EF2 tornado in Greeley County, Nebraska

This tornado started about four miles northeast of Wolbach and was associated with a parent supercell that had previously produced two other tornadoes. In Greeley County, damage was confined mainly to center irrigation pivots and trees. The tornado moved northeast over open country and crossed the Boone County line along Highway 56. In Boone County, the tornado caused minor damage to a home on a farmstead at the county line along with quite a bit of tree damage in the general area. The tornado moved north and appeared to strengthen some as it flipped and tossed several central irrigation pivots north of Highway 56. Power poles were snapped and debris was lifted into power lines. As the tornado moved north-northeast, the most significant damage was found about two miles southwest of Primrose. A single-family home was extensively damaged, including the three-car garage being totally ripped away along with much of the roof structure. Several outbuildings were damaged or destroyed. Extensive tree damage and numerous power poles were snapped in the area. Tree damage was widespread west of Primrose and one large outbuilding was destroyed. In its final few miles, the tornado damaged trees and irrigation pivots in several places. Extensive damage to a livestock facility and several snapped power poles were noted about halfway between Primrose and Petersburg. The tornado likely dissipated in open country as it approached the Beaver Creek southwest of Petersburg. The widest point of the tornado appeared to occur just to the west and southwest of Primrose when the tornado may have been at least 500 yards wide. The EF2 rating and estimated maximum wind speed of 130 MPH was based upon the damage that occurred at a home southwest of Primrose. Note: The dollar estimate of damage applies to Greeley County only.

On this Friday afternoon, south central Nebraska served as the launching point to what would end up being a significant/destructive regional tornado outbreak that impacted portions of south central and eastern Nebraska, into southwestern and south central Iowa. This event unfolded as a powerful upper trough, along with a surface low/trough, moved into the Central Plains. Locally, a northward-arcing warm front passed through south central and central Nebraska. Dewpoints were generally in the 50s and 60s during the early afternoon hours on April 26th across south central and central Nebraska. Most unstable CAPE was around 1,000 to 3,000 J/kg and wind shear was around 40 knots, setting the stage for tornado development within parts of Buffalo, Sherman and especially Howard and Greeley counties.

Storms already began developing in south central and central Nebraska during the late morning hours. The storms began by producing nickel sized hail in Sherman County just after 12 PM CDT. The first tornado of the day developed around 12:16 PM CDT from a supercell moving across northern Buffalo County into Sherman County and was rated as an EF1. This storm moved northward and split into two storms with the second storm on the right becoming stronger and continuing to move north northeast. These two storms produced a total of six tornadoes in Buffalo, Sherman, Howard, and Greeley Counties. The last tornado of the day developed in Greeley County just after 2 PM CDT and moved northeastward before exiting this local area into Boone County (which is located in the Eastern Nebraska area). The strongest tornado within the south central Nebraska area was rated an EF3, passing very near Elba in Howard County (this was the strongest tornado to strike the 24-county area in nearly 10 years...since EF-3 tornadoes on May 11, 2014). Other storms developed and produced hail. The largest hail was golf ball sized which fell in Howard County around 1:15 PM CDT. Prior to departing the local area, they produced quarter sized hail in Nance County just after 3 PM CDT.