There is no place like Nebraska for weather. The winds blow stronger, the seasons never arrive quietly and the storms leave marks that last generations.
Drawn from news and documentary archives curated by Nebraska Public Media, the hour-long local television documentary, “Nature’s Fury: Extreme Nebraska Weather,” premieres at 9 p.m. June 1 on Nebraska Public Media and the network’s YouTube channel.
Hosted by Nebraska meteorologist Ken Siemek, who watched the skies for more than 40 years, the program revisits the most powerful severe weather events in state history, including tornadoes, blizzards and floods.
“Nature’s Fury” begins with the infamous Easter tornado outbreak of 1913. Omaha and communities in southeast Nebraska were struck by as many as seven tornadoes, leaving widespread destruction. A portion of the Nebraska Public Media documentary, “Devil Clouds: Tornadoes Strike Nebraska,” revisits the deadly storms and their lasting impact on the region.
More than six decades later, another tornado carved a 15-mile path of destruction through the center of Omaha. The May 1975 twister caused an estimated $500 million in damages and became one of the costliest tornadoes in Nebraska history.
On June 3, 1980, Grand Island experienced a series of tornadoes remembered as the "Night of the Twisters." It was an historic outbreak that left a lasting mark on central Nebraska. The tornado segment concludes with the story of Hallam, Nebraska. In 2004, the small Lancaster County community was devastated by what became the second-largest tornado ever recorded in U.S. history, leaving much of the town destroyed.
Host Ken Siemek remembers the storm as one that stayed with him, recalling how close it came to even greater devastation.
“Just to think about that had me shaking,” he said. “With tornadoes, you sometimes have minutes to react. The randomness and the speed with which they develop have always made tornadoes, to me, the most dynamic threat.”
“Nature’s Fury: Extreme Nebraska Weather” also highlights two of Nebraska’s most historic blizzards: the 1888 “Children’s Blizzard” and the deadly winter storms of 1949. In January 1888, an unusually warm day turned deadly as temperatures plunged and snow swept across the Great Plains, trapping children attempting to return home from school. Nearly 100 Nebraskans lost their lives in the storm.
More than 100 inches of snow fell during the winter of 1948-49, isolating communities and livestock. Massive military and civilian rescue operations were launched to dig out stranded residents and deliver critical supplies.
The program concludes with a look back at catastrophic flooding that inundated the eastern half of Nebraska in 2019. Parts of the Nebraska Public Media documentary, “And the Floods Came: Nebraska 2019,” recall how spring rains falling on frozen ground created disastrous conditions, resulting in widespread destruction.
While “Nature’s Fury: Extreme Nebraska Weather” primarily focuses on the damage the state sustained during severe weather outbreaks, it also includes inspiring stories of Nebraskans who came together, rebuilt and carried on with resilience after the skies cleared.
The program website offers more information, including Nebraska weather facts, the average number of tornadoes in the state by month and links to severe weather resources. In additional video clips, Siemek discusses his thoughts on Nebraska’s worst weather event and why weather stories resonate with Nebraskans.
“Nature’s Fury: Extreme Nebraska Weather” repeats at 7 p.m. June 3 and at 6:30 p.m. June 7 on Nebraska Public Media; 7:30 p.m. June 4 on Create; and 8 p.m. June 5 on WORLD.
