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Thurston, NE Natural Disasters and Weather Extremes

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The chance of earthquake damage in Thurston is about the same as Nebraska average and is much lower than the national average. The risk of tornado damage in Thurston is lower than Nebraska average and is higher than the national average.

Topics:Earthquake Index Volcano Index Tornado Index Other Weather Extremes Events Volcanos Nearby Historical Earthquake Events Historical Tornado Events

Earthquake Index, #251

Thurston, NE	0.02
Nebraska	0.04
U.S.	1.81

The earthquake index value is calculated based on historical earthquake events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the earthquake level in a region. A higher earthquake index value means a higher chance of an earthquake.

Volcano Index, #1

Thurston, NE	0.0000
Nebraska	0.0000
U.S.	0.0023

The volcano index value is calculated based on the currently known volcanoes using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the possibility of a region being affected by a possible volcano eruption. A higher volcano index value means a higher chance of being affected.

Tornado Index, #359

Thurston, NE	194.07
Nebraska	205.07
U.S.	136.45

The tornado index value is calculated based on historical tornado events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the tornado level in a region. A higher tornado index value means a higher chance of tornado events.

Other Weather Extremes Events

A total of 3,863 other weather extremes events within 50 miles of Thurston, NE were recorded from 1950 to 2010. The following is a break down of these events:

Type	Count	Type	Count	Type	Count	Type	Count	Type	Count
Avalanche:	0	Blizzard:	36	Cold:	68	Dense Fog:	0	Drought:	5
Dust Storm:	0	Flood:	272	Hail:	1,710	Heat:	12	Heavy Snow:	26
High Surf:	0	Hurricane:	0	Ice Storm:	7	Landslide:	0	Strong Wind:	44
Thunderstorm Winds:	1,474	Tropical Storm:	0	Wildfire:	0	Winter Storm:	76	Winter Weather:	39
Other:	94

Volcanos Nearby

No volcano is found in or near Thurston, NE.

Historical Earthquake Events

No historical earthquake events that had recorded magnitudes of 3.5 or above found in or near Thurston, NE.

No historical earthquake events found in or near Thurston, NE.

Historical Tornado Events

A total of 71 historical tornado events that had recorded magnitude of 2 or above found in or near Thurston, NE.

Distance (miles)	Date	Magnitude	Start Lat/Log	End Lat/Log	Length	Width	Fatalities	Injuries	Property Damage	Crop Damage	Affected County
1.3	1954-06-17	3	42°07'N / 96°42'W	42°12'N / 96°42'W	5.70 Miles	163 Yards	1	0	250K	0	Thurston
10.4	1954-06-17	3	42°05'N / 97°03'W	42°07'N / 96°42'W	17.90 Miles	163 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Stanton
11.3	1967-06-14	2	42°09'N / 96°29'W		0.50 Mile	33 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Thurston
12.2	1970-06-15	2	42°02'N / 97°25'W	42°28'N / 96°25'W	59.10 Miles	33 Yards	0	0	0K	0	Madison
14.8	1955-05-26	2	42°14'N / 97°00'W	42°19'N / 96°55'W	6.50 Miles	167 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Wayne
15.0	1967-08-01	2	41°59'N / 96°50'W		2.00 Miles	33 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Cuming
16.4	1953-06-19	2	42°13'N / 97°01'W				0	1	3K	0	Wayne
16.6	1964-04-20	2	42°14'N / 97°01'W				0	0	3K	0	Wayne
17.0	1992-05-16	2	42°22'N / 97°01'W	42°21'N / 96°50'W	8.00 Miles	100 Yards	0	0	2.5M	0	Dixon
18.3	1955-06-17	2	42°15'N / 97°06'W	42°21'N / 96°56'W	10.60 Miles	40 Yards	0	0	3K	0	Wayne
19.5	2001-08-17	2	42°27'N / 96°34'W	42°26'N / 96°34'W	1.50 Miles	400 Yards	0	3	3.0M	0	Dakota
		Brief Description: A tornado completely destroyed at least ten houses and heavily damaged several others. The tornado heavily damaged the town school, including taking most of the roof off the school. The only church in town and a telephone company building were also heavily damaged. Power lines, poles, and trees were blown down, and electricity and water service were knocked out. Three empty box cars on the southeast side of Jackson were toppled. Three injuries included a woman with a broken leg and cuts rescued from the rubble of a house, and two children with minor injuries.
21.9	1992-05-16	2	42°24'N / 97°02'W	42°22'N / 97°01'W	2.00 Miles	100 Yards	0	0	2.5M	0	Cedar
22.0	1986-07-28	4	42°32'N / 96°41'W	42°25'N / 96°25'W	20.00 Miles	73 Yards	0	1	25.0M	0	Dakota
22.8	1991-05-28	2	41°56'N / 96°24'W		1.00 Mile	440 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Burt
23.1	1998-06-23	2	42°12'N / 96°15'W	42°12'N / 96°15'W	2.00 Miles	50 Yards	0	0	0	0	Monona
		Brief Description: House destroyed.
23.1	1994-07-05	3	42°20'N / 96°18'W		1.80 Miles	150 Yards	0	0	500K	5K	Woodbury
23.2	1986-07-28	4	42°25'N / 96°23'W	42°12'N / 96°11'W	11.50 Miles	73 Yards	0	1	250.0M	0	Woodbury
24.1	1991-05-27	3	41°53'N / 96°28'W	41°56'N / 96°20'W	6.00 Miles	1760 Yards	0	2	2.5M	0	Burt
25.5	1992-06-16	2	41°52'N / 96°25'W	41°55'N / 96°21'W	4.00 Miles	150 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Burt
25.6	1986-07-28	4	42°11'N / 96°14'W	42°11'N / 96°10'W	1.00 Mile	73 Yards	0	0	250.0M	0	Monona
26.3	1975-05-22	2	42°28'N / 96°22'W				0	0	25K	0	Woodbury
26.6	1968-06-13	2	42°27'N / 96°20'W		0.10 Mile	100 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Woodbury
26.9	1963-06-09	2	42°23'N / 97°20'W	42°35'N / 96°43'W	34.10 Miles	33 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Cedar
27.0	1964-08-10	2	42°25'N / 97°07'W				0	0	25K	0	Cedar
27.2	1975-05-06	3	41°58'N / 97°12'W	42°12'N / 97°14'W	15.90 Miles	167 Yards	0	1	250K	0	Stanton
29.9	1964-05-05	3	42°31'N / 96°25'W	42°34'N / 96°21'W	4.10 Miles	300 Yards	0	7	2.5M	0	Woodbury
30.0	1950-07-15	4	41°48'N / 96°36'W	41°44'N / 96°25'W	10.00 Miles	440 Yards	0	33	2.5M	0	Burt
30.5	1986-07-28	4	42°41'N / 96°58'W	42°32'N / 96°41'W	20.00 Miles	73 Yards	0	0	25.0M	0	Dixon
30.9	1953-06-07	2	42°15'N / 97°25'W	42°25'N / 97°07'W	18.90 Miles	33 Yards	0	4	25K	0	Cedar
32.1	1998-05-28	2	42°33'N / 97°08'W	42°33'N / 97°01'W	8.00 Miles	250 Yards	0	1	0	0	Cedar
		Brief Description: Three farms damaged. Eight to ten power poles downed 8 -10 miles east southeast of Hartington. Injury occurred about 9 miles east of Hartington southeast of the Highway 84/57 interchange.
33.1	1979-05-08	3	42°27'N / 96°10'W				0	4	25K	0	Woodbury
33.3	1963-05-12	2	42°13'N / 96°12'W	42°18'N / 95°55'W	15.20 Miles	50 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Woodbury
33.9	1954-05-30	4	41°59'N / 97°22'W	42°03'N / 97°17'W	5.90 Miles	33 Yards	0	0	2.5M	0	Stanton
34.3	2003-06-23	4	42°30'N / 97°19'W	42°32'N / 97°04'W	13.00 Miles	1200 Yards	1	0	3.7M	0	Cedar
		Brief Description: An eventual f4 tornado began its destructive path around 6 miles southwest of Coleridge. The tornado moved northeast and crossed the northern sections of the city uprooting trees, downing power lines and destroying a couple of grain bins. A construction business in a garage was also destroyed. The tornado then continued northeast of town hitting a large hog farm. At this farm a 70-year-old man was killed while in a storage shed when a tractor that was flipped by the winds crushed him. Many livestock were also killed by debris or flung through the air by the deadly winds. In one case cattle were carried over a mile then left dead in a pile. The tornado then widened to around 3/4 of a mile, reaching its maximum intensity. Numerous vehicles were tossed at this location and a complete farmstead was flattened. Trees were also stripped and debarked. The tornado remained around 3/4 of a mile wide for a few more miles before turning slightly to the southeast and diminishing, but not before hitting 2 more farmsteads and moving one house off of its foundation. In total, 11 homes received substantial damage and between 100 and 200 utility poles were downed. M70EQ
34.7	1984-06-17	2	41°53'N / 97°15'W		1.00 Mile	50 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Stanton
35.4	1983-09-05	2	42°23'N / 96°04'W		2.50 Miles	127 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Woodbury
36.1	1980-05-29	2	42°39'N / 96°59'W	42°41'N / 96°55'W	3.30 Miles	60 Yards	0	0	2.5M	0	Dixon
38.6	1973-06-18	2	42°29'N / 96°04'W		2.00 Miles	400 Yards	2	10	250K	0	Woodbury
38.8	1973-06-18	2	42°28'N / 96°03'W		1.00 Mile	300 Yards	0	5	250K	0	Woodbury
39.3	1960-06-15	2	41°42'N / 96°17'W				0	0	25K	0	Burt
39.5	1963-04-28	2	41°35'N / 97°01'W	41°40'N / 96°47'W	13.10 Miles	300 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Colfax
39.9	1982-05-20	2	41°37'N / 96°55'W	41°37'N / 96°52'W	2.00 Miles	30 Yards	0	0	3K	0	Dodge
40.9	2008-06-11	2	41°48'N / 96°06'W	41°51'N / 96°01'W	5.00 Miles	440 Yards	0	0	0K	0K	Harrison
		Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: This is a continuation of the tornado that initially touched down in Burt county Nebraska, about 4.5 miles west of Little Sioux Iowa. The tornado eventually reached EF3 strength in Monona county when it hit a boyscout camp where 4 fatalities and 48 injuries occurred. The tornado crossed into Harrison county near mile marker 97 on Interstate 29 where a semi-truck was flipped. The tornado snapped power poles northeast of there with an estimated strength of EF2 in Harrison county. The tornado then crossed into Monona county Iowa about 4 miles north of Little Sioux. EPISODE NARRATIVE: A very strong and unseasonably cold upper level low pressure system that was tracking across the northern plains brought a strong low level jet to the region during the early morning hours of June 11th. The warm and unstable air that worked north into the region helped spawn early morning severe thunderstorms across eastern Nebraska and southwest Iowa. Later that day as the upper level system worked into the central Dakotas, a cold front pushed across the region. This helped set off another round of thunderstorms that developed over east central Nebraska by late afternoon. Isolated small supercell thunderstorms initially developed ahead of the cold front over eastern Nebraska, but they were quickly overtaken by a broken line of larger supercell thunderstorms, some of the heavy precipitation type, that developed along the cold front. Cell mergers and training were observed well into the evening hours as the activity quickly spread across southwest Iowa. The storms produced a total of 8 confirmed tornadoes in the Omaha/Valley warning area which covers eastern Nebraska and southwest Iowa.
40.9	1963-06-09	2	42°46'N / 96°37'W		2.00 Miles	33 Yards	0	2	25K	0	Plymouth
41.1	1962-05-07	2	41°36'N / 96°30'W		1.00 Mile	33 Yards	0	5	25K	0	Dodge
41.4	1953-06-07	2	42°08'N / 97°36'W	42°15'N / 97°25'W	12.10 Miles	33 Yards	0	2	25K	0	Pierce
41.4	1962-05-21	3	42°26'N / 97°27'W	42°46'N / 97°06'W	29.00 Miles	500 Yards	0	1	2.5M	0	Cedar
41.9	1977-05-04	3	41°36'N / 97°08'W	41°43'N / 97°07'W	7.60 Miles	200 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Colfax
42.8	1964-09-07	2	42°42'N / 96°15'W		2.00 Miles	250 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Plymouth
42.9	1981-09-26	2	42°47'N / 96°53'W				0	0	25K	0	Clay
43.1	1982-05-20	2	41°34'N / 97°04'W	41°37'N / 96°55'W	5.00 Miles	30 Yards	0	0	3K	0	Colfax
43.2	1998-06-23	2	41°36'N / 97°04'W	41°36'N / 96°59'W	2.70 Miles	1000 Yards	0	0	0	0	Colfax
		Brief Description: Debris on highway.
43.5	1967-08-16	2	42°47'N / 96°56'W				0	0	25K	0	Clay
43.5	1991-05-28	2	41°56'N / 95°57'W	41°56'N / 95°53'W	5.00 Miles	60 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Monona
43.6	1975-05-06	4	42°12'N / 97°34'W	42°16'N / 97°32'W	4.10 Miles	300 Yards	0	0	0K	0	Pierce
44.1	2008-06-11	3	41°51'N / 96°01'W	41°54'N / 95°52'W	7.00 Miles	440 Yards	4	48	0K	0K	Monona
		Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: This tornado tragically hit a boyscout camp north of Little Sioux Iowa killing 4 young scouts. The tornado initially touched down in Burt county Nebraska, crossed into Harrison county Iowa near mile marker 97 on Interstate 29, and then finally crossed into Monona county Iowa about 4 miles north of Little Sioux. In Monona county the tornado entered the Little Sioux Scout Ranch, destroying the rangers home near the entrance of the park giving it a rating of EF3. The storm then blew down trees and destroyed bunk houses at the camp. Four scouts were killed in one bunk house when a brick chimney collapsed on them. In total 48 people were injured at the camp. The tornado continued to topple trees as it tracked into Preparation Canyon State Park. Just before it entered the park a farmstead sustained damage. The tornado hit another farmstead about 2.5 miles southwest of Moorhead where trees were blown down and sheds damaged. The tornado then began to weaken and finally lifted about 2 miles southwest of Moorhead. The total path length was around 14 miles. EPISODE NARRATIVE: A very strong and unseasonably cold upper level low pressure system that was tracking across the northern plains brought a strong low level jet to the region during the early morning hours of June 11th. The warm and unstable air that worked north into the region helped spawn early morning severe thunderstorms across eastern Nebraska and southwest Iowa. Later that day as the upper level system worked into the central Dakotas, a cold front pushed across the region. This helped set off another round of thunderstorms that developed over east central Nebraska by late afternoon. Isolated small supercell thunderstorms initially developed ahead of the cold front over eastern Nebraska, but they were quickly overtaken by a broken line of larger supercell thunderstorms, some of the heavy precipitation type, that developed along the cold front. Cell mergers and training were observed well into the evening hours as the activity quickly spread across southwest Iowa. The storms produced a total of 8 confirmed tornadoes in the Omaha/Valley warning area which covers eastern Nebraska and southwest Iowa.
44.3	1984-06-11	2	42°47'N / 96°59'W				0	0	25K	0	Clay
44.6	1953-06-07	2	42°45'N / 96°36'W	42°52'N / 96°26'W	11.30 Miles	200 Yards	0	0	0K	0	Plymouth
45.5	1975-05-06	3	42°10'N / 97°28'W	42°49'N / 97°30'W	44.80 Miles	90 Yards	0	0	0K	0	Pierce
45.6	1991-06-04	2	41°54'N / 97°33'W	41°54'N / 97°28'W	3.00 Miles	100 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Madison
46.1	1967-06-14	3	42°48'N / 96°35'W	42°52'N / 96°29'W	6.20 Miles	500 Yards	0	3	250K	0	Plymouth
46.1	1965-09-09	2	42°03'N / 95°54'W	42°07'N / 95°43'W	10.20 Miles	100 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Monona
46.1	1970-07-14	2	42°36'N / 96°00'W		1.00 Mile	100 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Plymouth
46.4	1953-06-07	2	41°57'N / 97°40'W	42°10'N / 97°31'W	16.60 Miles	33 Yards	0	0	0K	0	Madison
47.3	1962-05-21	3	42°06'N / 97°47'W	42°26'N / 97°27'W	28.50 Miles	500 Yards	0	0	2.5M	0	Pierce
48.0	1970-06-15	2	41°26'N / 96°57'W	41°33'N / 96°08'W	42.90 Miles	600 Yards	0	0	0K	0	Butler
48.2	1954-05-30	4	41°45'N / 97°43'W	41°59'N / 97°22'W	24.00 Miles	167 Yards	6	23	2.5M	0	Madison
49.1	1978-07-05	2	42°54'N / 96°33'W	42°47'N / 96°10'W	20.80 Miles	30 Yards	0	0	2.5M	0	Plymouth
49.6	1953-06-07	2	41°33'N / 96°15'W	41°34'N / 96°10'W	4.10 Miles	33 Yards	0	1	25K	0	Washington
49.9	1991-08-07	2	42°47'N / 96°10'W		1.50 Miles	63 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Plymouth
50.0	1963-03-16	2	42°48'N / 96°12'W		2.00 Miles	200 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Plymouth

* The information on this page is based on the global volcano database, the U.S. earthquake database of 1638-1985, and the U.S. Tornado and Weather Extremes database of 1950-2010.