In the early evening hours of 22 September 2001, a supercell thunderstorm developed along an advancing prefrontal trough in an ambient environment ripe for severe convection. This supercell initially produced a weak tornado in northern Clay County, Nebraska, before intensifying as it interacted with a preexisting outflow boundary.

As this supercell intensified and tracked southeast, it produced an F3 tornado, which caused damage to several farmsteads in rural Clay County, Nebraska along its 8 mile path.

It is theorized the intensification of this supercell and subsequent tornadogenesis was enhanced by 1) the preexisting mesoscale boundary and 2) other storm-scale processes. Furthermore, the complete life cycle of this supercell occurred within 30 miles of the Hastings-Blue Hill (KUEX) Doppler radar.