EF1 tornado, Atlanta to Sacramento, Nebraska, May 3, 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

May 3, 2024

Touchdown

9:08 PM CDT (02:08 UTC)

Lifted

9:21 PM CDT (02:21 UTC)

On the ground

13 minutes

Path length

5.3 miles (8.5 km)

Path width

850 yards (777 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$500,000

County

Phelps County

Touchdown point

40.430, -99.360

Lift-off point

40.500, -99.320

Record number

2405032008-01

77 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS GID, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 110 mph.

• Windows blown in on west side. Most of roof removed. Debris carried ENE to NE. Interior door blown out through front window. Resident witnessed rotation once the tornado passed into adjacent field. Outbuildings largely unaffected, and only minor tree damage on the property. Debris from the home carried at least a half mile into adjacent field. Possible that campfire wood stacked west of the home pierced the windows then led to additional structure failures.
• Pile of firewood carried ENE into the house.
• Three snaped power poles. Not brand new. Tornado crossed the highway here.
• Electronic highway sign flipped NE

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

Line of thunderstorms with embedded supercells brings all severe hazards to portions of south central Nebraska during the evening of May 3, 2024. Thunderstorms initially developed over the Nebraska Panhandle during the late afternoon hours, then shifted eastward through the evening, arriving in far western portions of the forecast area (Dawson and Gosper Counties) between 7-8PM CDT. By this time, activity had organized into a NE to SW line, though some supercells remained embedded within the broader line. Of particular note and intensity was the portion of the line between Elwood and Holdrege in which a supercell evolved into a bowing line segment. During this transition, the primary threat changed from large hail (locally up to around golf ball size) to damaging straight line winds and brief tornadoes. The most notable and damaging tornadoes occurred near Atlanta and Holdrege. In fact, the town of Holdrege was quite fortunate in that two separate tornadoes touched down, one on the north side of town and one of the east side. Damage in town was relatively minimal (downed trees, power lines, small outbuildings), with the most costly and prevalent issue likely being the wind-driven hail. However, several homes and farmsteads just outside of town received more significant building damage up to EF-1 intensity. A single home was damaged just W of Atlanta in the first brief tornado of the event. Another two tornadoes were surveyed later in the event, but these were weak (EF-0), for an event total of 5 tornadoes. East of Hwy 183, the primary severe threat was damaging straight line winds in the 60-70 MPH range between 10PM and midnight. Severe wind gusts were reported in all three of the Tri-Cities. Activity largely shifted east into eastern Nebraska by around midnight.||Finally, it's worth noting that heavy rain caused brief issues with the I-80 eastbound ramps near Elm Creek. No other instances or impacts of flash flooding were reported.

A brief tornado touched down near G Road just west of Atlanta. Damage rated as EF1 occurred at this location, primarily to the roof of a home. Resident witnessed the circulation move northeast into an adjacent field. Damage and debris ceased about one-half mile northeast, just south of 728 Road. The estimated peak wind was 100 MPH.

This tornado developed very close to, or over, the fairgrounds area, then moved north. The most concentrated area of damage occurred between 4th Street and 6th Avenue, between Sherman Street and Lincoln Street, which included snapped wooden poles, an overturned pivot, and varying degrees of damage to manufactured homes. It appears the tornado briefly lifted as it moved north of 6th Avenue, sparing neighborhoods in northeast Holdrege more significant damage, before touching back down in a field just northwest of the intersection of 18th Avenue and Lincoln Street. The tornado reached peak intensity and width near Lincoln Street and 25th Avenue just northeast of Holdrege where significant damage to outbuildings, some newer and well-built, was noted. Damage also occurred to roofs of a few homes. The tornado would go on to overturn numerous pivots and snap a few more power poles as it curved northeast. Damage ceased near the intersection of Q Road and 736 Road, which coincides with substantial weakening of the circulation on radar. The estimated peak wind was 110 MPH.

A ground survey of the damage, in conjunction with radar and Sentinel satellite imagery, indicate a tornado touched down just north of the golf course on the north side of Holdrege, then moved east and northeast. The majority of the damage occurred shortly after the tornado touched down and included tree damage, overturned pivots, and, most notably, several snapped power poles along Highway 183. This tornado was short lived and appeared to lift just northeast of the intersection of O Road and 734 Road. The estimated peak wind was 110 MPH.

This weak and somewhat intermittent tornado touched down near the intersection of Highway 183 and Highway 4, then moved northeast. Damage was limited to trees, pivots, and a a few power poles along its roughly seven mile track. The estimated peak wind was 85 MPH. The tornado lifted just north of the Harlan and Phelps County line between T Road and U Road.

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. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 22:53 UTC and running to 04:52 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 00:52 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.

The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 78 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:05 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

8 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.