Unrated tornado, Shelby, Nebraska, August 14, 2024

1. EF065 to 85 mph

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. EF186 to 110 mph

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. EF4166 to 200 mph

   Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

6. 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.

7. 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.

Rating

Unrated

Date

August 14, 2024

Touchdown

1:06 AM CDT (06:06 UTC)

Lifted

1:07 AM CDT (06:07 UTC)

On the ground

1 minutes

Path length

0.0 miles (0.0 km)

Path width

15 yards (14 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Polk County

Touchdown point

41.320, -97.500

Lift-off point

41.320, -97.500

Record number

2408140006-01

1 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS GID, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EFU.

• Location approximate based on radar data and image provided.

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

A mesoscale convective system (MCS) brought locally damaging wind gusts and a brief tornado to portions of south central Nebraska during the late evening and overnight hours of August 13th. Thunderstorms developed over the central High Plains during the late afternoon and evening hours then shifted eastward into south central Nebraska, aided by a strong low level jet after 10PM. Some of this activity became severe, most notably a small bow echo that impacted areas generally between I-80 and Hwy 6 to the west-southwest of the Tri-Cities. Here, wind gusts of 60-65 MPH were estimated, and minor tree and outbuilding damage was reported. The bow echo weakened below severe levels prior to reaching the Highway 281 corridor just after midnight. However, another band of strong thunderstorms developed along a west-northwest to east-southeast axis along the warm air advection wing of the MCS and affected areas mainly N and NE of the Tri-Cities. Later, it was determined that a brief tornado touched down out of this activity in far northern Polk County, based on evidence from a law enforcement photo along with and radar data. No damage was reported, so the tornado was rated EF-U. Non-severe thunderstorm activity continued well into the overnight hours.

A brief touchdown occurred in rural northern Polk County, causing no damage. Location was approximated from radar data and a photo provided by a deputy.

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

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

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 Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Marginal Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 06:00 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 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.

Columbus Municipal (OLU), 19 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Omaha radar (KOAX), 95 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 06:04 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.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2024 tornado in NebraskaEvery tornado in Nebraska since 1950Warnings in force in Nebraska nowThe forecast where you are

2 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.