PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT...CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
400 PM CDT TUE MAY 25 2004

... DAMAGE SURVEY REPORT ON THE HALLAM NEBRASKA TORNADO ...

A SURVEY WAS CONDUCTED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN VALLEY,NE OF THE TORNADO THAT STRUCK HALLAM ON SATURDAY,MAY 22ND.  THE FOLLOWING IS AN OVERVIEW OF DAMAGE ALONG THE TRACK.

THE TORNADO STARTED 2 MILES NORTH OF DAYKIN,NE AND TRAVELED 
EAST-NORTHEAST TO ABOUT 1 MILE SOUTH OF WESTERN AND CONTINUED TO ABOUT 2 MILES NORTH OF SWANTON.  THE TORNADO WAS RATED F0 TO F1 ON THE FUJITA DAMAGE SCALE IN THIS SECTION. MUCH OF THE DAMAGE WAS DUE TO FARM OUTBUILDINGS,GRAIN BINS AND TREES.  THE TORNADO REMAINED F0 TO F1 UNTIL IT STRUCK THE SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF WILBER WHERE IT  STRENGHTHENED TO F2.   ROOFS BLOWN OFF OF HOMES OCCURRED JUST SOUTHEAST OF WILBER. 

THE TORNADO FROM WILBER TO NORTH OF CLATONIA TO HALLAM GREW TO ITS MOST INTENSE STAGE.  THE TORNADO'S PATH WIDTH ALSO INCREASED TO AN UNPRECIDENTED TWO AND ONE-HALF MILES.  THE F-SCALE RATING FOR THE STORM WAS F4 FROM ABOUT CLATONIA TO HALLAM.  MANY WELL-BUILT HOMES WERE DEMOLISHED.  GRAIN BINS,FARM SHEDS AND OUTBUILDINGS,AND TREES WERE DEMOLISHED ALONG THIS SECTION OF THE PATH.  HALLAM ITSELF ESCAPED THE STRONGEST WINDS OF THE STORM,WHICH WERE SOUTH OF THE TOWN.  NEVERTHELESS,MANY OF THE STRUCTURES IN HALLAM WERE RATED F2 TO F3.   THE STORM ALSO TOPPLED HOPPER CARS FROM A FREIGHT TRAIN ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE TOWN. 

THE TORNADO THEN TRACKED EAST FOR SEVERAL MILES PRIOR TO TURNING 
NORTHEAST AGAIN.  THE STORM NARROWED TO ABOUT A MILE WIDE AS IT 
PASSED JUST NORTH OF CORTLAND AND ABOUT 2 MILES NORTH OF FIRTH.  THE NORRIS SCHOOLS NORTH OF FIRTH RECEIVED SEVERE DAMAGE WITH THE ROOF OF THE MIDDLE SCHOOL AUDITORIUM COLLAPSED AND SEVERAL WALLS CAVED IN.  SCHOOL BUSSES WERE TOSSED.  SEVERAL HOMES NORTHEAST OF THE SCHOOLS WERE FLATTENED WHERE THE STORM WAS AGAIN RATED F4. 

DAMAGE CONTINUED NORTHEAST TO HOLLAND AND 2 MILES NORTH OF PANAMA. THE TORNADO WAS SLGHTLY WEAKER IN THIS SECTION (F2 AT THE MOST) AND BEGAN TO NARROW.  THE TRACK THEN CURVED MORE TO THE NORTH, JUST TO THE SOUTH OF BENNET WHERE SOME HOMES RECEIVED F3 DAMAGE.  AFTER PASSING TO THE SOUTH OF BENNET, THE STORM MOVED BACK TO THE NORTHEAST AND BEGAN TO WEAKEN TO F0 TO F1 STRENGTH.   THE TRACK ALSO WAS BECOMING NARROWER.  THE TORNADO THEN DISSIPATED 1 MILE WEST OF PALMYRA.

IN SUMMARY.

F-SCALE RATING:        F4
PATH LENGTH:           52 MILES
MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH:    2 1/2  MILES 

THE FUJITA DAMAGE SCALE IS AS FOLLOWS:

F0       LESS THAN 73 MPH         CHIMNEYS DAMAGED, TREES BROKEN 
F1       73-112   MPH             MOBILE HOMES MOVED 
                                                OFF FOUNDATIONS OR OVERTURNED

F2       113-157 MPH              CONSIDERABLE DAMAGE, MOBILE HOMES 
                                                DEMOLISHED, TREES UPROOTED 

F3       158-206  MPH             ROOF AND WALLS TORN DOWN, TRAINS 
                                                OVERTURNED, CARS THROWN 

F4       207-260  MPH             WELL-CONSTRUCTED WALLS LEVELED 

F5       261-318  MPH             HOMES LIFTED OFF FOUNDATIONS 
                                                AND CARRIED SOME DISTANCE, CARS 
 THROWN A LONG DISTANCE.