Skip to content
Storms That Hit

NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Kearney, 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 Kearney, Nebraska since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 155 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 10 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
0

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
0

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
155

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
10

1 deaths in all

What the records show for Kearney

The strongest of the 155 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on June 6, 1956; its path came within 18 miles. The deadliest, an F1 on June 15, 1960, killed 1 person. Of the 155, 17 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 44 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 51. The most recent tornado was on July 6, 2024. Kearney has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 85% of the 91 Nebraska cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 166 times since 1956, with stones up to 5 inches. Kearney has more hail reports within 10 miles than 63% of the 91 Nebraska cities.

Compare Kearney's storm record with another city →

ShareXFacebookWhatsAppEmail

Tornadoes within 25 miles of Kearney

By decade

  • 2020s16
  • 2010s10(1 EF3+)
  • 2000s18
  • 1990s34(4 EF3+)
  • 1980s25(1 EF3+)
  • 1970s20(1 EF3+)
  • 1960s19
  • 1950s13(3 EF3+)
Strongest tornadoes near Kearney, Nebraska
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Jun 6, 1956F418 mi2 mi0 / 0
Jun 20, 2011EF315 mi10 mi0 / 0
Jun 6, 1993F313 mi10 mi0 / 0
Jun 6, 1993F36 mi50 mi0 / 0
Jun 6, 1993F38 mi60 mi0 / 2
Mar 13, 1990F311 mi32 mi0 / 0
May 10, 1985F36 mi17 mi0 / 2
Apr 20, 1974F324 mi63.5 mi0 / 6
Jul 18, 1958F318 mi3 mi0 / 0
Oct 29, 1956F33 mi65.5 mi0 / 0
Jun 20, 2011EF215 mi4 mi0 / 1
May 29, 2008EF2in town21.75 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 155, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Kearney

The Storm Prediction Center has 166 hail reports within 10 miles of Kearney since 1956, made on 115 separate days. Of these, 116 were 1 inch across or larger, and 19 reached 2 inches. The largest, 5 inches, fell on June 12, 2002. The most recent report is from September 8, 2025. June has the most reports, 50.

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.

Radar-estimated hail days in Kearney since 2019 →

Weather by month in Kearney

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Kearney 4 NE, NE, 4 miles east of Kearney at 2,130 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 87°F and low of 63°F; January is the coolest, at 36°F and 14°F. May is the wettest at 4.4 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.5 inches; the year adds up to 25.6 inches over 47 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 31 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 157 nights a year. Snowfall averages 21.8 inches a year, most of it in February. That 25.6 inches is more than at 19 of the 68 Nebraska stations used on this site (28%). Minden, 18 miles southeast, has its own station (Minden, NE): 25.7 inches a year, the same as here, and the same July average high, 87°F.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Kearney 4 NE, NE
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. inDays ≥ 0.1"Snow in
Jan36140.523.7
Feb40170.625.6
Mar51251.533.5
Apr62362.751.9
May72474.470.1
Jun82593.960.0
Jul87633.460.0
Aug84613.050.0
Sep78511.840.0
Oct65382.140.8
Nov51251.032.8
Dec38170.723.4
Year623825.64721.8

Averages for 1991–2020 at Kearney 4 NE, NE (2,130 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.

Nebraska weather by month, station by station →

Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Kearney

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 128 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Kearney: 104 thunderstorm wind reports, 14 heavy rain events, 7 flash floods and 3 floods. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $29.1 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on May 30, 2011. August has had the most flash floods, 2 of 7. Of the 89 Nebraska cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 37 have had fewer than Kearney.

  • July 9, 2014: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Kearney — 1 injured, $13.0 million damage.

  • August 27, 2017: thunderstorm wind 1 mile from the centre of Kearney — $5.1 million damage.

    NWS: “Wind gusts were estimated to be near 70 MPH. A trailer home was damaged when 3 trees were downed.”

  • September 15, 2017: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Kearney — $3.2 million damage.

    NWS: “Wind gusts were estimated to be near 60 MPH and was accompanied by hail up to the size of ping pong balls.”

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 Kearney's 2 ZIP codes have filed 36 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1998, and were paid $7.0 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 2019, with 27. 3% 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, 17 have fewer than Kearney.

Buffalo County, which includes Kearney, has been named in 19 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1967, 17 of them major disasters (by incident: 11 severe storms, 4 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 1 hurricane). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding, on August 3, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Buffalo County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for hail and strong wind; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes and lightning; Relatively Low for inland flooding and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $37.4 million a year, the 5th highest of 93 Nebraska counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $12.6 million (34%), is from hail.

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 Kearney

All Nebraska cities →All hurricanes since 1851 →Compare Kearney with another place →

ShareXFacebookWhatsAppEmail