Great Plains Tornado Outbreak

Over the course of several days, a tornado outbreak was unleashed on multiple states across the Great Plains

On April 26, 2024, several supercell thunderstorms erupted over the Central Plains, producing tornadoes across Nebraska and Iowa. A large and destructive tornado, rated an EF-3 by the National Weather Service, passed just north of Lincoln, Nebraska. Another long-track EF-3 tornado caused destruction in Elkhorn, a town just on the outskirts of Omaha.

On April 27, 2024, another severe weather set-up brought tornadoes and large hail to parts of Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. The first tornado-producing supercells initiated in the afternoon in parts of Texas and Oklahoma. The most devastating tornadoes came at night in southern Oklahoma, with an EF-3 touching down near the town of Sulphur. Soon after, a powerful, EF-4 tornado rolled passed Mariette and Ardmore, ripping open a Dollar Tree warehouse.

More information on severe weather can be found via the Storm Prediction Center. For information on tornado tracks, visit the Damage Assessment Toolkit.

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Contributions by: CIRA Staff, Dakota Smith, Kim Erickson and Josh Reiter

Satellite imagery of this event:

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