April 26, 2024 Elkhorn-Bennington-Blair Tornado Upgraded to EF-4

by United States National Weather Service Omaha/Valley NE

727 
NOUS43 KOAX 292048
PNSOAX
IAZ043-055-056-069-079-080-090-091-NEZ011-012-015>018-030>034-
042>045-050>053-065>068-078-088>093-300900-

Public Information Statement
National Weather Service Omaha/Valley NE
348 PM CDT Mon Jul 29 2024

...April 26, 2024 Elkhorn-Bennington-Blair Tornado Upgraded to 
EF-4...

The National Weather Service in Omaha/Valley has conducted a
thorough review of all available information in the wake of the
damaging tornado outbreak of April 26, 2024. This includes direct
comparison to other tornado damage of similar magnitude, forensic
analysis, and careful evaluation of newly available high 
resolution overhead photography immediately after the tornado 
occurred and prior to clean up. These analyses indicate that the 
tornado that tracked through the Elkhorn, Bennington, and Blair 
areas had a few points along the track where EF-4 damage occurred,
with an estimated peak wind speed of 170 mph based on the damage.
This is an increase of only 5 mph from the previous rating 
information, but brings the tornado from EF-3 to EF-4 category. 
This conclusion is being released now, in time for the final 
submission of the April 26, 2024 severe weather data into the 
official NOAA Storm Data publication. All other tornado damage 
information from the April 26, 2024 event will be maintained at 
the levels released via Public Information Statement and the 
Damage Assessment Toolkit in early May.



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