Severe weather season kicked off with a bang for some neighbors as two intense thunderstorms trekked across eastern Nebraska and western Iowa. These storms contained very large hail, strong winds, and occasionally strong tornadoes. Here is a quick summary of the severe weather caused by both storms.
THE NORTHERN STORM
The northernmost storm developed over Columbus and rode down Hwy 30 in Nebraska, then Hwy 6 in Iowa. The storm produced widespread wind-driven hail damage in Fremont and Washington County, where multiple homes & cars suffered extensive damage. You can see the damage it caused in our reporting by clicking or tapping on the links provided below:
As the storm moved into Douglas County, it became tornadic, producing an EF-3 tornado along the Douglas/Washington County line. As it crossed into Pottawattamie, hail sizes increased to 4" in the Underwood area, causing more damage to homes and vehicles. The storm continued eastward until it dissipated in the Des Moines vicinity.
"NASHVILLE", NE TORNADO
Rating: EF-3
Max. Wind Speed: 140 mph
Path Length: 8.26 miles
Max. Tornado Width: 170 yards
Summary: The Tornado began just east of Hwy 133 (Blair High Road) on the Douglas County side. The tornado intensified quickly, damaging homes along 108th Street and Papillion Creek. A brick home along 84th St suffered significant damage, earning the EF-3 rating. More homes were damaged as the tornado continued east. A truck was thrown 30 yards from its resting site. Near the unincorporated community of Nashville, in southeast Washington County, a garage was destroyed and RVs were turned over. The tornado continued past Hwy 75, where more homes were damaged. It lifted from the river bottoms of Washington County.
THE SOUTHERN STORM
The southernmost storm developed in the Grand Island vicinity, but became severe north of York. The storm brought giant hail up to 4" in Seward, Lancaster, and Cass Counties. Hail damage was extensive in the Branched Oak Lake vicinity, similar to Fremont.
Into Cass County, the storm became tornadic and produced several small tornadoes in the Murdock & Manley vicinity. When the tornado crossed into southwest Iowa, a stronger tornado developed near Tabor and likely continued into the Essex vicinity before lifting southwest of Villisca. The National Weather Service is still surveying these tornadoes, and this story will be updated when those surveys are completed.
CASS COUNTY TORNADOES
# of Tornadoes: 3
Ratings: 2 EF-0 & 1 EF-U
Max. Wind Speed: 50-60 mph
Path Length: 1-3 miles
Max. Tornado Width: 50-75 yards
Summary: Video evidence showed 3 weak tornadoes across Cass County. The first EF-0 occurred just northeast of Alvo, the second EF-U was southwest of Murdock, and the third EF-0 happened west of Manley. No damage was found from any of these tornadoes except a few small branches.
TABOR TORNADO
Rating: EF-0
Max. Wind Speed: 85 mph
Path Length: 5.48 miles
Max. Tornado Width: 440 yards
Summary: This large tornado had a wide swath of unconcentrated winds through its life span. Several homes and barns were damaged east of US-275 south of Tabor before the tornado lifted southwest of Randolph.
IMOGENE-ESSEX TORNADO
Rating: EF-1
Max. Wind Speed: 110 mph
Path Length: 19.72 miles
Max. Tornado Width: 3130 yards
Summary: The stronger of the two tornadoes began southwest of Imogene. The heaviest damage occurred south of town, where power poles were snapped, homes were damaged, and outbuildings were destroyed. The tornado narrowly missed Essex to the north, where more damage occurred to structures. The tornado turned northeast toward Nyman before lifting by the Montgomery County line. The tornado was quite wide, at roughly 1.75 miles at peak width, which is officially the widest tornado in Iowa's history.
