Phelps County, Nebraska severe weather history spans 470 recorded events between 1956 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 47.9% of all recorded events. It ranks #980 nationally and #40 in Nebraska.
470
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
5
Direct injuries
$20.2M
Property damage
The record
What the Phelps County, Nebraska severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Phelps County, Nebraska severe weather history averages 6.8 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 141 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 74 events fall before 1990 and 396 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Phelps County, Nebraska record is tornado, responsible for 1 direct deaths. The costliest is hail, with $8.2M in reported property damage. In total, 7 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Phelps County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 225 | 0 | $8.2M | 2.75 | 1959–2024 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 181 | 0 | $4.7M | 75 | 1959–2025 |
| Tornado | 36 | 1 | $5.9M | F2 | 1956–2024 |
| Heavy Rain | 13 | 0 | $20K | 0 | 2000–2018 |
| Flash Flood | 9 | 0 | $1.4M | 0 | 2000–2019 |
| Flood | 4 | 0 | $55K | 0 | 1996–2013 |
| Funnel Cloud | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2004–2005 |
Decade by decade
Phelps County, Nebraska severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
40 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 36 touched down inside it and 4 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993-06-06 | EF3 | 0 | 2 | 60.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1956-10-29 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 65.5 mi | Crossed in |
| 2008-05-29 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 14.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1998-10-16 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 24.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1994-10-17 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1990-03-13 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 8.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1969-06-10 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1958-07-18 | EF2 | 0 | 2 | 6.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1960-06-15 | EF1 | 1 | 3 | 1.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2024-05-03 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.7 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Phelps County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 16, 1960 | Tornado | 1 | 3 | $3K | |
| Jul 19, 1958 | Tornado | 0 | 2 | $250K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Satellite imagery reveals a swath of golf ball size to isolated baseball size hail that stretched from extreme southeastern Gosper County to central Phelps County on the afternoon of June 30th. The path was about 2 to 3 miles wide. Within this swath, law enforcement reported baseball size hail 3 miles southeast of Loomis at 3:12 p.m. CST.
Peak wind gusts were estimated to be around 70 MPH, with measured gusts of 66 MPH from a mesonet station located three miles south-southwest of Holdrege and 60 MPH from the Holdrege Airport AWOS. The strongest winds were south-southwest of Holdrege, where a number of irrigation pivots were flipped, a flag pole was bent at a home, and minor tree damage was noted.
Wind gusts estimated to be near 85 MPH resulted in a swath of damage running from approximately 5-6 miles north of Funk to approximately 3-4 miles south-southeast of Funk. Emergency management reported numerous flipped irrigation pivots and several damaged or snapped power poles along this path. The only building damaged noted was an old barn which was destroyed north of Funk.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
9,009
Population (ACS)
$195K
Median home value
14
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 24, 2014 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Aug 12, 2011 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Jul 15, 2010 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR |
Within the county
Most affected places
- Holdrege 150
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Phelps County, Nebraska?
470 events are on record between 1956 and 2025, causing 1 direct deaths and $20.2M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Phelps County?
Hail, with 225 recorded events — 47.9% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Phelps County?
40 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 36 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Phelps County?
14 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Phelps County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Phelps County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Phelps County as very low risk, placing it in the 39 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Phelps 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
- Perkins County 492
- Pierce County 279
- Pawnee County 208
- Platte County 523
- Otoe County 473
- Polk County 325
Cite this page
“Phelps County, Nebraska.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/nebraska/phelps-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.