EF1 tornado, Sutton to Grafton, Nebraska, July 6, 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 mphthis tornado

   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. 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.

Rating

EF1

Date

July 6, 2024

Touchdown

5:32 PM CDT (22:32 UTC)

Lifted

5:35 PM CDT (22:35 UTC)

On the ground

3 minutes

Path length

1.9 miles (3.1 km)

Path width

400 yards (366 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$125,000

Crop damage

$5,000,000

Counties

Clay and Fillmore counties

Touchdown point

40.554, -97.830

Lift-off point

40.580, -97.820

Record number

2407061632-01

42 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. The highest wind the damage implies is 110 mph.

• Unknown how recent this damage is
• Pivot overturned. Corn shredded
• End section of pivot twisted and moved south
• Tree snapped and lofted NE onto porch

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

A broad, upper trough was over most of the country, including Nebraska. An upper disturbance passed over the central Plains which created enhanced lift. CAPE values of around 2,000 J/kg, wind shear of around 40 to 50 knots, and mid-level lapse rates of 7 to 8 degrees C/km were over south-central Nebraska. Temperatures were mostly in the 70s to lower 80s. These conditions resulted in an atmosphere that was conducive for severe storm development.||Thunderstorms had already developed to the northwest of the area during the early to mid-morning hours and moved over central Nebraska during the late morning hours. Additional storms developed to the west and northwest of the area during the late morning hours. These storms moved eastward and one storm began impacting Dawson County with hail up to the size of tennis balls just after 12 PM CDT. This storm continued moving east southeast through the afternoon with other storms moving in behind the original storm. The largest hail of the day was baseball sized and fell in Phelps County after 2 PM CDT. Additional hail impacted Dawson, Gosper, Buffalo, Phelps, Kearney, Franklin, Webster, and Fillmore Counties. These storms produced 5 tornadoes which impacted Kearney, Adams, Clay, and Fillmore Counties. The first two tornadoes impacted Kearney County and were both rated EF1. The third and fourth tornadoes impacted Adams County and were both rated EF0. The fifth tornado first touched down in Clay County then moved into Fillmore County and was rated an EF1. Severe wind gusts were also reported with these storms with the strongest winds estimated near 80 mph in Kearney and Adams Counties. The storm reports ended just before 6 PM CDT as the storms moved east of the area.

A QLCS tornado affected portions of eastern Clay County and western Fillmore County. This tornado touched down at approximately Road 315 and Z Road south of Sutton, then moved north-northeast where it impacted a farmstead along Z Road, just north of Road 316. Within this stretch of the tornado, several EF1 damage points were noted, particularly with respect to several large wooden power poles snapped, uprooted trees, and destroyed small grain bins. The grain bins were carried approximately 300 to 400 yards downstream into a nearby corn field that also sustained pivot damage. Small farm implements were also carried downwind, and a small chicken coop and other outbuildings were destroyed. Fortunately, the house received only minor damage to the siding. The tornado lifted shortly thereafter just northeast of the farmstead. In addition, a broad swath of severe crop damage was noted in the vicinity of and to the south of the tornado track, likely due to a combination of large hail and straight-line wind gusts of 60-80 MPH. Here, five foot tall healthy corn plants were reduced to 1-2 foot stalks, and bean fields were nearly unrecognizable. The peak wind gust was estimated to be 110 MPH, and the tornado width was based on power line damage south of the impacted farmstead.

A QLCS tornado affected portions of eastern Clay County and western Fillmore County. This tornado touched down at approximately Road 315 and Z Road south of Sutton, then moved north-northeast where it impacted a farmstead along Z Road, just north of Road 316. Within this stretch of the tornado, several EF1 damage points were noted, particularly with respect to several large wooden power poles snapped, uprooted trees, and destroyed small grain bins. The grain bins were carried approximately 300 to 400 yards downstream into a nearby corn field that also sustained pivot damage. Small farm implements were also carried downwind, and a small chicken coop and other outbuildings were destroyed. Fortunately, the house received only minor damage to the siding. The tornado lifted shortly thereafter just northeast of the farmstead. In addition, a broad swath of severe crop damage was noted in the vicinity of and to the south of the tornado track, likely due to a combination of large hail and straight-line wind gusts of 60-80 MPH. Here, five foot tall healthy corn plants were reduced to 1-2 foot stalks, and bean fields were nearly unrecognizable. The peak wind gust was estimated to be 110 MPH, and the tornado width was based on power line damage south of the impacted farmstead.

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

3 minutes of warning. NWS GID issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:29 UTC, 3 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:45 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 17:28 UTC and running to 00:32 UTC.

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 Slight Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:55 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.

Aurora (AUH), 39 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 59 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:31 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.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

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

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

6 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.