Garden County, Nebraska severe weather history spans 486 recorded events between 1953 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 64.4% of all recorded events. It ranks #924 nationally and #38 in Nebraska.
486
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
1
Direct injuries
$6.1M
Property damage
The record
What the Garden County, Nebraska severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Garden County, Nebraska severe weather history averages 6.8 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 159 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 30 events fall before 1990 and 456 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Garden County, Nebraska record is lightning, responsible for 1 direct deaths. The costliest is thunderstorm wind, with $4.0M in reported property damage. In total, 7 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Garden County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 313 | 0 | $575K | 4.5 | 1961–2025 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 133 | 0 | $4.0M | 81 | 1971–2025 |
| Tornado | 26 | 0 | $1.3M | F2 | 1953–2025 |
| Flash Flood | 9 | 0 | $272K | 0 | 1997–2024 |
| Lightning | 2 | 1 | $0 | 0 | 1998–2023 |
| Funnel Cloud | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2003–2021 |
| Heavy Rain | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2014–2014 |
Decade by decade
Garden County, Nebraska severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
26 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 24 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-04-27 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 19.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2003-06-20 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 1.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1980-10-15 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1962-06-15 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 21.3 mi | Crossed in |
| 1960-08-16 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1980-05-31 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1962-06-20 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 59.9 mi | Crossed in |
| 1960-04-12 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1953-07-07 | EF1 | 0 | 1 | 10.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 2025-04-27 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 2.1 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Garden County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 21, 2023 | Lightning | OSHKOSH | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Jul 8, 1953 | 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
Tornado touched down approximately 3 miles southwest of Bingham in far northern Garden County. This tornado quickly increased in size as it moved northeast, impacting utility poles and trees along Highway 2. Just to the east, the tornado impacted a farmstead and overturned a freight train, producing EF2 damage. The tornado continued to move slowly northeast for the next hour, primarily impacting open country in rural southwest Cherry County. The tornado ended shortly after 6 PM MST, 11 miles north-northeast of Ashby Nebraska.
A violent downburst broke off large trees…one which fell on the roof of a small motel. The downburst also caused a pole barn to be destroyed, removed a roof from a machine shed, overturned two pivot irrigation systems, and stripped numerous corn fields on the northeast side of Oshkosh.
The tornado touched down near the North Platte River and destroyed an old barn and snapped off trees before moving north across Highway 26 and taking down power poles. After moving across the highway, it destroyed three outbuildings, three grain bins, a large machine shed, and a two car detached garage and broke off numerous large trees at a farmstead. It continued to move north-northeast and destroyed three wind mills and three center pivot irrigation systems and threw 1/2 ton hay bales one quarter mile into a corn field.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
1,761
Population (ACS)
$110K
Median home value
13
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 30, 2026 | Fire | WILDFIRES | DR |
| Mar 13, 2026 | Fire | MORRILL-COTTONWOOD FIRE | FM |
| 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 |
Within the county
Most affected places
- Oshkosh 242
- Lewellen 105
- Lisco 103
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Garden County, Nebraska?
486 events are on record between 1953 and 2025, causing 1 direct deaths and $6.1M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Garden County?
Hail, with 313 recorded events — 64.4% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Garden County?
26 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 24 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Garden County?
13 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Garden County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Garden County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Garden County as very low risk, placing it in the 3 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Garden 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
- Gage County 621
- Garfield County 294
- Furnas County 560
- Gosper County 276
- Frontier County 537
- Grant County 256
Cite this page
“Garden County, Nebraska.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/nebraska/garden-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.