Tornadoes · United States · Nebraska

1986 tornadoes in Nebraska

53 tornadoes touched down in Nebraska in 1986, 26 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody. 1 were rated F4 or EF4 and above.

1985 1987 The whole country in 1986

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 1986

April 3 7 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
April 3	4:10 PM CST	F1	Lincoln	2.0	50		$5,000 to $50,000
April 3	4:42 PM CST	F0	Lincoln	0.1	17		under $50
April 3	5:10 PM CST	F1	Dawson	1.0	40	1	$50,000 to $500,000
April 3	5:10 PM CST	F1	Dawson	0.5	40		$5,000 to $50,000
April 3	5:30 PM CST	F2	Custer	1.5	40		$50,000 to $500,000
April 3	5:53 PM CST	F0	Lincoln	0.1	13
April 3	6:03 PM CST	F0	York	0.1	20

April 13 6 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
April 13	4:12 PM CST	F2	Kearney	5.0	40	$50,000 to $500,000
April 13	4:31 PM CST	F1	Kearney	0.5	30	under $50
April 13	4:32 PM CST	F0	Buffalo	0.1	20	$500 to $5,000
April 13	4:35 PM CST	F1	Hall	1.5	20	$5,000 to $50,000
April 13	4:35 PM CST	F0	Hall	0.1	20	under $50
April 13	7:30 PM CST	F1	York	0.3	20	$5,000 to $50,000

April 17 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 17	2:35 PM MST	F0	Keith	0.1	17			under $50
April 17	5:30 PM CST	F0	Lincoln	0.2	27			under $50

April 26 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 26	7:08 PM CST	F2	Thayer	10.0	40			$50,000 to $500,000
April 26	7:55 PM CST	F0	Seward	0.1	20			$50 to $500

May 10 6 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 10	3:25 PM CDT	F1	Buffalo	0.5	20	$50 to $500
May 10	3:30 PM CDT	F0	Kearney	0.1	20	under $50
May 10	4:00 PM CDT	F0	Buffalo	0.1	20	under $50
May 10	4:40 PM CDT	F0	Kearney	0.1	10	under $50
May 10	5:10 PM CDT	F0	Kearney	0.1	20	under $50
May 10	5:15 PM CDT	F0	Knox	0.1	30	under $50

June 7 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 7	8:30 PM MDT	F0	Scotts Bluff	0.1	10			under $50

June 10 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 10	8:30 PM CDT	F1	Adams	2.0	50			$500 to $5,000

June 21 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
June 21	7:15 PM MDT	F1	Hooker	0.2	20	$500 to $5,000
June 21	9:20 PM CDT	F0	Custer	0.1	20	$50 to $500
June 21	10:04 PM CDT	F1	Garfield	8.0	40	$50,000 to $500,000

June 26 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 26	3:57 PM CDT	F1	Dawson	0.3	50			$5,000 to $50,000

June 28 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 28	9:27 PM CDT	F0	Knox	0.1	20			under $50

June 29 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
June 29	9:02 PM CDT	F1	Polk	0.3	50	$5,000 to $50,000
June 29	9:12 PM CDT	F1	Polk	0.3	50	$50,000 to $500,000
June 29	9:10 PM MDT	F1	Sioux	0.1	20	under $50

July 2 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 2	3:56 PM CDT	F0	Hitchcock	0.1	10			under $50

July 5 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 5	5:43 PM CDT	F0	Clay	0.1	30			under $50

July 11 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 11	6:00 PM CDT	F1	Loup	0.3	30			$5,000 to $50,000
July 11	10:10 PM CDT	F1	Hall	0.5	50			$50,000 to $500,000

July 24 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 24	4:00 PM CDT	F1	Hall	0.3	40			$500 to $5,000
July 24	5:20 PM CDT	F1	Platte	0.1	20			$50,000 to $500,000

July 28 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 28	6:30 PM CDT	F4	Dixon to IA	52.5	73		2	$50 million to $500 million
July 28	7:50 PM CDT	F0	Cedar	0.1	20			$50 to $500

July 29 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 29	6:45 PM CDT	F1	Holt	5.0	70			$500 to $5,000
July 29	7:25 PM CDT	F1	Antelope	3.0	20			$5,000 to $50,000

July 31 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 31	10:30 AM CDT	F0	Dawson	0.2	30			under $50
July 31	8:23 PM MDT	F0	Kimball	0.2	40			under $50

August 6 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 6	8:00 PM CDT	F2	Blaine	19.0	70			$500,000 to $5 million
August 6	8:43 PM CDT	F1	Thomas	0.2	23			$5,000 to $50,000

August 31 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 31	4:00 PM CDT	F0	Brown	0.1	20			under $50

September 5 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 5	8:30 PM CDT	F1	Webster	0.2	50			under $50
September 5	9:00 PM CDT	F1	Webster	0.2	50			under $50

September 16 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 16	6:00 PM CDT	F0	Hitchcock	0.1	10			under $50

September 18 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 18	9:15 PM CDT	F2	Webster	2.0	50			$50,000 to $500,000
September 18	11:28 PM CDT	F2	Clay	1.0	40			$5,000 to $50,000

Crossed into Nebraska

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

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 18	8:15 PM CDT	F3	Jewell, KS to NE	7.0	500		7	$500,000 to $5 million

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.