F2 Tornado — Thayer, Nebraska

2004-05-22 · near Belvidere, Thayer, Nebraska

Event narrative

A tornado traveled 8 miles and damaged 6 farmsteads. One house was hit by the tornado. Damage was so severe; the owners burnt the 120 year old house. A machine shed was destroyed toward the end of the tornadoes path. Three semi-trucks were stacked on top of each other at one site. Several center pivot systems were destroyed.

Wider weather episode

One of the worst severe weather outbreaks in recent years struck south-central Nebraska the afternoon and evening of May 22. No less than 17 different tornadoes rolled across south-central Nebraska. Dozens of homes were damaged and a few completely destroyed. Over 250 center irrigation pivots were damaged or destroyed in south-central Nebraska alone. Large hail and strong straight-line winds of up to 80 mph also wreaked havoc on the region. Several million dollars in property damage was reported. Hundreds of power poles were snapped resulting in dozens of miles of downed electrical line.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (40.7333, -99.0000)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5403102. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.