NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Beatrice, NE
Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.
Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated
No tropical storm or hurricane has passed within 75 miles of Beatrice, Nebraska since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 113 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 6 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 113
- EF3 or stronger
- 6
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
4 deaths in all
What the records show for Beatrice
The strongest of the 113 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on May 22, 2004; its path came within 18 miles, and it killed 1 person. The deadliest, an F3 on September 25, 1973, killed 3 people. Of the 113, 13 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 39 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 49. The most recent tornado was on May 6, 2024. Of the 91 Nebraska cities on this site, 63% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Beatrice. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 106 times since 1955, with stones up to 5 inches. Of the 91 Nebraska cities, 74% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Beatrice.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Beatrice
By decade
- 2020s6
- 2010s12
- 2000s21(2 EF3+)
- 1990s30(2 EF3+)
- 1980s5
- 1970s20(1 EF3+)
- 1960s7
- 1950s12(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 22, 2004 | F4 | 18 mi | 54 mi | 1 / 38 |
| Sep 25, 1973 | F3 | 2 mi | 169.7 mi | 3 / 42 |
| May 29, 2008 | EF3 | 19 mi | 55.22 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 24, 1993 | F3 | 13 mi | 9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 26, 1991 | F3 | 3 mi | 24 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 28, 1956 | F3 | 13 mi | 39.3 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Oct 3, 2013 | EF2 | 24 mi | 11.19 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 27, 2013 | EF2 | 11 mi | 5.93 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 29, 2008 | EF2 | 6 mi | 10.81 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 15, 2006 | F2 | 4 mi | 34 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 6, 2006 | F2 | 17 mi | 17.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 11, 2001 | F2 | 13 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 2 |
The strongest 12 of 113, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Beatrice
The Storm Prediction Center has 106 hail reports within 10 miles of Beatrice since 1955, made on 74 separate days. Of these, 77 were 1 inch across or larger, and 12 reached 2 inches. The largest, 5 inches, fell on June 11, 2022. The most recent report is from April 22, 2024. June has the most reports, 23.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Beatrice
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Beatrice 1N, NE, 2 miles north of Beatrice at 1,297 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 88°F and low of 66°F; January is the coolest, at 35°F and 14°F. May is the wettest at 5.1 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.7 inches; the year adds up to 31.4 inches over 56 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 40 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 145 nights a year. Snowfall averages 18.8 inches a year, most of it in January. That 31.4 inches is more than at 52 of the 68 Nebraska stations used on this site (76%). Wilber, 20 miles northwest, has its own station (Crete 4ESE, NE): 31.1 inches a year, 0.3 less than here, and a July average high of 87°F against 88°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 35 | 14 | 0.7 | 2 | 6.4 |
| Feb | 40 | 17 | 0.9 | 3 | 4.9 |
| Mar | 52 | 27 | 1.7 | 4 | 2.2 |
| Apr | 63 | 38 | 2.9 | 6 | 0.9 |
| May | 74 | 50 | 5.1 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 84 | 61 | 4.6 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 88 | 66 | 4.1 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 86 | 63 | 3.8 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 79 | 53 | 3.0 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 67 | 40 | 2.3 | 5 | 0.4 |
| Nov | 51 | 27 | 1.3 | 3 | 1.0 |
| Dec | 39 | 18 | 1.0 | 2 | 3.0 |
| Year | 63 | 40 | 31.4 | 56 | 18.8 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Beatrice 1N, NE (1,297 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Beatrice
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 107 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Beatrice: 83 thunderstorm wind reports, 10 heavy rain events, 7 flash floods and 7 floods. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $1.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on June 16, 2017. May has had the most flash floods, 3 of 7. Of the 89 Nebraska cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 37 have had fewer than Beatrice.
May 6, 2007: flood 7 miles from the centre of Beatrice — $650,000 damage.
NWS: “26 inches reported in Beatrice. The heavy rain caused the Big Blue River to flood with both the gage in Beatrice and near Barneston reporting above flood stage readings for a few days.”
May 29, 2008: thunderstorm wind 4 miles from the centre of Beatrice — $250,000 damage.
NWS: “Thunderstorm winds estimated at over 70 mph caused widespread tree damage and farm outbuilding damage from south through east of the Beatrice area. The winds were associated with a bow echo that moved across the Beatrice area.”
June 4, 2008: flash flood 8 miles from the centre of Beatrice — $250,000 damage.
NWS: “Heavy rain caused flash flooding across mainly northern Gage county. Numerous county roads were flooded causing damage to culverts, according to emergency management.”
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, events whose starting point is on record, 1996 to June 30, 2026. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses, and NWS notes that some reports are unverified.
Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings
Flood insurance policyholders in Beatrice's ZIP code 68310 have filed 157 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $1.4 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Midwest Flooding in 1993: 24 claims (15% of all) and $164,000. The year with the most claims was 1984, with 68. 17% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 41 Nebraska cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 34 have fewer than Beatrice.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Midwest Flooding1993 | 24 | $164,000 |
Gage County, which includes Beatrice, has been named in 24 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1967, 22 of them major disasters (by incident: 13 severe storms, 5 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 2 ice storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding, on August 3, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Gage County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Low for heat waves; Very Low for inland flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $15.1 million a year, the 20th highest of 93 Nebraska counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $4.5 million (30%), is from inland flooding.
Claims: FEMA, OpenFEMA Dataset FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3, summed over ZIP codes; payments in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Declarations: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, by county. Retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Risk ratings: FEMA, National Risk Index county table, December 2025 (v1.20), retrieved October 26, 2026; ratings compare counties nationwide, are meant for planning and are no substitute for a local risk assessment. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.
Cities near Beatrice
- Wilber, NE20 mi
- Hickman, NE25 mi
- Fairbury, NE25 mi
- Crete, NE27 mi
- Marysville, KS29 mi
- Tecumseh, NE29 mi
- Lincoln, NE37 mi
- Milford, NE39 mi
- Syracuse, NE40 mi
- Eagle, NE41 mi
- Waverly, NE47 mi
- Seneca, KS47 mi
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