Decatur County

Every recorded tornado

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

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

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.

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. Dec 29, 2006Winter Storm, Decatur$2.7 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Snowfall totals across the county averaged 6 in the east, 10-12 central and 15 west. Damage costs are a preliminary combined estimate for both the Dec 20 and Dec 30 storms.

2. May 22, 2008Tornado$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An intense supercell thunderstorm produced this long track tornado which traveled 34 miles from extreme southern Decatur county into Red Willow county Nebraska. Dozens of utility poles were snapped and numerous outbuildings were destroyed.

3. May 22, 2008Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The same supercell thunderstorm which produced the tornado across SW-C Decatur county developed a second tornado about 3 miles SW of Oberlin. This tornado moved north and and dissipated one mile SE of Cedar Falls, traveling along the west side of highway 83. This tornado remained mostly over open fields, but destroyed a number of irrigation pivots and damaged. The rear flank downdraft caused damage in several locations on highway 83, including grain bins at a feed lot and outbuildings at a farmstead.

4. May 31, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large tree branches broken by strong winds.

5. Aug 21, 1997Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wind blew out windows, uprooted trees, knocked down signs and antennas. At least 4 roofs were blown off; a storage building and a mobile home was destroyed. A leg on a grain elevator was bent. At Leoville, spotter estimated 60 mph winds.

6. May 22, 2008Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado moved into southern Decatur county from Sheridan county and tracked to 5 miles SW of Oberlin. Damage occurred to irrigation pivots and outbuildings in southern Decatur county.

7. Aug 9, 2011Hail$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Trained spotters and Law Enforcement reported hail up to 1.75 inches in diameter. Law Enforcement also reported damage to two of their vehicles, with damages totaling almost $20,000. Many other reports of damage to vehicles, windows of houses and businesses, and crops.

8. Jun 14, 2024Thunderstorm Wind$60,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Damage to a pole barn, garage, and chicken coop on property. Pole barn and chicken coop lost majority of the tin panels. The garage had a wall collapse. Report also mentioned downed power lines in town, but no additional information was provided.

9. Oct 8, 1997Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Gusts to at least 60 mph blew down fences, branches, power lines, and TV antennas.

10. Feb 25, 1998High Wind, Decatur$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    High winds damaged roofs, buildings, trees. Gusts 60 to 70 mph were common.

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

118°FJun 28, 2012

All-time low

−28°FDec 23, 1989

Warmest night

78°F3 times, most recently Jun 21, 1989

Coldest day

−6°FFeb 16, 2021

Wettest day

5.38 inOct 8, 2011

Snowiest day

13.5 inFeb 3, 2016

Hottest year

2012mean 54.7°F

Coldest year

1993mean 48.1°F

Wettest year

199336.40 in

Driest year

200212.13 in

Snowiest season

46.5 in1992-93

Station Norton Dam (USC00145852), 2,346 ft elevation, 29.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1962 to October 27, 2026; 99.4% 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 USC00145852.
• 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.