EF0 Tornado — Colfax, Nebraska

2024-04-16 · near Clarkson, Colfax, Nebraska

Event narrative

Eyewitness reports and photo and video evidence show that the long-lived funnel cloud formed a ground circulation that began at approximately 118 local time and lasted for approximately 5 minutes. It slowly traveled northeast during this time, with the only damage being some minor damage to tree branches.

Wider weather episode

At midnight on the 16th, non-severe thunderstorms were ongoing across portions of northeast Nebraska and western Iowa. With these storms being rooted in a nearly stationary boundary co-located with the exit region of a low-level jet, this area saw prolonged periods of moderate to heavy rain. This resulted in isolated instances of flash flooding, especially for rural portions of western Wayne County where several roads were reported under water.

By 4 am, A round of strong to severe thunderstorms entered eastern Nebraska from the west and south. These storms were co-located with a tongue of enhanced instability and low-level shear as the surface low occluded in central Nebraska. Scattered instances of damaging wind and continued isolated flooding were reported through the early morning hours.

While the main round of thunderstorms continued east into Iowa and Missouri by late morning, continued redevelopment of thunderstorms persisted through the afternoon hours across portions of northeast Nebraska. This resulted from forcing for ascent and steep lapse rates associated with the cut-off low lingering in central Nebraska. Just before noon through the early afternoon hours on the 16th, the Omaha-Valley NWS received reports of funnel clouds and brief spin-up tornadoes associated with these storms. NWS damage surveys concluded that there were 4 EF-0 tornadoes, two in Platte County and two in Colfax County. Scattered showers and storms lingered across the area through the evening of the 16th as the low-pressure system weakened and slowly moved northeast into the upper Midwest.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (41.6800, -97.1200)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1166035. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.