Mills County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Mills County: 0.
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.

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

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.

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.

Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles

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 county boundary (or inside the county).
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. Aug 1, 2011Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding along the Missouri River, which had gradually worsened over Mills county during June and July, persisted into August. However, conditions began improving by the end of the month as record releases from Gavins Point Dam were gradually reduced during August, especially by the end of the month. At Plattsmouth the river reached a crest of a little over 36 feet by the end of June, flood stage is 26 feet. The river level near Plattsmouth fell a little in July and a bit more in early to mid August. By the end of August the river had fallen to around 30 feet. The flooding affected farmland along the river along with roads and recreational areas. The water treatment plant and…

2. May 6, 2007Flash Flood$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rainfall of 3 to 4 inches fell across the Glenwood area which caused Keg Creek to flash flood across parts of town. The flooding prompted emergency management crews to go door-to-door to alert residents about the impending flood, although no mandatory evacuations were required. Flooding along Keg Creek, other small creeks across the county and the West Nishnabotna River caused over 2 million dollars worth of damage to roads and bridges and for debris removal.

3. Oct 25, 1997Heavy Snow, Mills$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A major early season snowstorm struck portions of southwestern Iowa, blanketing the area with 6 to 9 inches of heavy wet snow. The snow fell on trees, many of which were still fully or partially leafed, and caused extensive damage and/or total destruction. Thousands of residents were without power just after the storm and many of the outages lasted for several days. Emergency shelters were opened in the affected areas for use by those who suffered a hardship from the storm.

4. Jul 8, 2009Lightning$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning apparently started a chain-reaction fire which eventually totally destroyed or significantly damaged 15 semi trucks at a fleet maintenance store near Interstate 29 near Pacific Junction.

5. Aug 10, 2025Flash Flood$97,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy thunderstorms generated flash flooding across Mills County, Iowa, particularly in the western portion, on the morning of August 10, 2025. Rainfall totals were measured between 3.1 and 3.96 inches, though radar estimates indicated up to 3 to 5 inches across the area. The deluge was extremely rapid, with rainfall rates peaking at a dangerous 2 to 3.5 inches per hour. The resultant flash flood caused severe ground instability, with Emergency Management reporting multiple road washouts and mudslides in the environmentally sensitive Loess Hills region.

6. Jun 11, 2010Flood$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain over much of eastern Nebraska and western Iowa during most of June caused a prolonged period of flooding along the Missouri River, especially downstream of Omaha through Rulo. The flood damage was increased near the confluence of the Platte River where flood waters from the Platte added to the flow. In Plattsmouth the Missouri River crested a little over 33 feet in the late afternoon of June 22nd, flood stage is 26 feet. The river climbed above flood stage in the afternoon of June 11 and remained above flood stage into July. Several mobile home and camping communities along the river were flooded, including some trailers and mobile homes. Roads and farmland along the…

7. Apr 11, 2001Tornado$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   From the mini-supercell which produced wind damage in Glenwood, this storm produced a tornado that did damage to 2 farms near Mineola. A barn and home sustained roof damage, hog sheds were destroyed and trees and power lines were downed.

8. Oct 31, 2000Tornado$40,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down around 3 miles south southeast of Glenwood Iowa and tracked to just east of town before lifting. The tornado badly damaged a trailer home 1 mile east of Glenwood, and also blew some power poles onto a railroad track which were then run over by a train knocking power out to residents near Glenwood. A large Vinyl Fence was also destroyed, and part of a roof of another house was damaged.

9. Jul 1, 2011Flood$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding along the Missouri River gradually worsened over the area during June into July as record releases from Gavins Point Dam brought widespread flooding along the River. At Plattsmouth the river started June around 30 feet, flood stage is 26 feet, and eventually reached a little over 36 feet by the end of the month before falling a little in July. However, at least moderate flooding persisted well into August. The flooding affected farmland along the river along with roads and recreational areas. The water treatment plant and wellheads near Glenwood were sandbagged to prevent flood waters from reaching it. By the middle of June about 125 of the 500 residences along the river…

10. May 6, 2007Flood$20,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Heavy rainfall over the weekend of May 4th through the 6th, caused the West Nishnabotna River and its tributaries to flood several county roads in Mills county prompting their closure. See Pottawattamie county for specifics of the West Nishnabotna River at Hancock.

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

110°FJul 21, 1974

All-time low

−23°F3 times, most recently Feb 16, 2021

Warmest night

84°FJul 24, 2012

Coldest day

−12°FDec 24, 1983

Wettest day

6.46 inAug 7, 1999

Snowiest day

18.3 inFeb 11, 1965

Hottest year

2012mean 55.8°F

Coldest year

1951mean 48.0°F

Wettest year

196544.85 in

Driest year

202017.65 in

Snowiest season

57.8 in1974-75

Station Omaha Eppley Airfield (USW00014942), 980 ft elevation, 21.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 26, 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.

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.

Neighbouring counties

• 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 USW00014942.
• 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.