What the record says
On 7 April 1978, a tornado touched down near Shelby, Nebraska. The Storm Prediction Center records its path as 8 miles long and up to 50 yards wide, rated F4 on the Fujita (F) scale.
- F4Fujita rating
- 0deaths
- 0injuries
- 8 mipath length
- 50 ydmaximum width
It has its own page because it was rated 4 or 5.
This page gives the official record's figures. Numbers of deaths and injuries are sometimes revised after a survey, and they cannot convey what the day was like for the people who lived through it.
Counties it crossed
The start point was at 41.18, -97.42 and the end point at 41.30, -97.37 (latitude, longitude).
How to read this path
The Storm Prediction Center records most tornadoes as a straight line from the point where they touched down to the point where they lifted. The real path usually curved and was not the same width all the way along. The width given is the widest part. Older records are less precise, and the record starts in 1950.
Source: the NOAA Storm Prediction Center database, public domain.
Other notable tornadoes in Nebraska
- Arcadia, Nebraska tornado7 June 1953, F4, 11 deaths, 15 miles long
- Norfolk, Nebraska tornado30 May 1954, F4, 6 deaths, 23 injuries, 29.9 miles long
- Belvidere, Nebraska tornado9 May 1953, F3, 5 deaths, 82 injuries, 46.9 miles long
- Hastings, Nebraska tornado5 May 1964, F5, 4 deaths, 50 injuries, 79.7 miles long
- Wood River, Nebraska tornado8 May 1965, F4, 4 deaths, 53 injuries, 125.7 miles long
- Little Sioux, Iowa tornado11 June 2008, EF3, 4 deaths, 48 injuries, 13 miles long
Other notable tornadoes of 1978
- Lyndon, Kansas tornado17 June 1978, F1, 16 deaths, 3 injuries, 7.3 miles long
- Rhodes, Iowa tornado16 September 1978, F3, 6 deaths, 45 injuries, 31.8 miles long
- Elgin, North Dakota tornado4 July 1978, F4, 5 deaths, 35 injuries, 26 miles long
- Monticello, Mississippi tornado18 April 1978, F4, 4 deaths, 31 injuries, 19.1 miles long
- Gary, Minnesota tornado5 July 1978, F2, 4 deaths, 44 injuries, 57.5 miles long
All tornadoes of 1978 · Nebraska tornado history · All notable tornadoes