Malvern has become a frequent target of severe weather, and the numbers back it up.
According to National Weather Service records, since 2021, Malvern has recorded 71 severe thunderstorm warnings and 12 tornado warnings. Downtown Omaha, by comparison, has seen 62 severe thunderstorm warnings and 4 tornado warnings in the same period.
The town has weathered hailstorms in 2023, a windstorm in December 2021, and 2 major windstorms within a single week in 2026.
Alicia Hagen owns the Classic Café in downtown Malvern. In April 2023, a hailstorm struck her business while customers were still inside.
"I was one of those people who always just thinks it's never gonna happen to us," Hagen said.
"We only had one table in here...I finally was like 'okay guys, I really think you should move,' and 10 seconds later, all the water starts coming like right where they were sitting," Hagen said.
The repeated storms have pushed Hagen to take precautions she hadn't before.
"We never did have a generator before; we did end up getting one," Hagen said.
There is no known meteorological explanation for why Malvern draws so much severe weather. Despite the repeated hits, residents appear to take the pattern in stride.
"It's just a scary thing, you can't control the weather, it's gonna do whatever it wants, and you're gonna deal with it after," Hagen said.
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