially along and south of I-80. Again, all severe hazards are possible, including hail up to three inches in diameter, a few strong tornadoes, and thunderstorm winds up to 70 mph. Severe weather is again possible Sunday afternoon into evening in parts of southeast Nebraska and southwest Iowa. Hail up to quarter size and thunderstorm winds up to 60 mph are the main hazards, but an isolated weak tornado couldn't be ruled out as well. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will likely be required on both this afternoon and evening and Saturday evening.
In the hours before
Local storm report, Apr 26, 2:46 PM CDT, 17 minutes before
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</html>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
8.1 hours before the tornado, 42 km from the path. April 26, 2024.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -97530 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 565 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 54 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 39 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 518 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 707 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.3
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 3.7 K/km
Omaha, NE (KOAX), 00:00Z
3.9 hours after it, 42 km from the path. April 27, 2024.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 269 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -7 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 1032 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1292 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 35 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 28 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 60 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 89 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.1
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 7.3 K/km
The surface observations
Lincoln (LNK), 25 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 Omaha radar (KOAX), 42 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:02 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 2024 tornado in NebraskaEvery tornado in Nebraska since 1950Warnings in force in Nebraska nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of April 26, 2024
77 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 26 | 4:49 AM CDT | EF0 | Cleveland, OK | 0.5 | 30 | $10,000 | ||
| April 26 | 4:52 AM CDT | EF0 | Pottawatomie, OK | 2.4 | 40 | $5,000 | ||
| April 26 | 4:53 AM CDT | EF1 | Cleveland, OK | 1.9 | 75 | $6,000 | ||
| April 26 | 5:05 AM CDT | EF0 | Pottawatomie, OK | 2.4 | 50 | $30,000 | ||
| April 26 | 5:28 AM CDT | EF1 | Okfuskee, OK | 9.9 | 500 | $20,000 | ||
| April 26 | 5:31 AM CDT | EF0 | Lincoln, OK | 0.2 | 30 | $10,000 | ||
| April 26 | 6:18 AM CDT | EF1 | Okmulgee, OK | 6.9 | 650 | $25,000 | ||
| April 26 | 7:22 AM CDT | EF1 | Pittsburg, OK | 1.7 | 250 | $50,000 | ||
| April 26 | 12:16 PM CDT | EF1 | Sherman, NE | 4.7 | 175 | $140,000 | ||
| April 26 | 12:23 PM CDT | EF0 | McLennan, TX | 0.1 | 30 | $10,000 | ||
| April 26 | 12:26 PM CDT | EF1 | McLennan, TX | 0.9 | 100 | $200,000 | ||
| April 26 | 12:32 PM CDT | EF1 | Sherman, NE | 5.7 | 100 | $200,000 | ||
| April 26 | 12:48 PM CDT | EF0 | McLennan, TX | 0.2 | 15 | |||
| April 26 | 12:48 PM CDT | EF2 | Hill, TX | 5.7 | 165 | $200,000 | ||
| April 26 | 12:52 PM CDT | EF0 | Howard, NE | 2.3 | 50 | $200,000 | ||
| April 26 | 12:58 PM CDT | EF3 | Howard, NE | 9.3 | 600 | $3.5 million | ||
| April 26 | 1:06 PM CDT | EF1 | Hill, TX | 0.2 | 55 | $60,000 | ||
| April 26 | 1:30 PM CDT | EF1 | Navarro, TX | 9.0 | 200 | $200,000 | ||
| April 26 | 1:32 PM CDT | EF2 | Howard, NE | 9.2 | 880 | $800,000 | ||
| April 26 | 1:46 PM CDT | EF1 | Navarro, TX | 11.3 | 200 | $200,000 | ||
| April 26 | 1:49 PM CDT | EF1 | Hill, TX | 2.4 | 200 | $50,000 | ||
| April 26 | 2:04 PM CDT | EF2 | Greeley, NE | 26.7 | 500 | $25,000 | ||
| April 26 | 2:19 PM CDT | EF0 | Navarro, TX | 2.1 | 100 | |||
| April 26 | 2:30 PM CDT | EF0 | Navarro, TX | 1.1 | 100 | $100,000 | ||
| April 26 | 2:51 PM CDT | EF1 | Butler, NE | 8.1 | 200 | |||
| April 26 | 2:52 PM CDT | EF3 | Lincoln tornado, NE | 5.3 | 700 | 3 | ||
| April 26 | 2:57 PM CDT | EF1 | Lancaster, NE | 3.0 | 150 | |||
| April 26 | 3:06 PM CDT | Unrated | Butler, NE | 0.7 | 30 | |||
| April 26 | 3:12 PM CDT | EF1 | Saunders, NE | 3.8 | 50 | |||
| April 26 | 3:27 PM CDT | Unrated | Boone, NE | 1.0 | 50 | |||
| April 26 | 3:30 PM CDT | EF4 | Elkhorn tornado, NE | 31.9 | 1,900 | 4 | ||
| April 26 | 3:32 PM CDT | EF2 | Elk, KS | 8.5 | 300 | |||
| April 26 | 3:34 PM CDT | EF2 | Woodson, KS | 6.7 | 100 | |||
| April 26 | 3:42 PM CDT | Unrated | Boone, NE | 2.0 | 100 | |||
| April 26 | 3:52 PM CDT | EF0 | Wilson, KS | 1.0 | 150 | |||
| April 26 | 4:07 PM CDT | EF1 | Platte, NE | 4.8 | 100 | |||
| April 26 | 4:13 PM CDT | EF1 | Wilson, KS | 1.3 | 60 | |||
| April 26 | 4:52 PM CDT | EF1 | Mills, IA | 2.7 | 80 | |||
| April 26 | 4:52 PM CDT | EF1 | Harrison, IA | 9.1 | 766 | |||
| April 26 | 4:54 PM CDT | EF3 | Douglas, IA to NE | 19.1 | 550 | |||
| April 26 | 4:59 PM CDT | EF0 | Harrison, IA | 2.6 | 200 | |||
| April 26 | 5:02 PM CDT | Unrated | Allen, KS | 0.0 | 10 | |||
| April 26 | 5:08 PM CDT | EF3 | Pottawattamie, IA | 13.3 | 900 | |||
| April 26 | 5:10 PM CDT | Unrated | Richardson, NE | 0.0 | 1 | |||
| April 26 | 5:16 PM CDT | EF1 | Stanton, NE | 0.7 | 100 | |||
| April 26 | 5:17 PM CDT | EF0 | Monona, IA | 1.5 | 100 | |||
| April 26 | 5:23 PM CDT | EF1 | Monona, IA | 3.3 | 250 | |||
| April 26 | 5:25 PM CDT | EF3 | Minden–Harlan tornado, IA | 40.3 | 1,900 | 1 | 3 | |
| April 26 | 5:29 PM CDT | EF0 | Bourbon, KS | 3.3 | 75 | $50,000 | ||
| April 26 | 5:40 PM CDT | EF1 | Harrison, IA | 1.8 | 30 | |||
| April 26 | 5:45 PM CDT | Unrated | Richardson, NE | 0.0 | 1 | |||
| April 26 | 6:07 PM CDT | EF1 | Vernon, MO | 3.4 | 95 | $40,000 | ||
| April 26 | 6:14 PM CDT | Unrated | Holt, MO | 0.0 | 1 | |||
| April 26 | 6:28 PM CDT | EF2 | Shelby, IA | 9.3 | 200 | $50,000 | ||
| April 26 | 6:30 PM CDT | Unrated | Crawford, IA | 2.5 | 50 | |||
| April 26 | 6:36 PM CDT | EF0 | Bates, MO | 0.8 | 50 | |||
| April 26 | 6:47 PM CDT | EF0 | Bates, MO | 1.1 | 50 | |||
| April 26 | 6:49 PM CDT | EF1 | Shelby, IA | 13.0 | 300 | $30,000 | ||
| April 26 | 6:52 PM CDT | EF2 | Adams, IA | 9.7 | 350 | $300,000 | ||
| April 26 | 6:56 PM CDT | EF0 | St. Clair, MO | 0.2 | 50 | $20,000 |
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.