NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Lincoln, 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 Lincoln, Nebraska since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 141 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 14 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 141
- EF3 or stronger
- 14
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
12 deaths in all
What the records show for Lincoln
The highest rating among the 141 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 4 times; the most recent, on May 22, 2004, came within 13 miles. The deadliest, an F3 on May 9, 1953, killed 5 people. Of the 141, 10 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 62 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 43. The most recent tornado was on April 17, 2025. Lincoln has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 79% of the 91 Nebraska cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 247 times since 1960, with stones up to 5 inches. Lincoln has more hail reports within 10 miles than 84% of the 91 Nebraska cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Lincoln
By decade
- 2020s16(1 EF3+)
- 2010s20(1 EF3+)
- 2000s26(2 EF3+)
- 1990s25(3 EF3+)
- 1980s8
- 1970s11(2 EF3+)
- 1960s14(1 EF3+)
- 1950s21(4 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 22, 2004 | F4 | 13 mi | 54 mi | 1 / 38 |
| Apr 25, 1957 | F4 | 8 mi | 89.8 mi | 1 / 8 |
| Jun 13, 2001 | F4 | 19 mi | 8 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Aug 13, 1952 | F4 | 23 mi | 26.7 mi | 0 / 20 |
| May 9, 1953 | F3 | 20 mi | 46.9 mi | 5 / 82 |
| Sep 25, 1973 | F3 | 21 mi | 169.7 mi | 3 / 42 |
| Apr 26, 2024 | EF3 | 5 mi | 5.25 mi | 0 / 3 |
| May 11, 2014 | EF3 | 24 mi | 19.14 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 15, 1992 | F3 | 14 mi | 14 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jun 15, 1992 | F3 | 23 mi | 21 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 26, 1991 | F3 | 19 mi | 14 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jun 15, 1975 | F3 | 19 mi | 63.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 141, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Lincoln
The Storm Prediction Center has 247 hail reports within 10 miles of Lincoln since 1960, made on 148 separate days. Of these, 177 were 1 inch across or larger, and 22 reached 2 inches. The largest, 5 inches, fell on May 9, 2016. The most recent report is from September 14, 2025. June has the most reports, 72.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Lincoln
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Lincoln Municipal Airport, NE, 5 miles northwest of Lincoln at 1,190 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 89°F and low of 67°F; January is the coolest, at 36°F and 14°F. May is the wettest at 4.9 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.7 inches; the year adds up to 29.4 inches over 54 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 42 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 143 nights a year. Snowfall averages 26.0 inches a year, most of it in February. That 29.4 inches is more than at 42 of the 68 Nebraska stations used on this site (62%). Waverly, 11 miles northeast, has its own station (Lincoln 8 ENE, NE): 32.4 inches a year, 3.0 more than here, and a July average high of 87°F against 89°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 36 | 14 | 0.7 | 2 | 6.5 |
| Feb | 41 | 18 | 0.9 | 3 | 7.1 |
| Mar | 54 | 29 | 1.6 | 4 | 3.4 |
| Apr | 65 | 39 | 2.7 | 5 | 1.2 |
| May | 75 | 51 | 4.9 | 8 | 0.1 |
| Jun | 85 | 62 | 4.5 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 89 | 67 | 3.3 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 87 | 64 | 3.3 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 80 | 54 | 2.9 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 67 | 41 | 2.1 | 4 | 0.9 |
| Nov | 52 | 28 | 1.3 | 2 | 1.5 |
| Dec | 39 | 18 | 1.2 | 3 | 5.3 |
| Year | 64 | 41 | 29.4 | 54 | 26.0 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Lincoln Municipal Airport, NE (1,190 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 Lincoln
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 183 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Lincoln: 164 thunderstorm wind reports, 15 flash floods, 3 floods and 1 heavy rain event. They killed 0 people and injured 5, and the NWS estimated $3.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 98 mph, on July 1, 2018. May has had the most flash floods, 7 of 15. Of the 89 Nebraska cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 72 have had fewer than Lincoln.
September 13, 2010: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Lincoln — 2 injured.
NWS: “Thunderstorm wind gusts were measured at 58 mph by the Asos at the Lincoln airport, although winds could have gusted higher across the city. The wind gust measured by Asos occurred at 538pm CDT.”
August 18, 2011: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Lincoln — 2 injured.
NWS: “A thunderstorm wind gust was measured at 60 mph by the Asos at the Lincoln airport. The winds were from the first of 2 super-cell thunderstorms that tracked across the city on the 18th.”
June 11, 2026: thunderstorm wind 4 miles from the centre of Lincoln — 1 injured.
NWS: “Delayed report of an estimated 10 inch in diameter tree limb falling on a home. Time estimated via radar.”
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 Lincoln's 17 ZIP codes have filed 274 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $2.7 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Midwest Flooding in 1993: 16 claims (6% of all) and $12,000. The year with the most claims was 2015, with 115. 7% 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, 36 have fewer than Lincoln.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Midwest Flooding1993 | 16 | $12,000 |
Lancaster County, which includes Lincoln, has been named in 16 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1967, 14 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 severe storms, 5 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 1 hurricane). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding, on October 22, 2025. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Lancaster County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for strong wind; Relatively High for tornadoes, hail and lightning; Relatively Moderate for inland flooding; Relatively Low for heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $115.4 million a year, the 2nd highest of 93 Nebraska counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $42.2 million (37%), is from tornadoes.
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 Lincoln
- Waverly, NE11 mi
- Eagle, NE12 mi
- Hickman, NE13 mi
- Ceresco, NE18 mi
- Crete, NE20 mi
- Milford, NE20 mi
- Ashland, NE24 mi
- Seward, NE24 mi
- Wahoo, NE27 mi
- Syracuse, NE28 mi
- Wilber, NE28 mi
- Louisville, NE30 mi
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