Tornadoes · United States · Nebraska

1990 tornadoes in Nebraska

88 tornadoes touched down in Nebraska in 1990, 109 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody. 2 were rated F4 or EF4 and above.

1989 1991 The whole country in 1990

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 1990

March 13 15 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
March 13	4:45 PM CST	F1	Buffalo	1.0	80		$50 to $500
March 13	5:00 PM CST	F3	Kearney	32.0	200		$500,000 to $5 million
March 13	5:05 PM CST	F4	Webster	131.0	440	8	$5 million to $50 million
March 13	5:20 PM CST	F2	Kearney	8.0	100		$50,000 to $500,000
March 13	5:25 PM CST	F2	Adams	9.0	80		$50,000 to $500,000
March 13	5:35 PM CST	F0	Buffalo	0.1	40		under $50
March 13	5:44 PM CST	F3	Hall	27.0	200		$500,000 to $5 million
March 13	6:23 PM CST	F2	Merrick	13.0	100		$500,000 to $5 million
March 13	6:25 PM CST	F1	Boone	1.5	200		$50,000 to $500,000
March 13	6:30 PM CST	F1	Nance	2.0	50		$5,000 to $50,000
March 13	6:45 PM CST	F1	Madison	0.2	50		$5,000 to $50,000
March 13	7:30 PM CST	F1	Madison	0.6	73		$500,000 to $5 million
March 13	7:45 PM CST	F3	Thayer	25.0	180		$500,000 to $5 million
March 13	7:45 PM CST	F3	Thayer	13.0	150		$50,000 to $500,000
March 13	10:01 PM CST	F1	Thurston	1.5	50		$50,000 to $500,000

April 25 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 25	8:00 PM CDT	F0	Red Willow	0.2	20			under $50

May 13 7 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 13	1:18 PM MDT	F0	Morrill	0.1	10	under $50
May 13	1:23 PM MDT	F0	Morrill	0.1	10	under $50
May 13	1:23 PM MDT	F0	Morrill	0.1	10	under $50
May 13	2:20 PM MDT	F0	Garden	0.1	10	under $50
May 13	3:00 PM MDT	F0	Cheyenne	0.1	10	$500 to $5,000
May 13	3:55 PM MDT	F0	Garden	0.1	10	under $50
May 13	4:50 PM MDT	F0	Sioux	0.1	10	under $50

May 18 12 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
May 18	3:45 PM MDT	F0	Sioux	0.1	10		under $50
May 18	5:30 PM CDT	F0	Lincoln	0.1	23
May 18	4:46 PM MDT	F0	Morrill	0.1	10		under $50
May 18	6:28 PM CDT	F1	Lincoln	5.0	50	1	$50,000 to $500,000
May 18	5:42 PM MDT	F0	Sheridan	0.1	10		$50 to $500
May 18	6:47 PM CDT	F2	Lincoln	20.0	73		$50,000 to $500,000
May 18	6:00 PM MDT	F0	Sheridan	0.1	10		under $50
May 18	7:45 PM CDT	F1	Red Willow	1.0	23		$50,000 to $500,000
May 18	8:08 PM CDT	F1	Red Willow	2.0	50		$500 to $5,000
May 18	8:10 PM CDT	F1	Furnas	1.0	100
May 18	7:15 PM MDT	F1	Keith	1.0	50		$50,000 to $500,000
May 18	9:00 PM CDT	F0	Red Willow	0.1	23		$500 to $5,000

May 27 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
May 27	1:30 PM MDT	F0	Box Butte	2.0	200
May 27	1:35 PM MDT	F0	Box Butte	0.5	13
May 27	1:45 PM MDT	F0	Box Butte	0.5	13
May 27	2:00 PM MDT	F0	Box Butte	0.5	13

June 1 5 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
June 1	6:30 PM MDT	F2	Chase	15.0	100	$5 million to $50 million
June 1	8:02 PM CDT	F3	Custer	25.0	50	$50,000 to $500,000
June 1	8:12 PM MDT	F1	Perkins	0.5	23	$50 to $500
June 1	9:15 PM CDT	F0	Loup	0.5	50	$5,000 to $50,000
June 1	10:30 PM CDT	F1	Hitchcock	0.5	50	$500 to $5,000

June 12 7 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
June 12	7:04 PM CDT	F1	Kearney	12.0	100	$5,000 to $50,000
June 12	8:49 PM CDT	F1	Nance	2.0	50	$5,000 to $50,000
June 12	9:38 PM CDT	F0	Dawson	0.5	30
June 12	10:45 PM CDT	F0	Howard	1.0	40	$500 to $5,000
June 12	11:20 PM CDT	F0	Platte	0.1	23	$5,000 to $50,000
June 12	11:30 PM CDT	F1	Merrick	5.0	100	$5,000 to $50,000
June 12	11:40 PM CDT	F0	Platte	0.1	20	$5,000 to $50,000

June 15 7 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
June 15	5:20 PM MDT	F0	Perkins	0.2	23
June 15	7:00 PM CDT	F4	Hitchcock	28.0	2,640	1	$500,000 to $5 million
June 15	9:04 PM CDT	F0	Gosper	0.7	30
June 15	9:04 PM CDT	F0	Gosper	0.7	30
June 15	9:05 PM CDT	F1	Thayer	15.0	200		$5,000 to $50,000
June 15	9:55 PM CDT	F1	Buffalo	1.0	60		$5,000 to $50,000
June 15	10:00 PM CDT	F0	Sherman	0.5	30

June 16 13 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
June 16	4:40 PM CDT	F0	Holt	0.2	23	$50,000 to $500,000
June 16	5:00 PM CDT	F0	Holt	0.1	23	$50,000 to $500,000
June 16	5:10 PM CDT	F0	Harlan	0.7	40
June 16	5:15 PM CDT	F1	Harlan	15.0	100	$5,000 to $50,000
June 16	5:25 PM CDT	F1	Franklin	2.0	50	$500 to $5,000
June 16	5:30 PM CDT	F1	Sherman	4.0	50	$5,000 to $50,000
June 16	6:35 PM CDT	F0	Nuckolls	0.5	30
June 16	6:45 PM CDT	F0	Platte	0.1	30	$50,000 to $500,000
June 16	6:45 PM CDT	F0	Boone	0.5	30	$50,000 to $500,000
June 16	6:45 PM CDT	F0	Webster	0.7	40
June 16	7:10 PM CDT	F1	Madison	1.5	30	$500,000 to $5 million
June 16	8:30 PM CDT	F1	Nuckolls	2.0	50	$50,000 to $500,000
June 16	8:40 PM CDT	F1	Thayer	15.0	100	$50,000 to $500,000

June 18 7 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
June 18	5:05 PM CDT	F0	Franklin	1.0	40
June 18	5:25 PM CDT	F0	Franklin	0.5	30
June 18	5:34 PM CDT	F0	Adams	0.5	40
June 18	5:40 PM CDT	F2	Adams	0.7	440	$50,000 to $500,000
June 18	6:28 PM CDT	F0	Kearney	0.5	40
June 18	6:53 PM CDT	F1	Webster	0.7	100	$500 to $5,000
June 18	7:05 PM CDT	F0	Adams	0.5	30

July 11 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 11	10:45 PM MDT	F0	Morrill	0.1	10

July 18 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 18	4:03 PM MDT	F0	Box Butte	0.2	10			$500 to $5,000

July 20 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 20	1:45 PM MDT	F0	Sheridan	0.1	10

July 25 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
July 25	4:40 PM CDT	F1	Buffalo	8.0	50	$50,000 to $500,000
July 25	5:15 PM CDT	F0	Buffalo	2.0	30
July 25	5:25 PM CDT	F0	Hall	1.0	20

August 2 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
August 2	4:15 PM CDT	F0	Colfax	0.1	40	$5,000 to $50,000
August 2	4:35 PM CDT	F0	Washington	0.2	30	$50,000 to $500,000
August 2	4:55 PM CDT	F1	Washington	2.5	200	$500,000 to $5 million

August 22 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 22	1:18 PM MDT	F0	Box Butte	0.2	10

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.