Nuckolls County, Nebraska severe weather history spans 395 recorded events between 1950 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 41.3% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,275 nationally and #48 in Nebraska.
395
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
10
Direct injuries
$52.2M
Property damage
The record
What the Nuckolls County, Nebraska severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Nuckolls County, Nebraska severe weather history averages 5.3 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 124 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 71 events fall before 1990 and 324 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is tornado, with $33.8M 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 Nuckolls County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 163 | 0 | $3.1M | 3 | 1956–2024 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 132 | 0 | $14.2M | 80 | 1956–2025 |
| Tornado | 47 | 0 | $33.8M | F4 | 1950–2024 |
| Heavy Rain | 42 | 0 | $35K | 278 | 2002–2022 |
| Flash Flood | 6 | 0 | $815K | 0 | 2008–2025 |
| Lightning | 3 | 0 | $215K | 0 | 1996–1997 |
| Flood | 2 | 0 | $40K | 0 | 2011–2016 |
Decade by decade
Nuckolls County, Nebraska severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
48 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 42 touched down inside it and 6 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990-03-13 | EF4 | 0 | 8 | 131.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1986-09-18 | EF3 | 0 | 7 | 7.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1974-04-20 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 41.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 2015-05-06 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 20.1 mi | Crossed in |
| 2010-06-20 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 1.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1991-04-11 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 21.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1974-05-10 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1964-04-25 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 44.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 2016-04-24 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 2.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 2015-05-06 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 9.5 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Nuckolls County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 19, 1986 | Tornado | 0 | 7 | $2.5M | |
| Mar 13, 1990 | Tornado | 0 | 3 | $25.0M |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Wind gusts were estimated to around 75 MPH. Tree limbs of 6 to 10 inches in diameter were downed, and several streets closed due to trees across them. Power was out for much of the town for several hours. A couple vehicles were damaged by falling tree limbs. A 40 foot section of a roof was blown off of the local lumberyard and an awning was damaged at another business. At least 9 irrigation pivots were damaged south of town. Most of the damage focused between 8th Street and the Republican River.
This is a continuation of the tornado that touched down west-northwest of Webber in Jewell County, KS, traveling northeast through the very northwest corner of Republic County, KS, before entering Nebraska near the town of Hardy in Nuckolls County. It continued traveling northeast into Thayer County, lifting northwest of Deshler. This tornado was rated an EF2, with an estimated peak wind speed of 122 MPH. EF2 damage was noted in both Jewell County, KS and Nuckolls County, NE.||Damage along this tornado path included numerous pivots overturned and snapped power poles. There was a large amount of tree damage noted. In addition, in Nuckolls County, grain bins and outbuildings were destroyed. One home sustained chimney and siding damage, while another home lost a large section of its roof.
A line of thunderstorms with damaging wind gusts up to 80 MPH moved across the county. In Nelson, trees were reported down, including one that fell on a house and pickup, causing extensive damage to the house. At the fairgrounds, a tin roof was removed from a barn, and a couple its trusses were damaged. The roof of the arena was damaged and a camper was flipped on it side.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
4,087
Population (ACS)
$97K
Median home value
21
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 22, 2025 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR |
| May 21, 2025 | Winter Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR |
| Feb 23, 2022 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND TORNADOES | 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 |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Nuckolls County, Nebraska?
395 events are on record between 1950 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths and $52.2M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Nuckolls County?
Hail, with 163 recorded events — 41.3% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Nuckolls County?
48 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 42 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Nuckolls County?
21 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Nuckolls County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Nuckolls County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Nuckolls County as very low risk, placing it in the 22 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Nuckolls 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
- Nemaha County 356
- Otoe County 473
- Nance County 241
- Pawnee County 208
- Morrill County 466
- Perkins County 492
Cite this page
“Nuckolls County, Nebraska.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/nebraska/nuckolls-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.