Tornadoes · United States · Nebraska

1965 tornadoes in Nebraska

46 tornadoes touched down in Nebraska in 1965, 9 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 4 people and injured 54. 2 were rated F4 or EF4 and above.

1964 1966 The whole country in 1965

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 1965

May 6 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 68:45 PM GMT-5F0Dixon0.110

May 8 15 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 85:00 PM GMT-5F3Howard10.210
May 85:25 PM GMT-5F4Howard78.910
May 85:30 PM GMT-5F2Rock44.910
May 85:40 PM GMT-5F3Thayer40.110
May 86:00 PM GMT-5F1Logan89.810
May 86:00 PM GMT-5F1Cass0.110
May 86:00 PM GMT-5F3Holt44.810$5 million to $50 million
May 86:30 PM GMT-5F2Brown4.110
May 86:30 PM GMT-5F2Brown9.010
May 86:30 PM GMT-5F4Hall125.710453$5 million to $50 million
May 86:30 PM GMT-5F1Hamilton0.110
May 86:35 PM GMT-5F1Hamilton7.210
May 87:00 PM GMT-5F0Boyd0.110
May 87:00 PM GMT-5F2Platte24.010
May 87:30 PM GMT-5F1Wayne41.510

May 14 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 1410:40 PM GMT-5F1Hamilton0.110

May 15 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 1512:00 PM GMT-5F0Polk0.110
May 1512:02 PM GMT-5F0Butler0.310

May 23 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 238:08 PM GMT-6F1Cheyenne3.010

May 24 5 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 2412:30 PM GMT-5F1Buffalo176.410$5,000 to $50,000
May 2412:00 PM GMT-6F1Scotts Bluff0.110
May 242:40 PM GMT-6F1Cheyenne0.110
May 243:02 PM GMT-6F1Dawes0.110
May 246:30 PM GMT-5F2Logan34.610

May 25 7 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 251:55 PM GMT-5F0York0.210
May 253:15 PM GMT-5F1Harlan35.210$5,000 to $50,000
May 256:20 PM GMT-5F2Webster39.310$5,000 to $50,000
May 256:25 PM GMT-5F0Jefferson0.110
May 256:32 PM GMT-5F0Hall0.110
May 258:35 PM GMT-5F0Hall0.110
May 259:15 PM GMT-5F0Hamilton0.110

June 5 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 51:45 PM GMT-5F0Franklin0.110

June 9 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 94:45 PM GMT-6F0Kimball0.110

June 13 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 136:30 PM GMT-6F2Morrill8.710

June 18 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 187:00 PM GMT-6F0Garden0.110$5,000 to $50,000

June 23 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 235:10 PM GMT-6F0Kimball0.210

June 24 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 244:00 PM GMT-6F0Scotts Bluff0.110

June 25 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 256:14 PM GMT-5F0Nuckolls0.110

June 26 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 268:30 PM GMT-5F1Holt44.610$5,000 to $50,000

July 1 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 16:00 PM GMT-5F3Otoe12.8101$50,000 to $500,000
July 16:15 PM GMT-5F1Otoe2.510
July 17:15 PM GMT-5F1Richardson13.510$50,000 to $500,000

July 2 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 22:40 PM GMT-6F1Banner0.110$5,000 to $50,000

July 3 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 36:53 PM GMT-5F0Lincoln0.110

July 14 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 144:00 PM GMT-6F0Cheyenne0.110

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.