Grand Island

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond this area.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Flood insurance figures are for Hall County, the county that contains Grand Island.

Claims by ZIP code

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

River crests

River gauges in Hall County, the county that contains Grand Island.

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

The drought index is for Hall County, the county that contains Grand Island.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the city centre.
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. May 11, 2005Flash Flood$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Torrential rainfall of 5 to 11 inches during the evening led to widespread flash flooding over Adams, Buffalo, and Hall counties throughout the evening.

2. Jun 13, 2017Hail$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail ranging from quarter to tennis ball size was reported across much of Grand Island.

3. Dec 29, 2006Ice Storm, Hall$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A wide variety of significant winter weather began impacting portions of south central Nebraska during the day on Friday (12/29) and continued through Saturday night (12/30), before exiting the area on Sunday (12/31). Freezing rain, sleet, and snow began Friday afternoon in portions of Dawson county, with snowfall amounts as high as 9 inches. By Friday night most of the precipitation had turned to sleet and freezing rain, pressing further east to around highway 281. This led to significant ice accumulations which continued through Saturday night. The areas just west of Grand Island and Hastings received significant ice accrual from the storm, with up to an inch of ice reported…

4. May 20, 2024Hail$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail up to two inches in diameter was reported across Grand Island.

5. Jun 20, 2014Hail$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Primarily northern and central portions of the city of Grand Island were pounded by hail ranging in size from quarters to baseballs for approximately 30 minutes.

6. May 5, 2002Hail$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorms were widespread across south-central Nebraska and produced large hail and at least one tornado. Hail up to three inches in diameter was the main culprit causing millions in dollars in damage. The most significant damage stretched from Doniphan to east of Grand Island. Dozens of roofs and windows were heavily damaged just west of Doniphan as the tennis ball size hail lasted 10 minutes. Damage to vehicles along Interstate 80 and into southeast Grand Island was also widespread.To the south, a supercell moved north from Smith County Kansas and spawned a brief tornado 5 miles southwest of Guide Rock. The tornado traveled over open country and no damage was reported.

7. Apr 16, 2024Thunderstorm Wind$1.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Emergency management reported tree and fencing damage across town, damage to the local ethanol plant, and at least a dozen irrigation pivots damaged north of town.

8. May 20, 2024Hail$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail up to two inches in diameter was reported in and around Wood River. Shredded trees were reported in town, along with dented cars, broken windows, and damaged shingles.

9. Dec 25, 2016High Wind, Hall$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The highest wind gust of 75 mph was measured at 6:35 p.m. by the ASOS at the Grand Island Central Nebraska Regional Airport. Other wind gusts included 65 mph one mile south of Wood River, 63 mph four miles west-southwest of Wood River and 60 mph five miles southwest of Grand Island. Grand Island utilities reported short-term power outages to over 2,300 customers. Strong sustained winds around 40 MPH or higher continued for a few hours across the area.

10. Jun 7, 2022Hail$1.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    Hail up to two inches in diameter was reported in and around Wood River.

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

111°F2 times, most recently Jul 24, 1940

All-time low

−28°FJan 27, 1963

Warmest night

82°FJul 19, 1940

Coldest day

−9°F3 times, most recently Dec 24, 1983

Wettest day

6.50 inMay 11, 2005

Snowiest day

17.8 inMar 20, 2006

Hottest year

2012mean 55.1°F

Coldest year

1951mean 47.3°F

Wettest year

201939.71 in

Driest year

201211.55 in

Snowiest season

78.6 in1983-84

Station Grand Is Cntrl Ne Regional Airport (USW00014935), 1,843 ft elevation, 3.6 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1938 to October 27, 2026; 100.0% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

Declarations for Hall County.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USW00014935.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.