EF2 tornado — Hayes County, Nebraska

EF2 tornado in Hayes County, Nebraska

Tornado May 18, 2025 · Hayes County, Nebraska

EF2

Rating

17.6 mi

Path length

1,000 yd

Path width

$1.5M

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 1,000 yards (0.57 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 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 touched down in pastureland destroying a windmill and numerous trees. The tornado then tracked to the north northeast over the next 34 minutes destroying outbuildings at a farmstead and feed lot and overturning several center pivot irrigation systems. Numerous power poles were also snapped by the tornado before dissipating south of Dickens Nebraska.

The wider storm

Thunderstorms developed over northeastern Colorado and northwestern Kansas during the late afternoon hours of May 18th. This activity developed in advance of an approaching mid level trough of low pressure and frontal boundary oriented from southeastern Wyoming into northwestern Kansas. Severe thunderstorms lifted into southwestern Nebraska and the southeastern Nebraska Panhandle, ending up in the Sandhills and portions of central Nebraska. Hail to around 3 inches in diameter, wind gusts up to 67 MPH and a tornado was reported with these severe storms.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1259853. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

EF2 tornado in Hayes County, Nebraska

What the National Weather Service wrote

The wider storm

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