Boyd County, Nebraska severe weather history spans 248 recorded events between 1955 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 66.5% of all recorded events. It ranks #2,118 nationally and #81 in Nebraska.
248
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
8
Direct injuries
$23.4M
Property damage
The record
What the Boyd County, Nebraska severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Boyd County, Nebraska severe weather history averages 3.5 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 80 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 44 events fall before 1990 and 204 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Boyd County, Nebraska record is flash flood, responsible for 1 direct deaths. The costliest is flash flood, with $12.3M in reported property damage. In total, 6 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Boyd County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 165 | 0 | $221K | 4.5 | 1955–2025 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 56 | 0 | $280K | 87 | 1957–2025 |
| Tornado | 11 | 0 | $1.0M | F3 | 1960–2019 |
| Flash Flood | 10 | 1 | $12.3M | 0 | 1999–2023 |
| Flood | 5 | 0 | $9.6M | 0 | 2010–2019 |
| Heavy Rain | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2010–2010 |
Decade by decade
Boyd County, Nebraska severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
13 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 12 touched down inside it and 1 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1962-05-29 | EF4 | 0 | 0 | 24.2 mi | Crossed in |
| 1962-05-21 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 11.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1992-06-16 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 10.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1992-06-16 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1975-06-20 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1960-05-24 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2019-07-28 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1977-05-21 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 1974-06-21 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1967-06-18 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Boyd County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 14, 2019 | Flash Flood | MONOWI | 1 | 0 | $12.0M |
| May 14, 1962 | Tornado | 0 | 8 | $250K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Heavy rain on top of frozen ground, rivers and streams led to historical runoff on the Niobrara River downstream of the Norden river crossing. At 6:46 AM CDT Holt County Dispatch reported the failure of Spencer Dam. A series of ice jams that developed upstream broke loose that led to a wall of water, large blocks of ice and debris that moved downstream to destroy the dam structure with flood waters to destroy the south bridge abutment on U.S. Highway 281 and the campground, bar and home immediately downstream of the dam. The flood caused one fatality.
Heavy rainfall led to high flows on Ponca Creek that produced extensive flooding and evacuations in Lynch. Homes and business along Ponca Creek sustained four feet or more of flood water damage, while several privately own bridges along Ponca Creek were destroyed. The flood waters eroded streets along and south of Highway 12.
Thunderstorms training over the same areas produced six to nine inches of rainfall in northern Holt and central Boyd counties. Several roads were closed due to water flowing across the roads to include Highway 12 between Bristow and Lynch, while numerous roads were washed out 9 to 12 miles north of Stuart. Spencer Dam authorities announced that the dam had reached capacity resulting in high releases of water downstream of the dam.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
1,688
Population (ACS)
$104K
Median home value
18
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 24, 2024 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | 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 27, 2018 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Jun 29, 2018 | Snowstorm | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Boyd County, Nebraska?
248 events are on record between 1955 and 2025, causing 1 direct deaths and $23.4M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Boyd County?
Hail, with 165 recorded events — 66.5% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Boyd County?
13 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 12 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Boyd County?
18 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Boyd County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Boyd County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Boyd County as very low risk, placing it in the 3 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Boyd 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
- Box Butte County 538
- Brown County 458
- Boone County 356
- Buffalo County 795
- Blaine County 292
- Burt County 290
Cite this page
“Boyd County, Nebraska.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/nebraska/boyd-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.