Tornadoes · United States · Nebraska

2008 tornadoes in Nebraska

58 tornadoes touched down in Nebraska in 2008, 38 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

2007 2009 The whole country in 2008

The rating scale

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

  1. EF065 to 85 mph

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

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

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

  3. EF2111 to 135 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. EF3136 to 165 mph

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

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

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

  6. EF5over 200 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 2008

April 23 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 235:32 PM MDTEF1Morrill1.5350$300,000

April 24 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 2412:50 AM CDTEF1Nemaha0.3100$100,000

May 6 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 66:30 PM CDTEF0Frontier0.110

May 22 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 224:29 PM MDTEF0Chase0.150

May 23 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 236:10 PM MDTEF0Kimball2.950

May 29 14 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 293:50 PM CDTEF0Frontier0.120
May 294:10 PM CDTEF0Gosper6.1100
May 294:32 PM CDTEF0Gosper20.9400
May 295:16 PM CDTEF2Phelps14.1100$100,000
May 295:20 PM CDTEF1Buffalo25.6100$100,000
May 295:26 PM CDTEF2Buffalo21.8400$11 million
May 296:02 PM CDTEF0Hall9.9100$25,000
May 296:52 PM CDTEF0Hamilton3.6100$20,000
May 297:02 PM CDTEF2Hamilton7.61,000$20,000
May 297:44 PM CDTEF0York4.125$40,000
May 297:55 PM CDTEF1Washington1.925
May 298:00 PM CDTEF0Seward0.840
May 298:15 PM CDTEF1Washington0.740
May 2911:25 PM CDTEF2Gage10.8440$750,000

June 1 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 15:45 PM MDTEF0Cherry0.120

June 4 13 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 44:53 PM CDTEF0Howard3.625$50,000
June 44:49 PM MDTEF1Chase0.930$95,000
June 45:08 PM MDTEF1Chase0.120$30,000
June 45:13 PM MDTEF0Chase0.120$25,000
June 45:53 PM MDTEF0Chase0.120
June 47:10 PM CDTEF0Hayes0.120
June 47:25 PM CDTEF1Seward5.6440
June 47:44 PM CDTEF1Butler3.8440
June 48:00 PM CDTEF1Butler5.5220
June 48:37 PM CDTEF1Saunders6.5880
June 48:55 PM CDTEF1Saunders4.9440
June 411:23 PM CDTEF0Phelps0.125
June 411:28 PM CDTEF0Gosper0.125

June 5 6 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 53:40 PM CDTEF2Rock29.950$200,000
June 56:20 PM CDTEF1Nemaha2.6100
June 56:23 PM CDTEF1Nemaha6.5220
June 56:35 PM CDTEF1Nemaha0.7100
June 57:33 PM CDTEF0Richardson1.3100
June 57:39 PM CDTEF2Richardson to MO18.4880$250,000

June 8 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 82:10 AM CDTEF2Sarpy10.84403
June 82:12 AM CDTEF1Douglas8.1440

June 11 5 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 116:25 PM CDTEF1Burt1.3440
June 116:59 PM CDTEF0Douglas0.140
June 117:39 PM CDTEF0Cass0.240
June 117:50 PM CDTEF1Cass5.480
June 118:38 PM CDTEF0Jefferson0.240

June 17 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 178:06 PM CDTEF0Brown0.120$10,000
June 179:20 PM CDTEF0Brown0.120

June 18 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 185:01 PM CDTEF0Red Willow0.310

June 19 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 196:45 PM CDTEF0Lancaster0.140

June 23 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 2311:04 PM MDTEF0Hooker0.120
June 2312:52 AM CDTEF0Dawson5.175$40,000

June 26 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 266:15 PM MDTEF0Cherry0.220$3,000

July 8 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 84:57 PM CDTEF0Thayer0.125
July 85:36 PM CDTEF0Lancaster0.110

July 14 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 143:35 PM MDTEF0Perkins0.220

August 11 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 116:05 PM MDTEF0Cherry0.110

August 13 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 136:41 PM MDTEF0Deuel0.420

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
May 226:31 PM CDTEF1Decatur, KS to NE34.0400$1.9 million
May 299:30 PM CDTEF3Jewell, KS to NE55.21,320$2.8 million

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.