Live
Active alerts for this county
Butler County, Nebraska severe weather history spans 372 recorded events between 1952 and 2026. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 48.1% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,377 nationally and #52 in Nebraska.
372
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
13
Direct injuries
$37.4M
Property damage
The record
What the Butler County, Nebraska severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Butler County, Nebraska severe weather history averages 5.0 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 102 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 72 events fall before 1990 and 300 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is tornado, with $33.0M in reported property damage. In total, 8 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Butler County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 179 | 0 | $4.0M | 4 | 1959–2026 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 118 | 0 | $134K | 85 | 1964–2025 |
| Tornado | 37 | 0 | $33.0M | F4 | 1952–2024 |
| Flash Flood | 14 | 0 | $136K | 0 | 1996–2024 |
| Flood | 14 | 0 | $114K | 0 | 2007–2024 |
| Heavy Rain | 5 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2010–2019 |
| Funnel Cloud | 4 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1996–2024 |
| Lightning | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2003–2003 |
Decade by decade
Butler County, Nebraska severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
41 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 34 touched down inside it and 7 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964-05-05 | EF5 | 4 | 50 | 79.7 mi | Crossed in |
| 1990-03-13 | EF4 | 0 | 8 | 131.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1952-08-13 | EF3 | 0 | 1 | 44.4 mi | Crossed in |
| 2006-09-15 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1970-06-10 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1970-06-15 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 42.9 mi | Touched down here |
| 1967-06-13 | EF2 | 0 | 1 | 88.3 mi | Crossed in |
| 1953-06-07 | EF2 | 0 | 2 | 6.9 mi | Touched down here |
| 2024-04-26 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 8.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2008-06-04 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 3.8 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Butler County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 6, 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | RISING CITY | 0 | 7 | $0 |
| Jun 7, 1953 | Tornado | 0 | 2 | $250K | |
| Jun 7, 1953 | Tornado | 0 | 2 | $25K | |
| Jun 10, 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | RISING CITY | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Aug 13, 1952 | Tornado | 0 | 1 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Hail up to 2 inches in diameter damaged at least several hundred vehicles in town and also caused roof damage to a few hundred homes. The main damage path was from the southwest into the northeast part of town with the damage estimated at $4 million.
At David City, strong winds collapsed a large airport hanger and toppled at least five center pivots irrigation systems. Trees fell on two homes in the Surprise area causing damage. Severe tree damage occurred at Garrison and Rising City. Many power lines were downed.
A tornado touched down around 1 mile east of Rising City. Moving north, it damaged a corn crib and an old garage around 6 miles south of Bellwood and then overturned 2 center pivots and downed a few trees and power lines before lifting around 5 miles south of Bellwood.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
8,424
Population (ACS)
$184K
Median home value
19
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 21, 2025 | Winter Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR |
| Aug 20, 2024 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Apr 4, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Mar 21, 2019 | Flood | SEVERE WINTER STORM, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Aug 1, 2017 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Butler County, Nebraska?
372 events are on record between 1952 and 2026, causing 0 direct deaths and $37.4M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Butler County?
Hail, with 179 recorded events — 48.1% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Butler County?
41 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 34 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Butler County?
19 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Butler County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Butler County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Butler County as very low risk, placing it in the 24 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Butler County, Nebraska severe weather history data come from?
Every figure is drawn from United States federal public-domain records: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events for the event archive, NOAA SPC SVRGIS for mapped tornado paths, FEMA for disaster declarations and risk ratings, and the U.S. Census for population context. Dates are shown in UTC and recent entries may still be revised by NOAA.
Nearby
Neighbouring counties
- Burt County 290
- Cass County 571
- Buffalo County 795
- Cedar County 389
- Brown County 458
- Chase County 573
Cite this page
“Butler County, Nebraska.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/nebraska/butler-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.