Lincoln County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Dec 10, 2007Ice Storm, Lincoln$9.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   One to two inches of ice accumulated across Lincoln County during the ice storm. This resulted in approximately 500 downed power poles and 2000 downed lines. Damage to the electrical infrastructure is estimated at $9.8 million. There was also widespread damage to trees but the cost of the damage is unknown.

2. Dec 25, 2016Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   It seemed more like spring than Christmas Day as a vigorous, negatively-tilted upper level wave underwent intense cyclogenesis as it surged northeast from New Mexico to the Nebraska/South Dakota border. An equally intense surface cyclone that was situated over Eastern Colorado teamed with the upper cyclone to produce a truly dynamic system that contained impressive deep-layer shear. All factored in the development of severe thunderstorms over Central Kansas around midday that produced gusts around 60 mph that blew the roof off a barn in Lincoln County. There was also a small, short-lived tornado in Saline County.

3. May 5, 2007Flash Flood$175,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flash flooding was reported across the county. Street flooding was reported in Sylvan Grove. Damage was estimated at $175,000.

4. Apr 24, 2015Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The roof was peeled off of the high school gymnasium (DI16 DOD5) and the press box at the football stadium was completely demolished. The tornado was 40 yards wide.

5. May 5, 2007Tornado$125,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado damaged a few barns, sheds, and downed several power lines.

6. Aug 2, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$125,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   City is without power. Roof damage was reported and some windows were blown out.

7. Feb 3, 2014Heavy Snow, Lincoln$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Six to nine inches of snow fell across the county. Blowing and drifting snow made roadways impassible. Numerous auto accidents and slide offs occurred along Interstate 70.

8. Aug 12, 2002Hail$100,000
9. Sep 10, 2003Flash Flood$84,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Torrential rains, on the order of 2-4 inches per hour, caused flash flooding across approximately 108 square miles, primarily in Cedron and Orange townships as well as parts of Battle Creek, Hanover, and Grant townships. Land damage acreage: 26,250. Included in this affected acreage were 2,560 acres of milo and 640 acres of soybeans. Farm facilities damaged: 25 dams and 10 miles of fencing. Narrative provided by USDA Flash Situation Report.

10. Jun 1, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$60,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Emergency management reported quite a bit of tree damage in and around Lincoln. Additionally, newspaper reports indicated a large 140,000 bushel grain bin was destroyed along with other grain storage damaged in Lincoln. Furthermore, some power poles were snapped just west of Lincoln. Information courtesy of the Lincoln Sentinel-Republican.

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

119°FJul 13, 1934

All-time low

−27°FDec 23, 1989

Warmest night

85°F4 times, most recently Aug 16, 1936

Coldest day

−5°FJan 6, 1912

Wettest day

5.97 inSep 6, 1946

Snowiest day

15.0 inJan 9, 1985

Hottest year

1934mean 59.4°F

Coldest year

1993mean 51.7°F

Wettest year

195150.25 in

Driest year

195610.53 in

Snowiest season

46.0 in1959-60

Station Lincoln 1 Se (USC00144712), 1,401 ft elevation, 3.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1912 to October 27, 2026; 99.5% 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 USC00144712.
• 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.