EF2 tornado in Hamilton County, Nebraska

This tornado started southwest of Aurora and moved southeast. The parent supercell had produced a rear flank downdraft (RFD) that was traveling down Interstate 80. As the tornado interacted with this RFD about a mile north of the Interstate, it rapidly increased in size and strength and started to move eastward. At this point the tornado damaged several homes and brought down a self standing cell tower. One home along Highway 14 sustained considerable damage. The tornado then moved to the northeast and dissipated just southwest of the village of Hampton. To the west of Hampton, several empty rail cars were blown off the tracks by what appeared to be inflow winds into the tornado. A major high voltage power line was brought down by the tornado as well as many power lines and poles in the rural areas. Also many center pivot irrigation systems were blown over along the tornadoes path.

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.