54
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
28
Direct injuries
$49.9M
Property damage
Tornado in Gage County, Nebraska: 54 recorded events between 1953 and 2024. The strongest on record measured F4. That places the county #323 nationally and #15 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Tornado in Gage County, Nebraska: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for tornado in Gage County is the 1970s, when 12 of the county's 54 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the Gage County archive, tornado makes up 8.7% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #323 for this hazard and #15 within Nebraska, putting it in the 89.0 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
May is the peak month for tornado in Gage County with 22 recorded events, while Jan is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
| Date | Scale | Path length | Max width | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004-05-22 | EF4 | 54.0 mi | 4,400 yd | Crossed in |
| 1973-09-25 | EF3 | 169.7 mi | 100 yd | Crossed in |
| 1991-04-26 | EF3 | 24.0 mi | 200 yd | Crossed in |
| 1956-04-28 | EF3 | 39.3 mi | 10 yd | Crossed in |
| 2008-05-29 | EF2 | 10.8 mi | 440 yd | Touched down here |
| 2006-04-15 | EF2 | 34.0 mi | 880 yd | Touched down here |
| 2006-04-06 | EF2 | 17.3 mi | 440 yd | Crossed in |
| 2001-04-11 | EF2 | 2.0 mi | 50 yd | Touched down here |
| 1996-05-08 | EF2 | 9.5 mi | 880 yd | Touched down here |
| 1991-04-26 | EF2 | 4.0 mi | 150 yd | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 9, 1996 | BEATRICE | F2 | 0 | 15 | $12.0M |
| Sep 26, 1973 | F3 | 0 | 8 | $2.5M | |
| Apr 11, 2001 | VIRGINIA | F2 | 0 | 2 | $400K |
| Jun 10, 1967 | F2 | 0 | 2 | $250K | |
| Jul 3, 1958 | F2 | 0 | 1 | $250K |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 7, 2024 | (BIE)BEATRICE ARPT | EF0 | $0 |
| May 7, 2024 | KRIDER | EF0 | $0 |
| Jun 11, 2022 | KRIDER | EF1 | $0 |
| Jun 11, 2022 | BLUE SPGS | EFU | $0 |
| May 22, 2020 | BARNESTON | EFU | $0 |
| May 2, 2018 | KRIDER | EF0 | $0 |
| Jun 17, 2017 | (BIE)BEATRICE ARPT | EF0 | $0 |
| Apr 10, 2017 | CORTLAND | EF0 | $0 |
| May 7, 2015 | CORTLAND | EF1 | $0 |
| May 28, 2013 | BEATRICE | EF0 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Gage County
- Hail 277
- Thunderstorm Wind 218
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 on the north side of Liberty, then proceeded to lift and touch down through the east side of town. It caused extensive structural damage to outbuildings and mobile homes. Some trees were also uprooted.
This tornado formed about 6 miles west of Wymore at 433 pm CDT (1533 CST), tracked northeast to around 4 miles east of Beatrice where it caused f2 damage, then tracked just south of Adams and crossed into Johnson county 2 miles southeast of Adams around 515 pm CDT. In Johnson county the tornado tracked another 5 miles before dissipating or lifting 3 miles north of Sterling. This tornado formed from a supercell which then became rain-wrapped and took on a heavy rain (hp) supercell characteristics.In Gage county, the average width of the damage path of the tornado was around 150 yards, but it did reach around 1/2 mile in a 3 mile stretch from 4 miles east of Beatrice to 6 miles east northeast of Beatrice. The total path length in Gage and Johnson counties was 34 miles. Seventy-three homes were affected by the tornado, one house was basically destroyed and two others received major damage. One farmstead had 10 trees uprooted. The tornado also destroyed two large chicken houses that when full could house up to 86,000 broilers. In Gage county the damage was estimated at $4.5 million.
A bow echo that moved across the Beatrice area spun up an EF2 tornado just north of town while south through east of town a narrow path of straight line wind damage occurred. The tornado touched down around 2 miles east of Highway 77 near Hackberry Road where it severely damaged two houses. Farm outbuildings were also severely damaged or destroyed. The tornado was rated an EF2 at that location. From there the tornado damaged a church on Elm Road with trees also snapped or uprooted in both areas as well. The tornado continued east northeast causing substantial tree and outbuilding damage to 10 more farmsteads, along with some house damage. Most of the damage occurred along Hackberry Road with the damage path around 1/4 mile wide. As the tornado worked its way east northeast toward Johnson county…the damage gradually weakened and the path narrowed. The tornado was estimated to have lifted a little northeast of Filley. Emergency management estimated that the tornado and the wind damage south through east of town caused at least a million dollars worth of damage.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many tornado events are on record in Gage County, Nebraska?
54 tornado events are recorded in Gage County between 1953 and 2024, causing 0 direct deaths.
What is the strongest tornado recorded in Gage County?
The strongest tornado on record in Gage County measured F4.
Where does the tornado data for Gage County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Tornado in Gage County, Nebraska.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/nebraska/gage-county/tornado/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.