Tornadoes · United States · Nebraska

1978 tornadoes in Nebraska

42 tornadoes touched down in Nebraska in 1978, about the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody. 2 were rated F4 or EF4 and above.

1977 1979 The whole country in 1978

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.

F040 to 72 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
F4207 to 260 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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 1978

April 5 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 5	6:10 PM CST	F2	Adams	11.0	80			$500,000 to $5 million

April 7 5 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
April 7	5:25 PM CST	F1	Webster	0.5	20		$5,000 to $50,000
April 7	5:40 PM CST	F2	Webster	0.2	10		$50 to $500
April 7	8:45 PM CST	F4	Hamilton	31.2	77	1	$5 million to $50 million
April 7	11:10 PM CST	F4	Polk	8.0	50		$500,000 to $5 million
April 7	11:50 PM CST	F1	Butler	2.0	20		$5,000 to $50,000

April 8 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 8	3:40 AM CST	F1	Washington	0.5	10			$50 to $500
April 8	6:10 PM CST	F1	Red Willow	27.4	10

May 24 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 24	11:15 PM CDT	F0	Custer	0.1	10

May 26 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 26	7:10 PM MDT	F1	Chase	0.1	10	$5,000 to $50,000
May 26	7:45 PM MDT	F1	Dundy	1.0	10	$5,000 to $50,000
May 26	9:10 PM CDT	F1	Hitchcock	2.0	10	$50,000 to $500,000
May 26	9:35 PM CDT	F0	Hitchcock	0.1	10

May 27 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 27	5:30 PM MDT	F0	Keith	0.1	10
May 27	6:15 PM MDT	F1	Keith	1.0	20			$50,000 to $500,000

May 28 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
May 28	12:50 PM CDT	F0	Keya Paha	4.9	20
May 28	5:55 PM CDT	F0	Loup	0.7	20
May 28	6:30 PM CDT	F0	Rock	1.0	20
May 28	9:50 PM CDT	F0	Thurston	0.1	10

May 30 5 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 30	5:25 PM CDT	F2	Fillmore	3.8	30	$50,000 to $500,000
May 30	6:30 PM CDT	F1	Saline	1.0	20	$5,000 to $50,000
May 30	7:00 PM CDT	F1	Thayer	1.0	20	$5,000 to $50,000
May 30	7:00 PM CDT	F1	Thayer	0.7	20	$5,000 to $50,000
May 30	7:20 PM CDT	F0	Gage	0.1	10

June 16 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 16	8:30 PM MDT	F0	Cherry	0.7	17

June 19 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 19	8:15 PM CDT	F1	Fillmore	4.0	10			$500,000 to $5 million
June 19	8:15 PM CDT	F1	Gage	0.5	10			$5,000 to $50,000

June 21 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 21	7:15 PM CDT	F1	Brown	0.7	30			$500 to $5,000
June 21	10:15 PM CDT	F1	Valley	0.2	20			$500 to $5,000

June 25 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 25	2:30 PM MDT	F2	Sheridan	11.1	300		8	$500,000 to $5 million
June 25	4:50 PM MDT	F1	Cherry	0.1	10			$5,000 to $50,000

July 6 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 6	5:45 PM CDT	F2	Jefferson	4.4	100			$500,000 to $5 million
July 6	6:00 PM CDT	F1	Gage	1.0	30			$5,000 to $50,000

July 17 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 17	9:30 PM CDT	F1	Webster	0.2	20			$5,000 to $50,000

July 18 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 18	11:30 PM CDT	F1	Gage	0.2	20			$50,000 to $500,000

July 19 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 19	5:45 PM MDT	F0	Cheyenne	0.5	20

July 20 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 20	8:05 PM MDT	F3	Sioux	53.2	23			$50,000 to $500,000

July 21 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 21	6:00 PM CDT	F1	Jefferson	0.5	23			$5,000 to $50,000

August 31 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 31	12:40 PM MDT	F2	Banner	20.9	440			$500 to $5,000
August 31	1:30 PM MDT	F2	Banner	25.9	440			$500 to $5,000

September 11 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 11	4:10 PM CDT	F3	Dawson	22.5	20			$5,000 to $50,000

September 13 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 13	5:20 PM CDT	F1	Pawnee	4.9	100			$500 to $5,000

Nearby

Every tornado in Nebraska since 1950 Warnings in force in Nebraska The 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.