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Nebraska: Risks & Trends

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Same standard as every other page on this site: every figure below is independently sourced, and figures that vary across sources, or measure genuinely different things, are flagged as such rather than collapsed into one number that looks more precise than the underlying data actually supports.

The 2014 Pilger twin tornadoes

MetricFigure
Date June 16, 2014
Configuration Two tornadoes on the ground simultaneously, side by side
Larger tornado rating/winds EF4, 166-200 mph
Smaller tornado rating EF2
Deaths 2
Injuries 20
Pilger destroyed 75% of the town, including 100% of its business district
Pilger population at the time Under 350

A hazard configuration new to the site

Every other tornado case study on this site involves one tornado, or a sequence of separate tornadoes across a wider outbreak. Pilger’s twin tornadoes were genuinely simultaneous and side by side, a rare enough configuration that it drew national attention specifically for that reason, not just its damage total.

The March 2019 bomb cyclone flood

MetricFigure
Trigger Rapid-intensification 'bomb cyclone' (Winter Storm Ulmer), March 13, 2019
Mechanism Record snowmelt plus heavy rain on ground still frozen from exceptional cold
Deaths (NE + IA) 3
Nebraska homes affected 7,000+
Nebraska damage $2.7 billion
Total multi-state damage $10.8 billion, one of the costliest inland flood events on record in the U.S.
Counties declaring emergency ~70 of Nebraska's 93 counties (three-fourths)
Notable infrastructure failure Spencer Dam destroyed on the ice-choked Niobrara River

A dam failure most residents weren't planning around

Spencer Dam’s failure happened in mid-March, driven by ice jams and snowmelt rather than the summer thunderstorm flooding many households plan for. It’s a reminder that river and dam risk in Nebraska isn’t confined to one season.

Sources