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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Omaha, 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 Omaha, Nebraska since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 133 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 11 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
0

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
0

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
133

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
11

7 deaths in all

What the records show for Omaha

The highest rating among the 133 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4 or EF4, reached 4 times; the most recent, on April 26, 2024, came within 10 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on May 6, 1975, killed 3 people. Of the 133, 10 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 77 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 37. The most recent tornado was on April 17, 2025. Omaha has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 63% of the 91 Nebraska cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 555 times since 1956, with stones up to 4.5 inches (grapefruit size). Omaha has more hail reports within 10 miles than any other of the 91 Nebraska cities.

Compare Omaha's storm record with another city →

Tornadoes within 25 miles of Omaha

By decade

  • 2020s27(5 EF3+)
  • 2010s22
  • 2000s28
  • 1990s13
  • 1980s12(1 EF3+)
  • 1970s12(1 EF3+)
  • 1960s3(1 EF3+)
  • 1950s16(3 EF3+)
Strongest tornadoes near Omaha, Nebraska
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
May 6, 1975F41 mi8 mi3 / 133
Apr 25, 1957F45 mi89.8 mi1 / 8
Apr 26, 2024EF410 mi31.89 mi0 / 4
Aug 13, 1952F421 mi26.7 mi0 / 20
Apr 26, 2024EF323 mi40.27 mi1 / 3
Apr 17, 2025EF39 mi8.12 mi0 / 0
Apr 26, 2024EF318 mi13.31 mi0 / 0
Apr 26, 2024EF38 mi19.06 mi0 / 0
Jul 15, 1988F310 mi2.8 mi0 / 34
Aug 18, 1968F36 mi21.3 mi0 / 0
Aug 13, 1952F317 mi44.4 mi0 / 1
May 7, 1988F25 mi16.2 mi2 / 1

The strongest 12 of 133, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Omaha

The Storm Prediction Center has 555 hail reports within 10 miles of Omaha since 1956, made on 250 separate days. Of these, 392 were 1 inch across or larger, and 64 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 4.5 inches (grapefruit size), was reported on 2 days, most recently June 25, 2024. The most recent report is from April 24, 2025. June has the most reports, 181.

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

Radar-estimated hail days in Omaha since 2019 →

Weather by month in Omaha

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Omaha Eppley Airfield, NE, 9 miles northeast of Omaha at 982 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 88°F and low of 68°F; January is the coolest, at 34°F and 15°F. May is the wettest at 4.7 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.8 inches; the year adds up to 32.1 inches over 57 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 33 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 134 nights a year. Snowfall averages 27.1 inches a year, most of it in February. That 32.1 inches is more than at 55 of the 68 Nebraska stations used on this site (81%). La Vista, 5 miles south, has its own station (Gretna 4NE, NE): 33.3 inches a year, 1.2 more than here, and a July average high of 86°F against 88°F.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Omaha Eppley Airfield, NE
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. inDays ≥ 0.1"Snow in
Jan34150.827.2
Feb39191.037.8
Mar52301.843.0
Apr64413.261.0
May75534.780.1
Jun84634.470.0
Jul88683.660.0
Aug86664.660.0
Sep79563.050.0
Oct66432.340.5
Nov50301.531.7
Dec38201.235.8
Year634232.15727.1

Averages for 1991–2020 at Omaha Eppley Airfield, NE (982 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 Omaha

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 389 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Omaha: 303 thunderstorm wind reports, 52 flash floods, 22 floods, 7 lightning strikes and 5 heavy rain events. They killed 2 people and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $5.1 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 104 mph, on June 16, 2017. August has had the most flash floods, 26 of 52. Of the 89 Nebraska cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 88 have had fewer than Omaha.

  • April 10, 2001: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Omaha — 1 killed, 1 injured, $20,000 damage.

  • June 20, 2014: flash flood 5 miles from the centre of Omaha — 1 killed.

  • June 25, 2024: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Omaha — 1 injured.

    NWS: “A series of downbursts within a thunderstorm began to produce significant ground-level winds near I-680 and HWY 133, progressing rapidly to the east southeast, uprooting trees and downing powerlines at many locations.”

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 Omaha's 28 ZIP codes have filed 465 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $4.0 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Midwest Flooding in 1993: 47 claims (10% of all) and $347,000, then Late spring storms in 2011 with 18. 16% 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, 38 have fewer than Omaha.

Flood insurance claims in Omaha by named event
EventClaimsPaid
Midwest Flooding199347$347,000
Late spring storms201118$613,000

Douglas County, which includes Omaha, has been named in 29 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1967, 26 of them major disasters (by incident: 15 severe storms, 7 floods, 3 tornadoes, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding, on October 22, 2025. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Douglas County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for tornadoes, hail and strong wind; Relatively High for inland flooding, lightning and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $233.9 million a year, the highest of 93 Nebraska counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $88.1 million (38%), 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 Omaha