NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Syracuse, 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 Syracuse, Nebraska since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 138 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 6 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 138
- EF3 or stronger
- 6
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
5 deaths in all
What the records show for Syracuse
The highest rating among the 138 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 2 times; the most recent, on May 22, 2004, came within 12 miles. The deadliest, an F3 on September 25, 1973, killed 3 people. Of the 138, 11 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 72 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 34. The most recent tornado was on August 10, 2025. Syracuse has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 78% of the 91 Nebraska cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 103 times since 1961, with stones up to 5 inches. Of the 91 Nebraska cities, 77% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Syracuse.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Syracuse
By decade
- 2020s16
- 2010s22
- 2000s34(1 EF3+)
- 1990s26(1 EF3+)
- 1980s10
- 1970s7(1 EF3+)
- 1960s7(2 EF3+)
- 1950s16(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 22, 2004 | F4 | 12 mi | 54 mi | 1 / 38 |
| Aug 13, 1952 | F4 | 19 mi | 26.7 mi | 0 / 20 |
| Sep 25, 1973 | F3 | 20 mi | 169.7 mi | 3 / 42 |
| Apr 28, 1963 | F3 | 23 mi | 4.9 mi | 1 / 8 |
| Apr 26, 1991 | F3 | 8 mi | 14 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jul 1, 1965 | F3 | in town | 12.8 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Dec 15, 2021 | EF2 | 24 mi | 2.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 15, 2021 | EF2 | 19 mi | 3.59 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 15, 2021 | EF2 | 2 mi | 3.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 9, 2016 | EF2 | 15 mi | 3.27 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 3, 2013 | EF2 | 12 mi | 4.08 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 3, 2013 | EF2 | 15 mi | 11.19 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 138, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Syracuse
The Storm Prediction Center has 103 hail reports within 10 miles of Syracuse since 1961, made on 74 separate days. Of these, 65 were 1 inch across or larger, and 9 reached 2 inches. The largest, 5 inches, fell on June 27, 1967. The most recent report is from October 30, 2024. May has the most reports, 24.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Syracuse
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Syracuse, NE, in Syracuse at 1,100 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 88°F and low of 65°F; January is the coolest, at 34°F and 13°F. May is the wettest at 5.6 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.8 inches; the year adds up to 32.3 inches over 57 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 40 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 147 nights a year. Snowfall averages 25.5 inches a year, most of it in January. That 32.3 inches is more than at 56 of the 68 Nebraska stations used on this site (82%). Nebraska City, 16 miles east, has its own station (Nebraska City 2NW, NE): 34.1 inches a year, 1.8 more than here, and a July average high of 87°F against 88°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 34 | 13 | 0.8 | 3 | 7.7 |
| Feb | 40 | 17 | 1.0 | 3 | 7.3 |
| Mar | 52 | 27 | 1.8 | 4 | 2.4 |
| Apr | 64 | 38 | 2.8 | 6 | 1.2 |
| May | 74 | 50 | 5.6 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 84 | 61 | 4.6 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 88 | 65 | 4.2 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 87 | 62 | 3.5 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 80 | 53 | 2.9 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 67 | 40 | 2.5 | 4 | 0.9 |
| Nov | 51 | 27 | 1.5 | 3 | 1.6 |
| Dec | 39 | 18 | 1.1 | 3 | 4.4 |
| Year | 63 | 39 | 32.3 | 57 | 25.5 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Syracuse, NE (1,100 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 Syracuse
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 53 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Syracuse: 42 thunderstorm wind reports, 9 flash floods, 1 flood and 1 lightning strike. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $80,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on May 12, 2005. Of the 89 Nebraska cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 50 have had fewer than Syracuse.
May 12, 2005: flash flood 4 miles from the centre of Syracuse — 1 injured.
NWS: “Unadilla and Douglas areas. A Weeping Water man driving a pickup truck was swept off of county road 62 in extreme southern Otoe county by flood waters.”
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
Otoe County, which includes Syracuse, has been named in 23 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1973, 20 of them major disasters (by incident: 10 severe storms, 7 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 1 hurricane). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storm and Straight-Line Winds, on May 21, 2025. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Otoe County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for hail; Relatively Low for tornadoes, strong wind and heat waves; Very Low for inland flooding and lightning. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $11.0 million a year, the 36th highest of 93 Nebraska counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $4.2 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 Syracuse
- Nebraska City, NE16 mi
- Eagle, NE17 mi
- Tecumseh, NE20 mi
- Louisville, NE23 mi
- Hickman, NE23 mi
- Waverly, NE26 mi
- Auburn, NE26 mi
- Plattsmouth, NE27 mi
- Lincoln, NE28 mi
- Springfield, NE29 mi
- Ashland, NE30 mi
- Gretna, NE32 mi
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