Cheyenne County, Nebraska severe weather history spans 840 recorded events between 1951 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 57.7% of all recorded events. It ranks #256 nationally and #8 in Nebraska.
840
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
2
Direct injuries
$12.2M
Property damage
The record
What the Cheyenne County, Nebraska severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Cheyenne County, Nebraska severe weather history averages 11.4 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 282 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 140 events fall before 1990 and 700 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is hail, with $6.8M in reported property damage. In total, 9 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Cheyenne County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 485 | 0 | $6.8M | 4 | 1955–2025 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 213 | 0 | $101K | 82 | 1955–2025 |
| Tornado | 69 | 0 | $3.1M | F3 | 1951–2025 |
| Flash Flood | 49 | 0 | $2.1M | 0 | 1996–2024 |
| Heavy Rain | 15 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2010–2024 |
| Funnel Cloud | 4 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1996–2012 |
| Flood | 3 | 0 | $3K | 0 | 1998–1998 |
| Lightning | 1 | 0 | $1K | 0 | 1998–1998 |
| Winter Weather | 1 | 0 | $5K | 0 | 1997–1997 |
Decade by decade
Cheyenne County, Nebraska severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
71 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 66 touched down inside it and 5 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985-05-27 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 48.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1960-06-20 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 26.1 mi | Crossed in |
| 1960-06-27 | EF3 | 0 | 1 | 15.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 1960-06-20 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1958-07-01 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 15.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 1954-06-06 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 19.9 mi | Crossed in |
| 1951-06-25 | EF2 | 0 | 1 | 10.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 2007-05-27 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1997-06-14 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1993-06-22 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Cheyenne County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 27, 1960 | Tornado | 0 | 1 | $250K | |
| Jun 25, 1951 | Tornado | 0 | 1 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Lodgepole Creek overflowed its banks roughly 3.3 miles west of town and flowed east between U.S. Highway 385 and the railroad tracks. The railroad and highway narrowed near the COOP in Lodgepole causing waters to build up pressure and then reode the railroad bed causing flooding in the south part of town by 11 pm. During the worst of the flooding water was five feet deep in places. Other areas in town saw two to three feet of water cover an area three blocks wide and five blocks long.
Thunderstorm winds of 62 MPH blew the roof off a construction company building at 1746 and deposited the roof 100 yards away. Winds also damaged several business signs, and split a tree truck which then partially blocked a residential street.
Thunderstorms produced 2 to 3 inches of rainfall over Cheyenne County, with isolated amounts of 4.5 inches. Some streets in Sidney were covered with 6 to 18 inches of water. Other roads around the county had water flowing over them.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
9,533
Population (ACS)
$140K
Median home value
10
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 24, 2024 | Severe Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM 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 |
| Jun 29, 2018 | Snowstorm | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR |
| Jul 15, 2010 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR |
Within the county
Most affected places
- Sidney 240
- Potter 113
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Cheyenne County, Nebraska?
840 events are on record between 1951 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths and $12.2M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Cheyenne County?
Hail, with 485 recorded events — 57.7% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Cheyenne County?
71 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 66 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Cheyenne County?
10 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Cheyenne County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Cheyenne County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Cheyenne County as very low risk, placing it in the 28 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Cheyenne 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
- Cherry County 1,463
- Clay County 623
- Chase County 573
- Colfax County 263
- Cedar County 389
- Cuming County 316
Cite this page
“Cheyenne County, Nebraska.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/nebraska/cheyenne-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.