Valentine, NE 07/20/05

[Bobbi Andrzejek]

Was anyone on this storm? I saw reports of UNK wind gusts, but I saw what looked like F2-type damage (to my inexperienced eye).

I was there the morning of 7/21 to pick up my daughter for a trip to Colorado. The brick wall of the Methodist church was partially collapsed (exposing the interior of the church), the roof was missing and the garage attached to the adjacent house was also collapsed.

I also saw numerous roofs blown off and trees down, but that was probably from the straightline winds.

I was just wondering if the church/house damage had been ruled a tornado or not.

Bobbi Andrzejek

 

[matthaden]

Bobbi

Here is a link with information from that storm from the North Platte website in Nebraska. There was very little information about this storm in the news websites and even from the govt.

Valentine Storm

~Matt

 

[Mark Farnik]

After looking at the pictures, I wonder if there wasn't an embedded F1 in the bow echo as it moved through Valentine. The demolished pole buildings, partially collapsed granary, blown over grain dryer and snapped trees show typical severe straight line wind damage, but the damage to the church and tan house seems suspicious. The pictures taken show debris scattered all around, not just in one particular direction as one would typically see with straight line winds. The church especially displays this erratic damage pattern, with both wall and roof damage. That would seem to confirm my suspicion of an embedded tornado within the bow echo. There have been multiple cases of weak tornadoes embedded within strong bow echoes over the years, especially in the Midwest. This is just my personal opinion, of course.

 

[matthaden]

Interesting that you should mention a possible tornado.

My Fiancee's Uncle lives on the street very close to that church and they said that they saw the tornado but we are not sure why it was just reported as wind gusts.

~Matt