118
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
8
Direct injuries
$134K
Property damage
Thunderstorm Wind in Butler County, Nebraska: 118 recorded events between 1964 and 2025. The strongest on record measured 85. That places the county #1,961 nationally and #53 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Thunderstorm Wind in Butler County, Nebraska: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for thunderstorm wind in Butler County is the 2000s, when 36 of the county's 118 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 Butler County archive, thunderstorm wind makes up 31.7% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #1,961 for this hazard and #53 within Nebraska, putting it in the 37.6 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jun is the peak month for thunderstorm wind in Butler County with 44 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.
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 6, 2004 | RISING CITY | 60 | 0 | 7 | $0 |
| Jun 10, 2003 | RISING CITY | 60 | 0 | 1 | $0 |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 14, 2025 | BRAINARD | 65 | $0 |
| Jul 16, 2025 | BRAINARD | 56 | $0 |
| Jul 16, 2025 | NIMBURG | 52 | $0 |
| Jul 16, 2025 | BELLWOOD | 52 | $0 |
| May 19, 2025 | BRUNO | 52 | $0 |
| Apr 2, 2025 | DAVID CITY | 71 | $0 |
| May 21, 2024 | BELLWOOD | 74 | $0 |
| Oct 4, 2023 | SURPRISE | 52 | $0 |
| Oct 4, 2023 | SURPRISE | 52 | $0 |
| Jul 4, 2023 | DAVID CITY | 55 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Butler County
- Hail 179
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
At David City, strong winds collapsed a large airport hanger and toppled at least five center pivots irrigation systems. Trees fell on two homes in the Surprise area causing damage. Severe tree damage occurred at Garrison and Rising City. Many power lines were downed.
A Nebraska Department of Roads sensor 3 miles south of David City measured a thunderstorm wind gust of 78 mph. The strong winds caused scattered tree, fence and house damage in the David City area and surrounding communities.
A downburst or a series of downbursts associated with the supercell thunderstorm that spawned 2 tornadoes in the Ulysses area produced tree and building damage from east of Ulysses through Dwight and Valparaiso (which is in Saunders county). The winds were estimated by an NWS storm survey to be 60 to 80 mph. The tree damage extended east toward Ceresco where the storm spawned 2 more tornadoes.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many thunderstorm wind events are on record in Butler County, Nebraska?
118 thunderstorm wind events are recorded in Butler County between 1964 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths.
What is the strongest thunderstorm wind recorded in Butler County?
The strongest thunderstorm wind on record in Butler County measured 85.
Where does the thunderstorm wind data for Butler 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
“Thunderstorm Wind in Butler County, Nebraska.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/nebraska/butler-county/thunderstorm-wind/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.