NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Falls City, 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 Falls City, Nebraska since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 102 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 5 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 102
- EF3 or stronger
- 5
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
1 deaths in all
What the records show for Falls City
The highest rating among the 102 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3 or EF3, reached 5 times; the most recent, on May 21, 2019, came within 17 miles. The deadliest, an F3 on April 28, 1963, killed 1 person. Of the 102, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 36 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 33. The most recent tornado was on May 19, 2025. Of the 91 Nebraska cities on this site, 74% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Falls City. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 84 times since 1956, with stones up to 4.5 inches (grapefruit size). Of the 91 Nebraska cities, 90% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Falls City.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Falls City
By decade
- 2020s9
- 2010s13(2 EF3+)
- 2000s14
- 1990s28
- 1980s7
- 1970s4
- 1960s16(1 EF3+)
- 1950s11(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 28, 1963 | F3 | 25 mi | 4.9 mi | 1 / 8 |
| May 21, 2019 | EF3 | 17 mi | 5.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 3, 2014 | EF3 | 22 mi | 6.33 mi | 0 / 2 |
| May 18, 1959 | F3 | 19 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 5, 1950 | F3 | 17 mi | 17.3 mi | 0 / 12 |
| May 12, 2023 | EF2 | 10 mi | 1.48 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 5, 2008 | EF2 | 4 mi | 18.41 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 4, 2005 | F2 | 23 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 13, 1998 | F2 | 17 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 8, 1995 | F2 | 24 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 6, 1993 | F2 | 20 mi | 8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 6, 1993 | F2 | 20 mi | 23 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 102, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Falls City
The Storm Prediction Center has 84 hail reports within 10 miles of Falls City since 1956, made on 61 separate days. Of these, 55 were 1 inch across or larger, and 6 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4.5 inches (grapefruit size), fell on July 29, 1992. The most recent report is from July 10, 2024. June has the most reports, 22.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Falls City
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Falls City Brenner Field, NE, 1 mile south of Falls City at 980 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 88°F and low of 66°F; January is the coolest, at 36°F and 17°F. July is the wettest at 5.2 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.6 inches; the year adds up to 34.6 inches over 58 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 41 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 131 nights a year. That 34.6 inches is more than at 66 of the 68 Nebraska stations used on this site (97%). Hiawatha, KS, 17 miles south, has its own station (Horton, KS): 38.0 inches a year, 3.4 more than here, and the same July average high, 88°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 36 | 17 | 0.6 | 2 |
| Feb | 42 | 21 | 1.0 | 2 |
| Mar | 54 | 31 | 2.1 | 4 |
| Apr | 65 | 41 | 3.5 | 6 |
| May | 75 | 53 | 4.6 | 7 |
| Jun | 85 | 63 | 4.8 | 7 |
| Jul | 88 | 66 | 5.2 | 6 |
| Aug | 87 | 64 | 3.8 | 6 |
| Sep | 80 | 55 | 3.3 | 5 |
| Oct | 67 | 43 | 2.7 | 5 |
| Nov | 52 | 30 | 1.8 | 3 |
| Dec | 40 | 21 | 1.2 | 3 |
| Year | 64 | 42 | 34.6 | 58 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Falls City Brenner Field, NE (980 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 Falls City
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 84 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Falls City: 57 thunderstorm wind reports, 13 floods, 9 flash floods and 5 heavy rain events. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $1.9 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 91 mph, on October 30, 2024. Of the 89 Nebraska cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 50 have had fewer than Falls City.
October 30, 2024: thunderstorm wind 3 miles from the centre of Falls City — $1.5 million damage.
NWS: “A swath of destructive straight line winds impacted portions of southeast Richardson County including Falls City. The Falls City ASOS measured a 91 miles per hour wind gust at 1:09 pm CDT, and again at 1:12 pm CDT.”
June 4, 2015: flood 6 miles from the centre of Falls City — $175,000 damage.
NWS: “Significant flooding was observed along the Big Nemaha River near Falls City. The flooding including closing of many gravel and county roads, as well State Highway 8.”
June 11, 2015: flood 10 miles from the centre of Falls City — $125,000 damage.
NWS: “This was the second, and more significant flood of the Missouri River near Rulo in the month of June. 47 feet above flood stage.”
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
Richardson County, which includes Falls City, has been named in 23 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1967, 20 of them major disasters (by incident: 10 severe storms, 8 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 1 hurricane). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding, on September 24, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Richardson County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Low for tornadoes, hail, strong wind and heat waves; Very Low for inland flooding and lightning. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $5.8 million a year, the 62nd highest of 93 Nebraska counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $2.0 million (35%), 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 Falls City
- Hiawatha, KS17 mi
- Sabetha, KS19 mi
- Auburn, NE24 mi
- Seneca, KS30 mi
- Horton, KS30 mi
- Troy, KS32 mi
- Tecumseh, NE38 mi
- Wathena, KS40 mi
- Savannah, MO41 mi
- Maryville, MO41 mi
- Nebraska City, NE42 mi
- Holton, KS44 mi
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