Thunderstorm Wind — Colfax, Nebraska

2024-05-21 · near Richland, Colfax, Nebraska

Event narrative

This is a continuation of the swath of straight-line damaging winds from southern Platte County. Across much of Colfax County, widespread tree damage and overturned center pivots were observed. The most intense damage was focused along a corridor along and just north of US Highway 30. 1 miles east-northeast of Richland, Nebraska, the Colfax County Emergency Manager reported numerous outbuildings with their roofs blown off including a machine shed and 2 hog units. Peak wind gusts in the county were estimated at 95 miles per hour. This was determined from significant damage to large trees on Road G between Road 4 and Road 5. A trained spotter also recorded a wind gust of 79 miles per hour in Howells, Nebraska.

Wider weather episode

Troughing over the western CONUS brought southwesterly flow aloft over the central and northern Plains for the duration of this event. In the couple of days leading up to May 21st, the upper-level flow pattern amplified as a trough deepened over the northern Rockies. This trough then ejected out into the central Plains on the 21st. At the surface, a stationary front developed and stretched across central Nebraska and southern Iowa by the evening of the 19th. Elevated convection that morning north of the developing surface boundary resulted in isolated instances of severe hail and wind across southeast Nebraska. Additional scattered strong to severe thunderstorms developed along this frontal boundary as it slowly lifted north, with a 64 miles per hour wind gust measured in Lancaster County and golf ball sized hail falling in Clarinda Iowa.

A weak low-pressure system developed the morning of the 20th in response to a shortwave rounding the base of the main trough out west, resulting in a cold front that pushed southeast across South Dakota and central Nebraska that afternoon. This front, however, stalled out across eastern Nebraska and western Iowa that evening, remaining draped across the region that night and into the morning of the 21st. Numerous rounds of strong and severe thunderstorms that night brought widespread severe weather and flash flooding, primarily across east-central Nebraska and southwest Iowa, though some elevated supercells in northeast Nebraska brought small hail to the area. After 10 UTC, an intense line of severe thunderstorms moved across eastern Nebraska and western Iowa bringing wind gusts ranging from 60 to 95 miles per hour, in addition to several spin-up tornadoes.

As the primary upper-level disturbance ejected out over the Great Plains, intense surface cyclogenesis was noted over eastern Nebraska. This resulted in the frontal boundary that had been draped across eastern Nebraska and western Iowa that night prior to be forced northward. By 18 UTC, a strong cold front pushed through southeast Nebraska and into Iowa that afternoon. Scattered supercell thunderstorms developed along this cold front and moved across southeast Nebraska and western Iowa. These supercells became tornadic after crossing the Missouri River into Iowa, with several long-track significant tornadoes being confirmed across the state. In the OAX CWA, the strongest tornado damage confirmed was that consistent of an EF-2 in Montgomery County. This tornado continued into the DMX CWA where it caused EF-3 damage. Another tornado developed in Page County shortly before 3 PM that afternoon. This tornado went on to produce EF-4 damage in the DMX CWA. All in all, over this three-day event, 10 tornadoes were confirmed across the OAX CWA.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (41.4573, -97.2518)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1181009. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.