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Richardson County, Nebraska severe weather history spans 348 recorded events between 1953 and 2026. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 38.2% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,503 nationally and #61 in Nebraska.
348
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
0
Direct injuries
$4.5M
Property damage
The record
What the Richardson County, Nebraska severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Richardson County, Nebraska severe weather history averages 4.8 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 114 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 60 events fall before 1990 and 288 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is flood, with $2.2M 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 Richardson County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 133 | 0 | $30K | 4.5 | 1956–2026 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 124 | 0 | $1.5M | 79 | 1960–2026 |
| Flood | 41 | 0 | $2.2M | 0 | 2007–2024 |
| Tornado | 23 | 0 | $593K | F1 | 1953–2025 |
| Flash Flood | 12 | 0 | $12K | 0 | 2001–2021 |
| Heavy Rain | 12 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2008–2019 |
| Lightning | 2 | 0 | $135K | 0 | 1997–2006 |
| Funnel Cloud | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2024–2024 |
Decade by decade
Richardson County, Nebraska severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
23 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-06-05 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 18.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 1967-06-07 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 67.3 mi | Crossed in |
| 2015-08-08 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 2.2 mi | Crossed in |
| 1999-04-05 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1993-05-06 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 8.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1960-06-29 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1960-05-16 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1960-05-19 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1960-06-14 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1953-05-10 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 9.7 mi | Touched down here |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A swath of destructive straight line winds impacted portions of southeast Richardson County including Falls City. The Falls City ASOS measured a 91 miles per hour wind gust at 1:09 pm CDT, and again at 1:12 pm CDT. The ASOS lost power and stopped transmitting data at 1:15 pm CDT. Widespread tree damage was reported across Falls City with snow plows assisting in the removal of tree debris. Trees went through the roofs of two homes, and an additional house had a wall blown down as reported by law enforcement. A large factory in town lost approximately 3 to 4 thousand square feet of its roof. Powerlines were down across the southeast portion of the county, debris was strewn out across fields, and a school bus was reported to have been moved by the wind.
Heavy rain over much of eastern Nebraska and western Iowa during most of June caused a prolonged period of flooding along the Missouri River, especially downstream of Omaha through Rulo. The river at Rulo reached a record crest of around 26.6 feet during the evening of 6/23, flood stage is 17 feet. An earlier crest of around 25 feet was measured on 6/17. The river remained flood stage into and through July. Highway 159 near Rulo was closed for a time and substantial flooding of lowlands along the river occurred including cabins, homes and recreation areas. At least 30 to 40 people were evacuated from 20 homes that were damaged by flood waters.
This is for flooding along the Missouri River. The river gage at Rulo, operated by the USGS, peaked at 28.14 feet at 5 pm on March 17th. Major flood stage is 26 feet. Preliminarily this peak is the highest on record. Flooding continued into the next month. Levee R520 overtopped as a result of this high water. Several houses just to the Northeast on the Rulo side of the bridge were under water and the bridge crossing the Missouri River from Nebraska to Missouri was closed due to water over the road.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
7,751
Population (ACS)
$100K
Median home value
23
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 24, 2024 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Feb 23, 2022 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND TORNADOES | 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 |
| Jun 25, 2015 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR |
Within the county
Most affected places
- Rulo 161
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Richardson County, Nebraska?
348 events are on record between 1953 and 2026, causing 0 direct deaths and $4.5M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Richardson County?
Hail, with 133 recorded events — 38.2% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Richardson County?
23 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 19 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Richardson County?
23 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Richardson County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Richardson County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Richardson County as very low risk, placing it in the 14 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Richardson 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
- Red Willow County 596
- Rock County 361
- Polk County 325
- Saline County 536
- Platte County 523
- Sarpy County 531
Cite this page
“Richardson County, Nebraska.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/nebraska/richardson-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.