PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
950 PM CDT SUN JUN 22 2003

TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....

0935 PM 1/2 S FULLERTON NE TORNADO
06/22/03 NANCE REPORTED BY LAW
ENFORCEMENT
OFFICIAL.

NWUS53 KGID 230251
LSRGID

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
949 PM CDT SUN JUN 22 2003

TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....

0830 PM 3 N BRADSHAW NE TORNADO
06/22/03 YORK REPORTED BY LAW
ENFORCEMENT
OFFICIAL.
 
 

NWUS53 KGID 230247
LSRGID

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
947 PM CDT SUN JUN 22 2003

TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....

0729 PM DESHLER NE TORNADO
06/22/03 THAYER CONSIDERABLE
STRUCTURAL
DAMAGE. TREES
DOWN AND
ELECTRICITY OUT.
DEBRIS
IN THE AIR. INJURIES
REPORTED.

NWUS53 KGID 230029
LSRGID

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
727 PM CDT SUN JUN 22 2003

TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE
...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....

0705 PM AURORA NE 4.5 INCH HAIL
06/22/03 HAMILTON REPORTED BY STORM
SPOTTER.

NOUS43 KGID 232021
PNSGRI

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
320 PM CDT MON JUN 23 2003

...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONDUCTS SURVEYS OF STORM DAMAGE...

SEVERE WEATHER RAVAGED CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND NORTH CENTRAL
KANSAS SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH THE EARLY MORNING MONDAY. THE HARDEST HIT AREAS INCLUDED THE NEBRASKA COUNTIES OF THAYER AND HAMILTON 
AND THE KANSAS COUNTIES OF JEWELL...PHILLIPS AND SMITH. THE 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE IN HASTINGS DEPLOYED 
THE WARNING AND COORDINATION METEOROLOGIST TO THAYER COUNTY
AND TWO WEATHER SERVICE EMPLOYEES TO HAMILTON COUNTY. 

...THAYER COUNTY TORNADO...

AT 620 PM CDT A TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN IN THAYER COUNTY A FEW
MILES NORTH OF DESHLER. THIS TORNADO TRACKED TO THE SOUTHEAST.
DEBRIS FIELDS AND SURFACE BASED REVIEW OF THE TRACK SUGGESTS THAT THE TORNADO THEN TRACKED WESTWARD THROUGH TOWN BEFORE WEAKENING AND MOVING SOUTH OF DESHLER. 

THE FINAL REPORT OF TORNADIC ACTIVITY WAS AROUND 654 PM CDT...
PLACING THE TORNADO ROUGHLY 8 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DESHLER. 

APPROXIMATELY 30 HOMES WERE DAMAGED OR DESTROYED. NUMEROUS
STRUCTURES SUSTAINED ROOF DAMAGE OR OTHER VISIBLE EXTERNAL STRUCTURAL DAMAGE. A FEW HOMES WERE SHIFTED FROM THEIR FOUNDATIONS. PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT PLACES THE TORNADO AT THE F2 RATING ON THE FUJITA SCALE.

AS OF 11 AM CDT MONDAY...THERE WERE TWO CONFIRMED INJURIES. THE 
INJURED WERE TRANSPORTED TO MEDICAL FACILITIES BY AMBULANCE.
IN  ADDITION TO THE INJURIES THERE IS ONE CONFIRMED DEATH. THE
VICTIM WAS A 47 YEAR OLD MALE WHO WAS LEAVING A WORKSHOP TO SEEK
SHELTER FROM THE STORM. THE DEATH OCCURRED AT APPROXIMATELY 650 PM CDT SUNDAY. 

AN AERIAL SURVEY WAS NOT CONDUCTED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE. THE PRELIMINARY TRACK INFORMATION MAY BE REVISED AS MORE AERIAL  FILM AND PHOTOGRAPHS BECOME AVAILABLE. 

THE LAST TORNADO RELATED DEATH IN THE HASTINGS COUNTY WARNING
AREA OCCURRED DURING THE GRAND ISLAND TORNADO OUTBREAK ON JUNE 3,
1980. FIVE DEATHS WERE REPORTED IN HALL COUNTY DURING THIS OUTBREAK. 

...FUJITA SCALE EXPLAINED...

IN 1971, DR. T. THEODORE FUJITA OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
DEVISED A SIX-CATEGORY SCALE TO CLASSIFY U.S. TORNADOES INTO SIX
INTENSITY CATEGORIES, NAMED F0-F5. THESE CATEGORIES ARE BASED UPON THE 
ESTIMATED MAXIMUM WINDS OCCURRING WITHIN THE FUNNEL. THE FUJITA 
TORNADO SCALE (OR THE "F SCALE") HAS SUBSEQUENTLY BECOME THE 
DEFINITIVE SCALE FOR ESTIMATING WIND SPEEDS WITHIN TORNADOES
BASED UPON THE DAMAGE DONE TO BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES. IT IS USED 
EXTENSIVELY BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN INVESTIGATING 
TORNADOES (ALL TORNADOES ARE NOW ASSIGNED AN F SCALE), AND BY 
ENGINEERS IN CORRELATING DAMAGE TO BUILDING STRUCTURES AND 
TECHNIQUES WITH DIFFERENT WIND SPEEDS CAUSED BY TORNADOES. 

SCALE SPEED

F0 40 TO 72 MPH 
F1 73 TO 112 MPH 
F2 113 TO 157 MPH 
F3 158 TO 206 MPH 
F4 207 TO 260 MPH 
F5 261 TO 318 MPH 

...HAMILTON COUNTY HAILSTONE...

AT 705 PM CDT SUNDAY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HASTINGS 
RECEIVED REPORTS OF LARGE HAIL IN AURORA...HAMILTON COUNTY
NEBRASKA. INITIAL REPORTS STATED THAT THE HAIL HAD PENETRATED THE ROOF OF A HOME, LEAVING HOLES IN THE STRUCTURE LARGE ENOUGH TO CRAWL THROUGH. 

THE STONES WERE SAVED AND PLACED IN A FREEZER AT THE
RESIDENCE AND TWO NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EMPLOYEES WERE SENT TO ASSESS THE DAMAGE AND RECORD THE SIZE. 

THE HAILSTONE MEASURED 6.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER WITH A
CIRCUMFERENCE OF 17.3 INCHES. 

THIS COMPARES TO THE POTTER NEBRASKA HAILSTONE ON JULY 12,
1928. THE POTTER NEBRASKA HAILSTONE WAS 5.4 INCHES IN DIAMETER AND
WEIGHED APPROXIMATELY 1.5 POUNDS.

...LARGEST HAILSTONE ON RECORD...

PRIOR TO TODAY...THE LARGEST HAILSTONE ON RECORD OCCURRED IN 
COFFEYVILLE KANSAS ON SEPTEMBER 3, 1970. THIS STONE MEASURED
5.7 INCHES IN DIAMETER...17.5 INCHES IN CIRCUMFERENCE AND WEIGHED
1.67 POUNDS. 

&&

THE FOLLOWING ARE LINKS WHICH CAN PROVE USEFUL. ALL ADDRESSES
ARE LOWER CASE AND ARE U.S. GOVERNMENT SITES. 

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/gid

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/satellite/satelliteseye/educational/fujita.html

http://www.erh.noaa.gov/er/box/hail.html
 

$$

MICHAEL LEWIS
METEOROLOGIST IN CHARGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
FORECAST OFFICE 
HASTINGS, NE 68901