NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Oneill, 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 Oneill, Nebraska since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 79 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 4 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 79
- EF3 or stronger
- 4
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for Oneill
The highest rating among the 79 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 2 times; the most recent, on May 8, 1965, came within 22 miles. Of the 79, 7 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 29 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 26. The most recent tornado was on May 10, 2016. Of the 91 Nebraska cities on this site, 92% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Oneill. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 98 times since 1959, with stones up to 4 inches (softball size). Of the 91 Nebraska cities, 82% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Oneill.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Oneill
By decade
- 2010s5
- 2000s24(1 EF3+)
- 1990s25
- 1980s9
- 1970s7
- 1960s7(3 EF3+)
- 1950s2
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 8, 1965 | F4 | 22 mi | 78.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 29, 1962 | F4 | 14 mi | 24.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 9, 2003 | F3 | 3 mi | 23 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 8, 1965 | F3 | 18 mi | 44.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 23, 2009 | EF2 | 4 mi | 0.22 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 28, 1998 | F2 | 19 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 19, 1996 | F2 | 7 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 15, 1992 | F2 | 18 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 15, 1992 | F2 | 22 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 15, 2004 | F1 | 12 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 16, 2004 | F1 | 23 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 6, 2001 | F1 | 23 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 79, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Oneill
The Storm Prediction Center has 98 hail reports within 10 miles of Oneill since 1959, made on 70 separate days. Of these, 72 were 1 inch across or larger, and 7 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 4 inches (softball size), was reported on 2 days, most recently August 26, 2024. The most recent report is from August 26, 2024. June has the most reports, 27.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Oneill
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is O'Neill, NE, 5 miles southwest of Oneill at 1,990 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 87°F and low of 62°F; January is the coolest, at 32°F and 11°F. May is the wettest at 4.2 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.5 inches; the year adds up to 26.0 inches over 50 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 32 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 165 nights a year. Snowfall averages 25.6 inches a year, most of it in February. That 26.0 inches is more than at 22 of the 68 Nebraska stations used on this site (32%). Atkinson, 18 miles west, has its own station (Atkinson 3SW, NE): 25.1 inches a year, 0.9 less than here, and a July average high of 86°F against 87°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 32 | 11 | 0.5 | 1 | 4.1 |
| Feb | 36 | 14 | 0.7 | 2 | 5.8 |
| Mar | 47 | 23 | 1.5 | 3 | 4.7 |
| Apr | 58 | 34 | 2.9 | 5 | 1.7 |
| May | 70 | 46 | 4.2 | 8 | 0.4 |
| Jun | 81 | 57 | 3.5 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 87 | 62 | 3.3 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 85 | 59 | 3.1 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 77 | 50 | 2.4 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 62 | 36 | 2.3 | 5 | 0.9 |
| Nov | 47 | 24 | 0.9 | 2 | 2.7 |
| Dec | 34 | 15 | 0.7 | 2 | 5.3 |
| Year | 60 | 36 | 26.0 | 50 | 25.6 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at O'Neill, NE (1,990 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 Oneill
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 49 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Oneill: 42 thunderstorm wind reports, 6 flash floods and 1 flood. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $1.4 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on July 18, 2018. September has had the most flash floods, 3 of 6. Of the 89 Nebraska cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 29 have had fewer than Oneill.
May 30, 2011: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Oneill — $1.0 million damage.
March 13, 2019: flood 5 miles from the centre of Oneill — $250,000 damage.
NWS: “Water reported over several streets in O'Neill.”
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
Holt County, which includes Oneill, has been named in 16 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 2003, 14 of them major disasters (by incident: 10 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 floods, 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 Holt County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for lightning; Relatively Low for tornadoes, hail and strong wind; Very Low for inland flooding and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $7.0 million a year, the 57th highest of 93 Nebraska counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $1.5 million (21%), 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 Oneill
- Atkinson, NE18 mi
- Wagner, SD40 mi
- Springfield, SD42 mi
- Lake Andes, SD44 mi
- Burwell, NE55 mi
- Crofton, NE58 mi
- Pierce, NE58 mi
- Albion, NE63 mi
- Ainsworth, NE65 mi
- Platte, SD65 mi
- Ord, NE66 mi
- Yankton, SD66 mi
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