Tornadoes · United States · Nebraska

2021 tornadoes in Nebraska

44 tornadoes touched down in Nebraska in 2021, about the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

2020 2022 The whole country in 2021

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 2021

March 14 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 142:33 PM CDTUnratedHitchcock0.450

May 2 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 27:51 PM CDTUnratedHamilton0.040
May 27:51 PM CDTEF0Hamilton0.9150$45,000
May 27:57 PM CDTEF0Kearney1.7150
May 28:06 PM CDTEF0Polk1.3100$45,000

May 5 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 54:10 PM CDTUnratedMadison0.125
May 54:30 PM CDTUnratedClay0.040
May 54:42 PM CDTEF0Cedar0.950

May 26 7 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 263:20 PM MDTUnratedDundy1.650
May 263:25 PM MDTEF0Dundy1.9350
May 263:39 PM MDTEF2Dundy8.3575
May 263:49 PM MDTUnratedDundy0.150
May 264:01 PM MDTUnratedDundy4.4300
May 265:23 PM CDTUnratedHitchcock1.8100
May 264:43 PM MDTUnratedSioux0.420

July 3 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 35:16 PM MDTUnratedSheridan0.110

December 15 28 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 151:27 PM CSTEF0Kearney11.0150$700,000
December 151:29 PM CSTEF0Franklin13.4100$700,000
December 151:33 PM CSTEF0Kearney7.1120$350,000
December 151:44 PM CSTEF1Webster14.8180$400,000
December 151:53 PM CSTEF1Adams8.6150$400,000
December 152:03 PM CSTEF0Adams7.260$302,000
December 152:11 PM CSTEF1Hamilton12.9400$500,000
December 152:26 PM CSTEF1Hamilton12.0400$500,000
December 152:35 PM CSTEF1Polk7.5350$400,000
December 153:03 PM CSTEF1Platte0.830
December 153:04 PM CSTEF2Platte2.7502
December 153:11 PM CSTEF2Saline23.770
December 153:27 PM CSTEF1Colfax1.530
December 153:31 PM CSTEF2Cuming6.3100
December 153:37 PM CSTEF1Cuming4.850
December 153:37 PM CSTEF1Cuming1.850
December 153:41 PM CSTEF1Cuming0.450
December 153:41 PM CSTEF1Saunders16.6100
December 153:44 PM CSTEF2Cuming11.2200
December 153:46 PM CSTEF1Saunders0.7100
December 153:51 PM CSTEF1Cuming11.220
December 153:55 PM CSTEF2Cass3.320
December 154:05 PM CSTEF1Otoe0.1200
December 154:05 PM CSTEF1Pawnee0.220
December 154:06 PM CSTEF0Pawnee2.220
December 154:06 PM CSTEF2Cass3.6150
December 154:07 PM CSTEF1Pawnee0.8100
December 154:09 PM CSTEF2Cass2.6200

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.