EF1 tornado in Cedar County, Nebraska

This was the first of 3 tornadoes that developed to the north of the Laurel area. This tornado was a large multi-vortex tornado. Video from storm chasers indicate that the tornado had vorticities that moved in varying directions, but the overall movement of the tornado was to the west southwest at a very slow pace. Although the tornado circulation was large, the slow movement of the tornado limited the potential damage. This included tree limbs and power poles, but one farmstead was impacted along Highway 15 where the house lost part of the roof and outbuildings were heavily damaged.

The warm front that was responsible for the significant tornadoes on the afternoon of the 16th, lifted slightly north on the 17th into far northeast Nebraska. Extreme instability again developed along this boundary given the very warm and humid airmass in place across the region. By late afternoon an isolated supercell thunderstorm developed along this boundary and quickly become severe. This lone supercell produced several tornadoes, 3 of which were strong, as well as large hail and flash flooding, over Cedar County Nebraska over the next 4 hours.