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EF1 tornado in Pawnee County, Nebraska

Tornado May 12, 2023 · Pawnee County, Nebraska

EF1
Rating
3.0 mi
Path length
80 yd
Path width
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 80 yards (0.05 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

Tornado started on the northeast side of Pawnee City where the baseball fields sustained damage. The tornado continued northeast and destroyed a grain bin and ended in a field 1 1/2 miles southwest of Table Rock.

The wider storm

A strong low-pressure system which had been slowly moving east off the Rocky Mountains finally progressed into central Nebraska. This left eastern Nebraska in the warm sector as a warm front moved north into the area. The SPC issued an Enhanced Risk for severe weather with a 30% hatched for severe hail. There ended up being 19 confirmed tornadoes (3 EF2, 8 EF1, 4 EF0, 4 EFU). There were numerous hail reports the largest of which was 4.5 inches in Pawnee County. Another 4-inch report was received in Richardson County. Flash flooding was also observed in a few locations.

Began near Pawnee City (40.1200, -96.1400).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

17 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF2 Dodge CountyEF2 Dodge CountyEF1 Boone CountyEF1 Stanton CountyEF1 Madison CountyEF1 Stanton CountyEF1 Stanton CountyEF1 Stanton CountyEF1 Burt CountyEF0 Dodge CountyEF0 Wayne CountyEF0 Wayne CountyEF0 Richardson CountyEFU Platte CountyEFU Madison CountyEFU Burt CountyEFU Burt County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1097191. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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