NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Superior, 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 Superior, Nebraska since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 147 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 11 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 147
- EF3 or stronger
- 11
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
1 deaths in all
What the records show for Superior
The highest rating among the 147 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 2 times; the most recent, on March 13, 1990, came within 19 miles. The deadliest, an F2 on June 22, 2003, killed 1 person. Of the 147, 9 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 68 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 59. The most recent tornado was on May 6, 2024. Superior has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 82% of the 91 Nebraska cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 116 times since 1956, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Of the 91 Nebraska cities, 69% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Superior.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Superior
By decade
- 2020s5
- 2010s22(1 EF3+)
- 2000s41(2 EF3+)
- 1990s21(2 EF3+)
- 1980s15(2 EF3+)
- 1970s19(1 EF3+)
- 1960s11
- 1950s13(3 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 13, 1990 | F4 | 19 mi | 131 mi | 0 / 8 |
| Jun 4, 1955 | F4 | 17 mi | 61.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 27, 2013 | EF3 | 23 mi | 5.74 mi | 0 / 2 |
| May 29, 2008 | EF3 | 21 mi | 55.22 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 29, 2008 | EF3 | 23 mi | 18.91 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 13, 1990 | F3 | 24 mi | 13 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 18, 1986 | F3 | 8 mi | 7 mi | 0 / 7 |
| Jun 12, 1984 | F3 | 22 mi | 13 mi | 0 / 5 |
| Apr 20, 1974 | F3 | 9 mi | 41.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 25, 1957 | F3 | 24 mi | 34.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 9, 1953 | F3 | 15 mi | 13.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 22, 2003 | F2 | 18 mi | 3 mi | 1 / 7 |
The strongest 12 of 147, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Superior
The Storm Prediction Center has 116 hail reports within 10 miles of Superior since 1956, made on 83 separate days. Of these, 73 were 1 inch across or larger, and 8 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3 inches (tea cup size), fell on June 29, 1960. The most recent report is from August 25, 2023. May and June have the most reports, 29 each.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Superior
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Superior, NE, in Superior at 1,512 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 89°F and low of 65°F; January is the coolest, at 37°F and 14°F. May is the wettest at 4.5 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.7 inches; the year adds up to 28.0 inches over 50 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 50 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 142 nights a year. Snowfall averages 21.3 inches a year, most of it in February. That 28.0 inches is more than at 34 of the 68 Nebraska stations used on this site (50%). Belleville, KS, 28 miles southeast, has its own station (Belleville, KS): 30.7 inches a year, 2.7 more than here, and a July average high of 90°F against 89°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 37 | 14 | 0.7 | 2 | 5.5 |
| Feb | 42 | 17 | 0.8 | 2 | 6.0 |
| Mar | 53 | 27 | 1.6 | 4 | 2.9 |
| Apr | 64 | 37 | 2.3 | 6 | 0.7 |
| May | 74 | 49 | 4.5 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 85 | 60 | 4.0 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 89 | 65 | 4.1 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 86 | 62 | 3.4 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 80 | 53 | 2.3 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 67 | 39 | 2.0 | 4 | 0.4 |
| Nov | 52 | 26 | 1.3 | 3 | 1.8 |
| Dec | 39 | 17 | 1.0 | 2 | 4.0 |
| Year | 64 | 39 | 28.0 | 50 | 21.3 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Superior, NE (1,512 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 Superior
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 72 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Superior: 62 thunderstorm wind reports, 8 heavy rain events and 2 flash floods. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $49.7 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on August 9, 2025.
September 10, 2003: flash flood 10 miles from the centre of Superior — 1 injured, $1.0 million damage.
August 9, 2025: thunderstorm wind 3 miles from the centre of Superior — $30.0 million damage.
NWS: “A swath of wind with gusts estimated to be as high as 90 MPH swept through the southeastern portion of Nuckolls County.”
June 22, 2003: flash flood in Superior — $7.0 million damage.
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
Nuckolls County, which includes Superior, has been named in 21 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1973, 19 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 severe storms, 6 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 Nuckolls County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for hail; Relatively Moderate for strong wind; Relatively Low for tornadoes and lightning; Very Low for inland flooding and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $8.7 million a year, the 47th highest of 93 Nebraska counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $2.9 million (33%), 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 Superior
- Belleville, KS28 mi
- Concordia, KS40 mi
- Beloit, KS41 mi
- Hastings, NE41 mi
- Smith Center, KS42 mi
- Geneva, NE42 mi
- Juniata, NE46 mi
- Fairbury, NE47 mi
- Doniphan, NE53 mi
- Minden, NE55 mi
- Aurora, NE55 mi
- Wood River, NE60 mi
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