We see tornadoes in Nebraska quite a bit. In fact, according to the Storm Prediction Center, Nebraska averages right around 45 tornadoes a year. This year has been very different, though. We’ve already more than doubled that average!
However, sometimes we see something that looks like a tornado, but it turns out to be their little cousin, the gustnado. Gustnadoes are a type of tornado but are usually much weaker than the traditional tornadoes. These weak tornadoes usually appear as dust or debris along the leading edge of outflow thunderstorm winds.
The typical tornado forms from a wall cloud or a rain free cloud base. Gustnadoes are hard to identify because a funnel cloud is not always visible from the cloud base. They become apparent once they hit the ground and kick up dust and debris. Storm chasers call these gustnadoes land spouts because they typically don’t have strong winds and can resemble a water spout.
Most gustnadoes have winds speeds of less than 72 mph; however, the stronger ones can produce minor damage to trees, windows and roofs. In very rare cases, tornadoes associated with thunderstorm outflows can become stronger and look like the typical mid-western tornado, but again, this is very rare. Gustnadoes occur most frequently in western Nebraska and in the high plains of Colorado, Wyoming and Montana.