Box Butte County, Nebraska severe weather history spans 538 recorded events between 1955 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 63.6% of all recorded events. It ranks #757 nationally and #28 in Nebraska.
538
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
1
Direct injuries
$4.7M
Property damage
The record
What the Box Butte County, Nebraska severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Box Butte County, Nebraska severe weather history averages 7.7 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 191 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 94 events fall before 1990 and 444 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is tornado, with $3.9M 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 Box Butte County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 342 | 0 | $354K | 4.3 | 1955–2025 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 126 | 0 | $427K | 83 | 1956–2025 |
| Tornado | 43 | 0 | $3.9M | F2 | 1955–2019 |
| Funnel Cloud | 9 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1996–2015 |
| Heavy Rain | 9 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1998–2022 |
| Flash Flood | 6 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2012–2024 |
| Lightning | 2 | 0 | $17K | 0 | 1998–1998 |
| Winter Weather | 1 | 0 | $5K | 0 | 1997–1997 |
Decade by decade
Box Butte County, Nebraska severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
43 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 41 touched down inside it and 2 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978-07-20 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 53.2 mi | Crossed in |
| 2017-06-12 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 31.7 mi | Crossed in |
| 1975-06-25 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 16.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 1962-05-14 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 18.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 1993-05-05 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1993-06-23 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1991-06-28 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 1989-06-29 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 1988-05-30 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 1977-05-14 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Box Butte County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 8, 1997 | Winter Weather | COUNTYWIDE | 0 | 1 | $5K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A discontinuous tornado path continued northeast into Box Butte County from Morrill County. Additional roof damage was surveyed to a large building near the Alliance Airport (DI 1, DOD 3). This was the end of the discontinuous tornado path in Morrill and Box Butte Counties. Sixty-five train cars were blown over south of Alliance.
Estimated wind gusts of 60 mph and some nickel size hail reported from Hemingford, Nebraska, withan unofficial wind gust of 96 mph at a highway observation platform 5 miles east of Hemingford. Center pivots flipped and about 45 power poles damaged.
Roofs torn off 1 mobile home and 1 apartment complex; at least 2 cars damaged by fallen limbs; power lines downed; 1 camper flipped; trees uprooted; 3' diameter maple tree thrown onto roof of house; 6' wooden fence downed.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
10,714
Population (ACS)
$167K
Median home value
9
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 6, 2021 | 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 1, 2017 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR |
| Jun 25, 2015 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR |
Within the county
Most affected places
- Alliance 205
- Hemingford 124
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Box Butte County, Nebraska?
538 events are on record between 1955 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths and $4.7M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Box Butte County?
Hail, with 342 recorded events — 63.6% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Box Butte County?
43 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 41 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Box Butte County?
9 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Box Butte County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Box Butte County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Box Butte County as very low risk, placing it in the 21 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Box Butte 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
- Boone County 356
- Boyd County 248
- Blaine County 292
- Brown County 458
- Banner County 215
- Buffalo County 795
Cite this page
“Box Butte County, Nebraska.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/nebraska/box-butte-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.