Cedar County, Nebraska severe weather history spans 389 recorded events between 1953 and 2026. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 50.6% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,299 nationally and #49 in Nebraska.
389
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
6
Direct injuries
$12.8M
Property damage
The record
What the Cedar County, Nebraska severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Cedar County, Nebraska severe weather history averages 5.3 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 131 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 56 events fall before 1990 and 333 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Cedar County, Nebraska record is tornado, responsible for 1 direct deaths. The costliest is tornado, with $12.0M 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 Cedar County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 197 | 0 | $0 | 4.5 | 1956–2026 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 133 | 0 | $320K | 70 | 1960–2025 |
| Tornado | 31 | 1 | $12.0M | F4 | 1953–2022 |
| Flash Flood | 13 | 0 | $400K | 0 | 1999–2024 |
| Flood | 7 | 0 | $41K | 0 | 2011–2019 |
| Funnel Cloud | 4 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1997–2018 |
| Lightning | 2 | 0 | $105K | 0 | 1996–1997 |
| Heavy Rain | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2010–2011 |
Decade by decade
Cedar County, Nebraska severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
34 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 28 touched down inside it and 6 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003-06-23 | EF4 | 1 | 0 | 13.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2014-06-17 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1975-05-06 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 44.8 mi | Crossed in |
| 1963-05-12 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 12.8 mi | Crossed in |
| 1962-05-21 | EF3 | 0 | 7 | 71.7 mi | Crossed in |
| 1959-05-30 | EF2 | 1 | 2 | 26.8 mi | Crossed in |
| 2014-06-17 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.9 mi | Touched down here |
| 2014-06-17 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 5.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 1998-05-28 | EF2 | 0 | 1 | 8.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1992-05-16 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 10.0 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Cedar County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 24, 2003 | Tornado | COLERIDGE | 1 | 0 | $3.7M |
| Jun 7, 1953 | Tornado | 0 | 4 | $25K | |
| May 28, 1998 | Tornado | COLERIDGE | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| May 22, 1962 | Tornado | 0 | 1 | $2.5M |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
This was the strongest of the tornadoes that the Cedar County supercell produced. This tornado developed to the northwest of Coleridge and moved slowly east southeast just to the north of the city of Coleridge. As the tornado neared 567th Ave the tornado turned to the south along the eastern edge of the city producing some significant structural damage along the eastern side of Coleridge. The tornado continued south until nearing 875th Road where the foward speed further slowed, and the tornado changed to an eastern movement while becoming rain-wrapped. The eastern direction occurred for a half mile before the tornado moved almost due north along 568th Ave while significantly weakening. The most significant damage, which was strong EF3, occurred to the north of Coleridge along the 876th Road. Here, two farm houses were destroyed down to the foundation and trees were snapped and debarked. The total path of the tornado, including all the turns, was 8.24 miles.
This was the final tornado in the Cedar County event. This tornado initially moved southwest while increasing in intensity and width. The tornado produced the most significant damage as it turned south along 573rd Ave where the tornado impacted a farm where outbuildings were completely destroyed. The tornado continued south crossing United States Highway 20. The tornado started to turn southeast about 1.5 miles northeast of Laurel. The tornado continued southeast producing mainly tree and power line damage before crossing into Dixon County near 869th Road. The complete track of the tornado was 8.04 miles.
The nearly stationary supercell over Cedar County produced very heavy rain and flash flooding. Flooding was reported over State Highway 57 south of Hartington. In addition to this flooding, numerous secondary gravel roads were flooded and impassable during the late evening on June 17th from torrential rains.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
8,315
Population (ACS)
$185K
Median home value
16
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 27, 2022 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | 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 27, 2018 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Jul 24, 2014 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Cedar County, Nebraska?
389 events are on record between 1953 and 2026, causing 1 direct deaths and $12.8M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Cedar County?
Hail, with 197 recorded events — 50.6% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Cedar County?
34 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 28 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Cedar County?
16 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Cedar County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Cedar County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Cedar County as very low risk, placing it in the 22 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Cedar 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
- Cass County 571
- Chase County 573
- Butler County 372
- Cherry County 1,463
- Burt County 290
- Cheyenne County 840
Cite this page
“Cedar County, Nebraska.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/nebraska/cedar-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.