It's one of the busiest times in Omaha for the year, the Mens College World Series. As everyone implicitly believes, that's when Omaha gets hot, and when we get storms. Most of it is just happenstance, as mid-late June is often the peak of severe weather in Omaha. While 2023 has been lucky for storms (so far), other years we haven't been. Most residents will certainly remember "that one" that came through Omaha on June 20, 2011.
We remember the high winds, the sirens blaring as fans moved towards shelter, and other such scenes. However, what is sometimes overlooked is the fact that those storms were part of a larger tornado outbreak across Nebraska. Out west, several tornadoes affected areas such as Kearney and York, while Fremont also had its own tornado.
In this installment of This Week in Weather History, let's look back at the storm which temporarily halted CWS and the larger tornado outbreak which came with it.
JUNE 19-20, 2011: THE SET-UP
Although the 2011 severe weather season was incredibly active for places south and east of Omaha, in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa the severe weather season was less significant. On March 22, hailstorms destroyed multiple vehicles at the National Weather Service office in Valley. On April 9, an EF-3 tornado struck Mapleton Iowa. Besides that, 2011 became very quiet. What most residents were dealing with in the summer of 2011 was significant flooding along the Missouri River (the subject of next week).
The day prior, June 19, a warm front sparked off supercell storms from western Nebraska into southern Iowa. The storms produced hail up to 3" in Nebraska City, and one small tornado near Hamburg in Fremont County IA. Those storms dropped heavy rain over Omaha the night before. On June 20, that same warm front lifted to the I-80 corridor. A strong low-pressure system was moving northeast from Kansas into Nebraska. Strong wind fields were associated with it, adding extra ingredients for tornadoes. Storms that interacted with the warm front produced tornadoes from Kearney to Blair.
THE TORNADOES
Supercells were producing tornadoes in northern Kansas before lifting northward into Nebraska. By the end of the day, 14 tornadoes touched down in Nebraska. 3 EF-0's, 5 EF-1's, 4 EF-2s, and 2 EF-3 tornadoes.
The first supercell to produce tornadoes did so west of Kearney. One tornado touched down west of Elm Creek, originally moving east into the north side of town. Then, the tornado took an almost 90-degree turn to the north into rural Buffalo County. Most of the damage done by this tornado was to trees, but several buildings in Elm Creek also suffered damage.
Once the Elm Creek tornado lifted, a stronger tornado touched down near Amherst. This tornado, rated an EF-3, narrowly missed Amherst as it moved through the countryside. One home was destroyed with 10 people inside, all of them survived uninjured. Many of its exterior walls were destroyed. The tornado lifted northeast of town.
Northeast of Kearney, another odd-moving tornado occurred. This tornado started moving north, then curved, and began moving east. Rated an EF-2, the tornado snapped power poles before lifting.
The next supercell to produce tornadoes wound up being the most prolific of the day. Developing east of Hastings, the storm dropped 3 strong tornadoes in Hamilton, York, and Polk Counties. The first tornado touched down just south of I-80 east of Aurora, narrowly missing the town of Hampton to the west. The tornado passed over mostly rural areas, but snapped power poles and flipped irrigation pivots.
East of the Hampton tornado, a second tornado made contact with the ground north of I-80 in western York County. A theme of the day by missing towns by a few miles, this tornado crossed through western York County barely missing the town of Bradshaw. The tornado struck one home, doing significant damage, but also snapped numerous power poles.
Once the Bradshaw tornado lifted, the storm dropped the strongest tornado of the day in southwestern Polk County. This tornado, rated EF-3, tore through farm fields in Polk County. It missed Osceola to the west, producing significant damage across western Polk County. At its widest point, the tornado reached 1/2 mile wide. One farmstead along Highway 92 west of Osceola suffered substantial damage, particularly striking as most of the home was made of brick. The tornado lifted northwest of Osceola.
The final tornadoes in Nebraska occurred along the line of storms as they moved through the Omaha metro. The first tornado was an EF-1 which moved through the eastern side of Fremont. Damage was relatively minor, mainly confined to tree and roof damage to a few homes. The tornado flipped an unoccupied vehicle on Hwy 275 before lifting. Further east, a second tornado went north of Kennard in Washington County. Lifting a few miles west of Blair after doing damage to trees and buildings in its path.
STORMS AT CWS
That evening, thousands of people gathered downtown for the CWS game. It was Florida vs Vanderbilt, bottom of the 6th inning, Florida was leading Vanderbilt 3-1 at the time. As the game went on, southwest of Omaha storms developed rapidly near Lincoln into a line of storms as they raced northeastward towards the Omaha metro. At 7:36 pm, the National Weather Service in Omaha issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Douglas County and surrounding areas. In the warning text, it read:
National Weather Service Meteorologists detected a line of severe thunderstorms capable of producing quarter-size hail and 60mph winds or higher. These storms were located along a line which extended from 5 miles northwest of Mead to Unadilla, and moving northeast at 40mph. Locations impacted include: Omaha.
At 7:46 pm, reports of 2-foot diameter trees down in Ashland led to the weather service upping the intensity of the wind. Now, the storm was capable of producing 70mph winds as it pressed toward the metro. Since it was still a distance away, the CWS game continued on, but with those behind the scenes closely monitoring the weather situation closely.
Trained weather spotters located in Venice in far western Douglas County on Highway 72 were blasted with winds up to 75mph. Prompting the weather service to again up the wording on the severe thunderstorm warning:
National Weather Service Meteorologists continued to indicate a line of severe storms capable of producing destructive hurricane force winds of 75mph or higher. These storms were located along a line extending from Inglewood to 6 miles southeast of Louisville. This is a dangerous storm, take cover now!
This was shortly followed by a 70mph wind report from Saunders County and a 73mph wind gust recorded at the National Weather Service office in Valley. With the shelf cloud now seen over the horizon, Emergency Management Officials decided to sound the sirens for Omaha. Although there was no tornado warning, sirens can be sounded for high winds in a storm.
As the sirens went off, the game was paused as fans moved for shelter. Some left the stadium entirely, seeking shelter someplace downtown. Others went into the concourse or below the stadium in the shelters. While others chose to wait it out in their seats. The shelf cloud and associated whales mouth, the turbulent clouds beneath the shelf cloud, roared overhead as the 70mph winds came into the stadium. Trash was thrown into the field as workers fought to keep the tarp over the diamond. To the south of the stadium, vendor tents were tossed around.
Across Omaha, the winds downed power lines and trees sporadically. However, the winds weakened somewhat as they came through downtown with winds around 60-70mph at times. The game was postponed until the following morning when Florida would beat Vanderbilt by 3-1. Overall, the damage was minimal, but it has held on in memory since then.
JUNE 16, 2017: A NEAR-REPEAT
Six years later, CWS was again threatened by severe storms. This time, it was Opening Ceremony alongside a concert by Aloe Blacc. As festivities geared up, so did the storms. A cluster of very severe storms marched southeast from northwest Nebraska, missing the stadium with the worst of the weather. Festivities were canceled, and the concert moved indoors.
Although the stadium was missed, the storms packed a severe punch to the rest of the Omaha metro. Winds greater than 80mph, and at times exceeded 100mph ripped from Fremont to Plattsmouth. The worst of the winds being around Springfield in Sarpy County. In Bellevue, two tornadoes ripped through town, one of them going over Offutt AFB. If you want more details, see thisblog post from then.
