EF2 Tornado — Buffalo, Nebraska

2008-05-29 · near Kearney, Buffalo, Nebraska

Event narrative

This tornado was the most organized tornado that hit the city of Kearney this night and was the most persistent. It appeared to stay on the ground for the majority of its 22 mile path in Buffalo County. The tornado did exit Buffalo County and entered Hall County. The tornado started in the northwest part of the city of Kearney where it damaged an apartment complex. It took the roof off of part of the complex, blew out a wall and stacked a couple of cars in the parking lot. The tornado then moved east, damaging trees in Harmon Park and took a part of the roof off a building near the hospital. At the Buffalo County Fairgrounds, it caused a portion of the Expo Center building to collapse. Two people in this building were shook up but not injured. The tornado then continued east to the Kearney Airport where it destroyed a hanger and the cooperate jet housed inside. The tornado then continued on east and northeast through rural parts of Buffalo County. Several farmsteads were hit but damage was limited to shingles removed from roofs, outbuildings damaged and empty grain bins destroyed. There were multiple power poles and lines down by this storm.

Wider weather episode

A significant severe weather outbreak occurred during the late afternoon and evening of May 29th. Several tornadoes were reported from near Elwood to north of York. Two tornadoes caused damage in the city of Kearney and one occurred just to the south of town. Another tornado damaged homes and power poles near Aurora. Another tornado started in north-central Kansas and entered south-central Nebraska near Hubbell. Very strong winds moved down a portion of Interstate 80 and pushed cars and trucks off of the roadway near Aurora. Other areas of south-central Nebraska received heavy rains and hail. Hail to the size of baseballs was reported near Arapahoe in Furnas County. These storms also produce a lot of rainfall over areas that had fairly wet ground. Several areas of flooding were noted in the Platte and Republican River valleys.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (40.7150, -99.1199)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 109466. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.