Nebraska natural disasters

The state's storm and disaster record · population 1,960,023 · 93 counties and county equivalents

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 64,003 storm events in Nebraska since 1950, 54,938 of them since 1996 when every event type began to be recorded, and the Storm Prediction Center counts 3,223 tornadoes in the state since 1950. The most frequent records are hail reports (25,051). In NOAA's storm record since 1950, the deadliest tornado day in Nebraska was June 7, 1953: tornadoes and the storms that came with them killed 11 people in the state; the deadliest of them in Nebraska, the Arcadia tornado, killed 11 (SPC). FEMA has made 88 declarations for Nebraska since 1960, 82 for natural hazards; 71 were major disasters.

The record, 1950 to 2026

Storm events recorded in Nebraska each year (2026 to June 30, 2026). Before 1996 NOAA recorded only tornadoes (from 1950), thunderstorm wind and hail (from 1955).

recorded, no damage figure
under $1 million
$1 million or more
$10 million or more
$100 million or more, or 10 deaths
$1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
a year with a death
1955: wind and hail recorded from 1955
1996: all 48 event types from 1996

Storm events recorded: 64,0031950 to June 30, 2026
Deaths recorded: 1821,871 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars: $14.9Bas filed (scale steps before 1993)
Tornadoes (SPC): 3,2231950 to 2025
FEMA declarations: 8871 major disasters

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026 (file revision 20260918); tornado count: NOAA Storm Prediction Center, 1950-2025; damage in 2025 dollars (BLS CPI-U). Search the record at NCEI.

What natural disasters happen in Nebraska?

By NOAA's records, Nebraska's most frequent hazards are hail reports (25,051), severe thunderstorm wind events (13,616), winter storm records (8,064); the deadliest are winter storm records (72 deaths). Each hazard is counted over the years NOAA has recorded it everywhere: tornadoes since 1950, hail and thunderstorm wind since 1955, everything else since 1996. Open a hazard for its years, months, counties and worst events.

Nebraska: records by hazard to June 30, 2026
Hazard	Records	Last 10 years	Killed	Injured	Damage	Counties
Hail	25,051	5,042	0	99	$4.3B	93 of 93
Severe thunderstorm wind	13,616	4,307	7	138	$1.5B	93 of 93
Winter storms	8,064	2,725	72	123	$290M	93 of 93
High wind and dust storms	3,739	1,684	9	58	$21M	93 of 93
Drought	3,444	1,891	0	0	$422M	85 of 93
Tornadoes	3,400	461	56	1,216	$6.7B	93 of 93
Floods	2,363	687	13	8	$1.5B	93 of 93
Extreme cold	2,212	683	6	15	$3.5M	93 of 93
Heat	751	245	6	135	$16M	77 of 93
Heavy rain	681	207	0	0	$23M	77 of 93
Fog, smoke and funnel clouds	388	81	3	2	$889K	83 of 93
Lightning	204	11	5	29	$41M	71 of 93
Wildfires	88	58	5	48	$70M	41 of 93
Rip currents and high surf	1	1	0	0	–	1 of 93
Landslides and avalanches	1	0	0	0	–	1 of 93

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: every record counted once in the state; "last 10 years" is 2017-2026 (2026 to June 30, 2026).

What were the deadliest disasters in Nebraska?

The storms with the most deaths since 1950, from the National Weather Service's own entries. NOAA files one storm as several records when it crosses forecast zones and counties or changes type, and groups them under one episode; each row here is an episode, with its totals and the narrative of its deadliest record. Before 1996 tornado records carry no episode and stand alone. The narrative says what happened: some deaths the National Weather Service files under a weather type had another cause beside the weather.

Nebraska: the 10 storm episodes with the most deaths
Date	Record	Character	Killed	Injured	Damage
1953-06-07	Tornadoes of the day; the deadliest, Arcadia, killed 11 (SPC) · TornadoValley County Every tornado record filed in the state that day (19, in 14 places; before 1996 NOAA filed no storm episodes); the totals are the day's.	F4 15 mi x 440 yd	11	19	$250K step
1954-05-30	Tornadoes of the day; the deadliest, Newman Grove to Hoskins, killed 6 (SPC) · TornadoMadison County Every tornado record filed in the state that day (3, in 3 places; before 1996 NOAA filed no storm episodes); the totals are the day's.	F4 24 mi x 167 yd	6	23	$2.5M step
2013-03-10	BlizzardLancaster County · forecast zone Lancaster One storm episode: 6 records in 6 places; the totals are the episode's. A powerful winter storm moved into the central Plains during the weekend of March 9-10th. The system initially brought warm weather and scattered showers and thunderstorms on the evening of the 8th into the morning of the 9th. As the main upper level storm system emerged on the Plains late on the 9th, a strong cold ...		6	0	–
1980-06-03	Tornadoes of the day; the deadliest, Grand Island, killed 3 (SPC) · TornadoHall County Every tornado record filed in the state that day (14, in 2 places; before 1996 NOAA filed no storm episodes); the totals are the day's.	F4	5	200	$250M step
1953-05-09	Tornadoes of the day; the deadliest, Belvidere to Milford, killed 5 (SPC) · TornadoThayer County Every tornado record filed in the state that day (5, in 5 places; before 1996 NOAA filed no storm episodes); the totals are the day's.	F3 6.5 mi x 880 yd	5	82	$2.5M step
2006-11-26	Winter WeatherBuffalo County · forecast zone Buffalo One storm episode: 3 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. It was a very warm period for Thanksgiving with afternoon high temperatures in the 50s and 60s, a cold front moved into the area on Sunday and brought colder air to the region. Occasional freezing drizzle developed across the region and produced some slick spots on area roads and bridges. This contributed to numerous ...		5	24	$88K
1964-05-05	Tornadoes of the day; the deadliest, Bradshaw, killed 4 (SPC) · TornadoYork County Every tornado record filed in the state that day (9, in 9 places; before 1996 NOAA filed no storm episodes); the totals are the day's.	F5 19.4 mi x 880 yd	4	68	$2.5M step
1965-05-08	Tornadoes of the day; the deadliest, Tilden to Wausa, killed 4 (SPC) · TornadoBoone County Every tornado record filed in the state that day (17, in 14 places; before 1996 NOAA filed no storm episodes); the totals are the day's.	F4 27.2 mi x 33 yd	4	53	$25M step
2010-02-14	Winter WeatherCass County · forecast zone Cass One storm episode: 6 records in 6 places; the totals are the episode's. A quick moving storm brought strong winds and blizzard or near-blizzard conditions to a large part of eastern Nebraska and western Iowa on Feb. 14th and 15th. As low pressure aloft dropped southeast across eastern Nebraska early on the 14th, light to moderate snow developed over the region. As the system moved ...		4	15	–
2013-01-11	Winter WeatherLincoln County · forecast zone Lincoln The Nebraska State Patrol notified WFO North Platte of a plane that took off from the North Platte Regional Airport, Lee Bird Field (LBF) at 1546 CST and lost contact seven minutes later at 1553 CST. At the time weather conditions at LBF included freezing drizzle and visibility of three miles, with a cloud ceiling of ...		4	0	$1.3M

A damage figure marked "step" is a record from before 1993: NOAA then filed damage by category, and the figure is the category as entered, in the dollars of that year, not an estimate of the loss.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed in this state, summed over the records of each episode (EPISODE_ID); a forecast-zone record counts the zone's deaths once. A tornado's whole-track deaths (SPC), on the state's tornado page, can be higher when the track crossed a state line. Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.

The costliest records in Nebraska

Nebraska: the 8 records with the most damage since 1993, 2025 dollars
Date	Record	Character	Killed	Injured	Damage
2001-04-10	HailOmaha, Douglas County	1.75 in hail	0	1	$500M
2019-03-15	FloodOffutt Afb, Sarpy County		0	0	$485M
2001-04-30	HailOmaha, Douglas County	1.75 in hail	0	0	$333M
2004-05-22	TornadoHallam, Lancaster County	F4 19.5 mi x 4,400 yd	1	30	$156M
2015-05-06	FloodShestak, Saline County		0	0	$125M
1994-07-24	HailBenkleman, Dundy County	2.75 in hail	0	2	$110M
1994-07-01	Thunderstorm WindSutton, Clay County		0	2	$110M
1993-05-07	TornadoBlue Hill To, Polk County	F3 60 mi x 10 yd	0	0	$102M

Before 1993 NOAA filed damage by category, not amount, so the list above starts in 1993. The highest category filed here before then (entered as $250M, in the dollars of the day) holds: May 6, 1975 (tornado, Douglas County, 3 killed); June 3, 1980 (tornado, Hall County, 3 killed).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars with the BLS CPI-U. BLS consumer price index.

Which counties in Nebraska have the most records?

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950 attributed to each county (forecast-zone records count on every county the zone covers).

Every county in Nebraska

Billion-dollar disasters in Nebraska

NOAA counted 66 weather or climate disasters from 1980-2024 that cost at least $1 billion (adjusted for inflation) and affected Nebraska, led by severe storm (44). The most recent: Central and Northeast Severe Weather (2024); Central and Eastern Severe Weather (2024); Central, Southern, Eastern Severe Weather (2024).

Nebraska: billion-dollar disasters by type, 1980-2024
Type	Events	Total cost (NOAA's range)
Severe Storm	44	$10.0B-$20.0B
Drought	13	$10.0B-$20.0B
Flooding	5	$5.0B-$10.0B
Freeze	2	$5M-$100M
Wildfire	1	$5M-$100M
Winter Storm	1	$5M-$100M

Every one of the 66, newest first

Central and Northeast Severe Weather2024
Central and Eastern Severe Weather2024
Central, Southern, Eastern Severe Weather2024
Central and Southern Tornado Outbreak2024
Southern/Eastern/Northwestern Drought and Heat Wave2024
North Central and Eastern Severe Weather2023
Central Severe Weather2023
Rockies Hail Storms and Central and Eastern Severe Weather2023
Central Severe Weather2023
Southern/Midwestern Drought and Heatwave2023
Central and Eastern Winter Storm and Cold Wave2022
Central Derecho2022
Central Severe Weather2022
North Central Severe Weather2022
Southern Severe Weather2022
Western/Central Drought and Heat Wave2022
Midwest Derecho and Tornado Outbreak2021
Central Severe Storms2021
Central Severe Weather - Derecho2020
Central Severe Weather2020
Western/Central Drought and Heat Wave2020
Southeast and Eastern Tornado Outbreak2020
Rockies, Central and Northeast Tornadoes and Severe Weather2019
Mississippi River, Midwest and Southern Flooding2019
Missouri River and North Central Flooding2019
Rockies and Plains Hail Storms2018
Central and Northeast Severe Weather2018
Midwest Severe Weather2017
Midwest Severe Weather2017
Midwest Tornado Outbreak2017
Plains Tornadoes and Central Severe Weather2016
Southern Plains Tornadoes2015
Rockies/Central Plains Severe Weather2014
Center Severe Weather2014
Midwest/Plains Severe Weather2013
Western/Plains Drought/Heat Wave2013
Western Wildfires2012
Midwest Tornadoes2012
U.S. Drought/Heat Wave2012
Midwest/Southeast Severe Weather2011
Midwest/Southeast Tornadoes and Severe Weather2011
Missouri River flooding2011
Midwest, South and East Severe Weather2009
Midwest/Southeast Tornadoes2009
Midwest/Mid-Atlantic Severe Weather2008
Midwest Tornadoes and Severe Weather2008
Midwest Flooding2008
Spring Freeze2007
Midwest/Southeast Tornadoes2006
Midwest/Plains/Southeast Drought2006
Severe Storms, Hail, Tornadoes2004
Severe Storms/Tornadoes2003
Western/Central Drought/Heat Wave2003
U.S. Drought2002
North Central Severe Weather2001
Midwest/Ohio Valley Hail and Tornadoes2001
Western/Central/Southeast Drought/Heat Wave2000
Oklahoma and Kansas Tornadoes1999
Midwest/Plains Tornadoes1994
Northern Plains and Ohio Valley Severe Weather1993
Midwest Flooding1993
Northern Plains Drought1989
U.S. Drought/Heat Wave1988
Freeze/Cold Wave1983
Midwest/Plains/Southeast Tornadoes1982
Central/Eastern Drought/Heat Wave1980

Source: NOAA NCEI U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters, state summary for Nebraska, 1980-2024 (NCEI's last update; the product is archived). A disaster that affected several states counts in each. NCEI billion-dollar disasters.

Federal disaster declarations in Nebraska

FEMA has made 88 declarations for Nebraska since 1960: 71 major disasters, 8 emergencies and 9 fire management assistance declarations. The most common incident types are severe storm (39), flood (20), fire (10).

1960s 7
1970s 7
1980s 3
1990s 9
2000s 20
2010s 20
2020s 22

The 15 most recent declarations in Nebraska
Declared	Number	Type	Title	Areas named
2026-08-03	DR-4928	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding	8
2026-06-30	DR-4920	Fire	Wildfires	5
2026-06-10	FM-5637	Fire	South Fork Fire	2
2026-03-13	FM-5623	Fire	Morrill-Cottonwood Fire	7
2025-10-22	DR-4896	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding	12
2025-05-21	DR-4868	Winter Storm	Severe Winter Storm and Straight-Line Winds	28
2024-10-21	DR-4838	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding	5
2024-09-24	DR-4822	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding	17
2024-08-20	DR-4808	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding	19
2024-05-24	DR-4786	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm and Straight-Line Winds	8
2024-05-03	DR-4778	Tornado	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes	6
2023-04-09	FM-5462	Fire	Waconda-Beaver Lake Fire Complex	1
2022-07-27	DR-4662	Severe Storm	Severe Storms and Straight-Line Winds	20
2022-04-23	FM-5436	Fire	Road 702 Fire	3
2022-02-23	DR-4641	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes	25

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

Flood insurance claims in Nebraska

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $96.2 million on 5,716 claims in 66 Nebraska counties. Claims count insured losses only.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk across Nebraska's counties

How FEMA's National Risk Index rates Nebraska's counties overall: a model of expected future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of events.

Relatively High 1
Relatively Moderate 2
Relatively Low 16
Very Low 74

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, county table, December 2025 release. FEMA's National Risk Index map.