Tornadoes · United States · Nebraska

2015 tornadoes in Nebraska

23 tornadoes touched down in Nebraska in 2015, 45 percent below the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

2014 2016 The whole country in 2015

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 2015

May 3 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 38:33 PM CDTEF0Lancaster0.3100

May 6 6 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 64:18 PM CDTEF1Adams3.9300$1.5 million
May 64:38 PM CDTEF1Nuckolls9.5200$250,000
May 65:26 PM CDTEF0Thayer1.8100$500,000
May 65:28 PM CDTEF0Thayer1.030
May 65:45 PM CDTEF0Hall0.025
May 610:49 PM CDTEF1Gage7.7500

May 9 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 98:25 PM CDTEF0Harlan0.315
May 98:36 PM CDTEF0Harlan0.015
May 911:20 PM CDTEF0Red Willow4.225

May 15 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 157:34 PM MDTEF0Cherry0.120
May 158:08 PM MDTEF0Sheridan0.010

May 24 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 244:45 PM MDTEF0Cherry0.120
May 244:45 PM MDTEF0Cherry0.120

June 14 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 1412:25 PM CDTEF0Lincoln1.025

June 25 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 255:23 PM MDTEF0Morrill1.950

July 23 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 234:47 PM CDTEF0Thomas0.110

July 26 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 265:37 PM MDTEF0Cherry0.110
July 268:05 PM CDTEF0Brown0.110

August 2 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 23:25 PM CDTEF0Lincoln0.110
August 23:35 PM CDTEF0Lincoln0.110

August 8 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 88:55 PM CDTEF1Pawnee2.2238

September 23 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 235:44 PM CDTEF0Butler1.550

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 64:48 PM CDTEF0Grady, OK to KS, NE0.350
May 64:48 PM CDTEF2Nuckolls, KS to NE20.1400$4.3 million
May 65:20 PM CDTEF2Republic, KS to NE36.2800$1.0 million
November 167:24 PM CSTEF1Norton, KS to NE18.4400$50,000

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.