Brown County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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. May 6, 2007Flash Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hiawatha had report of flooding of city streets. One resident has house flooded out and is being evacuated by city workers. Unofficial reports of 6 to 8 inches of rain with a few rural roads damaged by flash flooding. Flash flooding also severely damaged a low water impoundment dam on the Kickapoo Indian Reservation that is vital to their water supply. Total damage to the dam was estimated at 1.5 million dollars.

2. Jun 4, 2005Tornado$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Three farmsteads or businesses sustained damage with a total of 15 buildings damaged or destroyed. Several cars were rolled and a combine was moved a considerable distance. A salvage yard was near one of the houses damaged by the tornado. A hubcap from the salvage yard had become airborne and was impaled in the sheet rock in the living room of the house.

3. Apr 15, 2006Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   At 5:44pm cst, an F1 tornado touched down 1 mile south of Willis and travelled 4 miles before dissipating 3 miles east of Willis at 5:49pm cst. Just east of Willis, 4 well built outbuildings were destroyed on a farmstead. Several other outbuildings and trees were damaged by the tornado. Along it's 75 yard wide path, it is estimated to have caused $150,000 in damage. The parent thunderstorm was a supercell.

4. Apr 5, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
5. Mar 30, 2006Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This F1 tornado crossed into Brown County from Nemaha County about 2.5 miles west-southwest of Fairview, where it damaged one farmstead. The path width was estimated to be 100 yards with the tornado being on the ground in Brown County for less than 1 mile. The damage in Brown County was estimated at $150,000. The tornado formed in a bow echo that produced an otherwise wide swath of wind damage.

6. Apr 15, 2006Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This brief tornado touched down at 5:40pm cst 2 miles NW of Horton in Brown County and was on the ground for 1 mile before lifting 2.5 miles NNW of Horton at 5:43pm cst. It had a path width of 50 yards. The tornado destroyed 2 outbuildings, and caused minor damage to trees and a home along its 1 mile long path, with the damage estimated at $100,000. It was spawned from a supercell thunderstorm.

7. Jul 1, 1997Hail$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   At the Kickapoo Indian Reservation hail up to baseball size driven by 50 to 60 mph winds broke windows out of three vehicles. The hail also shattered windows and damaged roofs and siding on two businesses and several homes. Damage to crops in the area was widespread.

8. Mar 24, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$80,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Downburst winds estimated at 60 to 65 mph produced damage in and around the Morrill area.

9. Mar 24, 1996Tornado$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A small tornado, likely embeded in a downburst, cut a small path mainly in open area near Morrill. Sheds and outbuildings were damaged or destroyed.

10. Apr 15, 2006Tornado$25,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A brief tornado touchdown was noted 3 miles SSW of Robinson at 5:52pm cst from a supercell thunderstorm. It was 50 yards wide and remained on the ground for only one tenth of a mile. It caused about $25,000 of damage to a home and also damaged some trees before dissipating at 5:53pm cst. The parent thunderstorm also caused separate straight line wind damage in Robinson as well.

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

114°F4 times, most recently Aug 13, 1936

All-time low

−30°FJan 13, 1916

Warmest night

87°F2 times, most recently Jun 19, 1921

Coldest day

−10°F3 times, most recently Dec 22, 1989

Wettest day

7.05 inJul 13, 1992

Snowiest day

12.0 inFeb 13, 1978

Hottest year

1921mean 57.8°F

Coldest year

1993mean 49.5°F

Wettest year

197357.33 in

Driest year

198815.78 in

Snowiest season

58.0 in1959-60

Station Falls City Brenner Field (USW00094957), 980 ft elevation, 19.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1912 to October 26, 2026; 99.6% 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 USW00094957.
• 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.