Tornadoes · United States · Nebraska

1956 tornadoes in Nebraska

33 tornadoes touched down in Nebraska in 1956, 22 percent below the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody. 2 were rated F4 or EF4 and above.

1955 1957 The whole country in 1956

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. F040 to 72 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F173 to 112 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. F2113 to 157 mph

    Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

  4. F3158 to 206 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. F4207 to 260 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. F5261 to 318 mph

    Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

  7. Unrated

    The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Every tornado in Nebraska in 1956

April 2 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 210:45 PM GMT-6F2Nemaha2.3100$500 to $5,000

April 28 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 281:15 AM GMT-6F3Jefferson39.3101$50,000 to $500,000

May 10 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 106:00 PM GMT-5F2Adams12.310$5,000 to $50,000
May 109:00 PM GMT-5F1Washington9.4440$500 to $5,000

May 12 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 129:00 PM GMT-5F1Polk4.010$5,000 to $50,000
May 1211:00 PM GMT-5F1Douglas1.910$50,000 to $500,000

May 29 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 2910:30 PM GMT-5F2Gage2.310$5,000 to $50,000

May 30 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 305:30 PM GMT-5F1Clay4.3300$5,000 to $50,000

June 5 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 510:40 PM GMT-5F2Keya Paha0.110$50 to $500

June 6 5 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 64:30 PM GMT-5F4Buffalo2.0500$5,000 to $50,000
June 67:45 PM GMT-5F2Fillmore16.2103$50,000 to $500,000
June 68:20 PM GMT-5F2Lancaster1.3101$500 to $5,000
June 68:30 PM GMT-5F1Lancaster0.2101$500 to $5,000
June 68:30 PM GMT-5F1Lancaster1.5100

June 16 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 1611:05 PM GMT-5F1Custer3.0220$5,000 to $50,000

June 21 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 215:30 PM GMT-5F1Loup2.010

June 24 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 243:40 PM GMT-7F0Cheyenne0.310

June 25 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 2512:00 AM GMT-5F2Furnas16.220$5,000 to $50,000

July 1 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 13:00 AM GMT-5F0Cuming0.110$500 to $5,000
July 15:00 AM GMT-5F1Phelps0.510$500 to $5,000

July 4 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 41:25 PM GMT-7F0Deuel0.110
July 42:20 PM GMT-7F0Cheyenne0.110

July 18 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 188:00 PM GMT-5F0Saunders0.110

July 28 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 285:30 AM GMT-5F1Cass1.0100$500 to $5,000

July 30 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 304:30 PM GMT-5F1Saunders0.510$500 to $5,000

August 6 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 69:15 PM GMT-5F0Knox0.367$500 to $5,000

August 15 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 158:15 PM GMT-5F1Brown5.410$500 to $5,000

September 3 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 36:00 PM GMT-5F1Pawnee2.010

October 29 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
October 294:30 PM GMT-6F1Valley99.850$5,000 to $50,000
October 294:45 PM GMT-6F4Lincoln147.74402$50,000 to $500,000
October 297:30 PM GMT-6F3Furnas65.510$50,000 to $500,000
October 2910:45 PM GMT-6F1Wayne10.110$5,000 to $50,000

November 2 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
November 23:00 PM GMT-6F0Keya Paha0.110

Crossed into Nebraska

Tornadoes that touched down in a neighboring state and ran into Nebraska. They are counted under the state they began in.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 44:00 PM GMT-5F1Banner, WY to NE7.410

Nearby

Every tornado in Nebraska since 1950Warnings in force in NebraskaThe live radar over Nebraska

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.