Cherry County, Nebraska severe weather history spans 1,463 recorded events between 1953 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 64.3% of all recorded events. It ranks #40 nationally and #2 in Nebraska.
1,463
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
10
Direct injuries
$6.7M
Property damage
The record
What the Cherry County, Nebraska severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Cherry County, Nebraska severe weather history averages 20.3 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 512 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 154 events fall before 1990 and 1,309 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is tornado, with $4.5M 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 Cherry County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 940 | 0 | $1.4M | 5 | 1960–2025 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 375 | 0 | $627K | 87 | 1961–2025 |
| Tornado | 103 | 0 | $4.5M | F3 | 1953–2025 |
| Funnel Cloud | 17 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2003–2024 |
| Flash Flood | 14 | 0 | $63K | 0 | 2001–2025 |
| Heavy Rain | 8 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2009–2014 |
| Lightning | 3 | 0 | $1K | 0 | 1996–2010 |
| Flood | 3 | 0 | $161K | 0 | 2010–2020 |
Decade by decade
Cherry County, Nebraska severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
110 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 102 touched down inside it and 8 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011-08-11 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1977-05-18 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 18.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 1962-06-15 | EF3 | 0 | 6 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2025-04-27 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2025-04-27 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 19.1 mi | Crossed in |
| 2025-04-27 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 11.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 2009-07-13 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1999-06-04 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 19.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1977-05-18 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 19.7 mi | Touched down here |
| 1977-07-10 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 15.9 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Cherry County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 16, 1962 | Tornado | 0 | 6 | $250K | |
| Jun 21, 1980 | Tornado | 0 | 2 | $25K | |
| Aug 5, 1996 | Lightning | WOOD LAKE | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Sep 4, 1989 | Thunderstorm Wind | 0 | 1 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A tornado touched down 2 miles southeast of Merriman and moved southeast to 7 miles south of Eli before lifting. Trees were uprooted and windows were broken out of a house. Extensive damage was done to popcorn crops and alfalfa hay fields. Nine center pivot irrigation systems were destroyed. A stretch of power lines was snapped off along highway 20 and also along a road south of Eli as the tornado moved southeast.
A supercell thunderstorm produced a tornado that touched down over an open field approximately 1/4 mile to the southeast of a farmstead. As the tornado moved northeast, it destroyed a shed used for storing agricultural machinery, damaged a horse trailer, and snapped off several power poles. The tornado continued moving northeast across another open field before hitting another farmstead where it rolled a moble home, lifted a two-story 2 car garage and dropped it 20 feet north of its foundation totalling the pickup truck in the garage. The tornado also snapped off numerous trees in a shelter belt to the north of the farmstead and several power poles. Seconds before the tornado hit, the male occupant of the home took shelter in a concrete shed to the west of the home.
A tornado touched down a few miles north of Cody and moved south. In the path, the tornado tore the roof off a shop, destroyed a barn, twisted iron feed bunks, and snapped trees in a wind break. The main household was not damaged and no injuries were reported.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
5,498
Population (ACS)
$152K
Median home value
11
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| Jul 15, 2010 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR |
| Feb 25, 2010 | Severe Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORMS AND SNOWSTORM | DR |
| Jul 31, 2009 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND TORNADOES | DR |
Within the county
Most affected places
- Valentine 225
- Brownlee 222
- Merriman 204
- Merritt Res 172
- Irwin 125
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Cherry County, Nebraska?
1,463 events are on record between 1953 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths and $6.7M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Cherry County?
Hail, with 940 recorded events — 64.3% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Cherry County?
110 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 102 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Cherry County?
11 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Cherry County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Cherry County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Cherry County as very low risk, placing it in the 14 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Cherry 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
- Chase County 573
- Cheyenne County 840
- Cedar County 389
- Clay County 623
- Cass County 571
- Colfax County 263
Cite this page
“Cherry County, Nebraska.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/nebraska/cherry-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.