July Tornadoes 1950-2010

July Tornadoes
South Central Nebraska and North Central Kansas

Data from January, 1950 - December, 2010

(View our 'Main Tornado Page' for maps for each month of the year, including statewide maps of Nebraska and Kansas.)

Notes about the data: All data from 1950-2009 was collected and assimilated into GIS format by the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, OK. This data can be found at https://spc.noaa.gov/gis/svrgis/ The data for the year 2010 was collected and assimilated into GIS by the National Weather Service office in Hastings, NE. The Fujita Scale (F-Scale) rating began in 1971, and the Enhanced Fujita Scale (EF-Scale) began February 1, 2007; Tornadoes prior to 1971 were later assigned an F-scale rating based on damage accounts and records. The tornado descriptions are primarily based on information in StormData and from the National Climatic Data Center, and is supplemented by information in 'Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991,' by Thomas P. Grazulis. The maps below illustrate the tornado touchdown points and tornado tracks. The tornado rating is based on the highest rating given the tornado along its path and is not necessarily at its highest rating at the initial touchdown point. For example, a track and tornado touchdown point with an EF3 rating may have started as an EF0 at the touchdown point and grew in intensity towards the middle or end of the track. The touchdown point represented on the map is the center of the triangle, not at the base (point) of the triangle. Tornado tracks are illustrated by the start and end points of the tornado, which on the map appear linear, versus an actual path the tornado may have taken along its lifespan. Not all tornadoes have tracks due to the length of the track. If the track length was incredibly small (For example, a brief touchdown or less than a few miles long), it was not plotted.

For Geographic Reference Click the Map!

Tornado Descriptions EF2 or Greater

F3/EF3:
-July 21, 1962
Polk County. A tornado touched down two or three times from north of Polk, NE to Duncan, NE. The most damage occurred at Duncan. A home, warehouse, and a grain elevator were destroyed.
-July 18, 1958
Buffalo County. A tornado tracked to the northeast, passing three miles north of Shelton, NE. Barns, outbuildings, roofs, and porches were destroyed on four farms. A bus was lifted from a highway, but without injury to the passengers.
F2/EF2:
-July 6, 1987
Valley County. The tornado moved northeast from 14 miles west, to 10 miles west northwest of Ord, NE. It destroyed a barn and damaged trees.
-July 27, 1972
Rooks County The tornado moved south from three miles northwest of Plainville, KS. A jeep was carried, and a trailer was completely destroyed.
-July 20, 1972
Valley County. There is no supplemental information on this tornado.
-July 30, 1968
Polk County. A tornado east southeast from four miles northwest of Stromsburg, NE to three miles southeast of Stromsburg, NE. Two farms and a power substation were destroyed. A couple were injured in the basement.
-July 30, 1968
York County. A tornado tracked east southeast from five miles north northeast of Waco, NE. A home was unroofed, and most of its walls were destroyed.
-July 7, 1959
Dawson County. A small tornado touched down briefly at the west edge of Gothenburg, NE. It destroyed a cement block service station and a warehouse. A hardware store on Highway 30 was unroofed.
-July 18, 1958
Phelps County. A tornado moved northeast and unroofed a church and warehouse in Holdrege, NE. A car was carried 50 ft in the air.
-July 12, 1955
Buffalo County. There is no supplemental information on this tornado.
-July 30, 1954
York County. A tornado tracked east from three miles west of York, NE. Five sets of farm buildings were destroyed. Homes were unroofed and barns were 'carried away.'