53
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
1
Direct injuries
$6.7M
Property damage
Tornado in Keith County, Nebraska: 53 recorded events between 1957 and 2024. The strongest on record measured F2. That places the county #337 nationally and #16 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Tornado in Keith County, Nebraska: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for tornado in Keith County is the 2000s, when 11 of the county's 53 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 Keith County archive, tornado makes up 6.8% of all recorded severe weather across 7 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #337 for this hazard and #16 within Nebraska, putting it in the 88.5 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jun is the peak month for tornado in Keith County with 20 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.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
| Date | Scale | Path length | Max width | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-05-23 | EF2 | 0.3 mi | 200 yd | Touched down here |
| 1983-07-15 | EF2 | 0.3 mi | 100 yd | Touched down here |
| 1970-06-25 | EF2 | 0.3 mi | 10 yd | Touched down here |
| 2024-05-23 | EF1 | 5.2 mi | 430 yd | Touched down here |
| 2024-05-23 | EF1 | 0.1 mi | 25 yd | Touched down here |
| 2024-05-23 | EF1 | 2.1 mi | 200 yd | Touched down here |
| 2024-05-23 | EF1 | 0.3 mi | 50 yd | Touched down here |
| 2007-03-28 | EF1 | 0.7 mi | 20 yd | Touched down here |
| 1999-07-19 | EF1 | 6.0 mi | 300 yd | Touched down here |
| 1996-06-05 | EF1 | 2.0 mi | 200 yd | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 11, 1977 | 0 | 0 | 1 | $25K |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 24, 2024 | ROSCOE | EFU | $0 |
| May 23, 2024 | LAKE MC CONAGHY | EF0 | $20K |
| May 23, 2024 | LAKE MC CONAGHY | EF2 | $3.5M |
| May 23, 2024 | LAKE MC CONAGHY | EF1 | $5K |
| May 23, 2024 | LAKE MC CONAGHY | EF1 | $50K |
| May 23, 2024 | BRULE | EF1 | $600K |
| May 23, 2024 | LEMOYNE | EFU | $0 |
| May 23, 2024 | BRULE | EF1 | $450K |
| Jun 17, 2018 | SARBEN | EF0 | $0 |
| Jun 17, 2018 | BRULE | EF0 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Keith County
- Hail 451
- Thunderstorm Wind 243
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A brief, but significant, tornado developed in the Lakeview Subdivision and traveled to the northeast. Multiple dwellings suffered damage, including a large pole barn destroyed and single family homes with roof or exterior wall loss. Multiple trees were also downed.
The tornado touched down near road M5 south and Road West 40 in southwestern Keith county where it damaged power poles, snapped several trees off and destroyed a 5000 bushel grain bin. The tornado traveled to the east, overturning two center pivot irrigation systems approximately a quarter mile east of the initial touchdown point. The tornado continued east, damaging outbuildings and overturning a third pivot. The tornado traveled further east, overturning a semi trailer, damaging a shelter belt and striping shingles and siding off a house at a farmstead. The tornado then tracked northeast, where it flipped a fourth center pivot, and damaged outbuildings at a farmstead. The tornado traveled another mile to the northeast before dissipating. Before it dissipated two more center pivot irrigation systems were destroyed.
The tornado touched down briefly 4 miles southwest of Ogallala where its intensity was F0. The tornado then lifted and touched down again in the southeast part of Ogallala as an F1 and travelled northwest through a mobile home park destroying two trailers and damaging ten others. It then crossed Highway 61 and struck Indian Hills Manor breaking all the windows on the east side of the building and taking the roof off WEL-Life, a senior residence near Indian Hills. It then hit two homes, taking the roof off one and removing the garage from the other.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many tornado events are on record in Keith County, Nebraska?
53 tornado events are recorded in Keith County between 1957 and 2024, causing 0 direct deaths.
What is the strongest tornado recorded in Keith County?
The strongest tornado on record in Keith County measured F2.
Where does the tornado data for Keith 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
“Tornado in Keith County, Nebraska.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/nebraska/keith-county/tornado/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.