National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Overview

As a warm and moist atmosphere returned to the central and northern Plains on June 16th thunderstorms developed during the early morning over central and eastern Nebraska, which later moved into western Iowa by early afternoon. These thunderstorms were severe with large hail, some up to tennis ball size.

The morning thunderstorm left a boundary between rain-cooled air to the north and a hot and humid airmass to the south over eastern Nebraska. The combination of this boundary and strong vertical wind shear resulted in an volatile atmosphere by mid afternoon over the area on June 16, 2014 that was favorable for supercell thunderstorms capable of producing tornadoes. Shortly after 2 pm CDT, thunderstorms began developing in this atmosphere to the northwest of Columbus, NE. This area of scattered thunderstorms quickly became one very intense supercell over Stanton County that tracked to the northeast through the afternoon. The supercell thunderstorm produced a total of 5 tornadoes, 4 of which were rated as violent on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. The tornadoes resulted in 2 fatalities, several injuries, and millions of dollars in damage. 

Regional Radar Loop
Regional Radar Mosaic June 16, 2014
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