Nemaha County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Jun 13, 1998Tornado$3.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado ripped through downtown Sabetha causing extensive structural damage to buildings in a two block area, as well as downing power lines and several large trees. The tornado's path extended from one-half mile west to one-half mile east of the City Hall building. Eighteen buildings in downtown sustained damage with five buildings including City Hall damaged close to the point of loss. The tornado caused 2 million in damage to City Hall alone as it destroyed half the roof and walls of the building. Away from downtown several homes and vehicles were damaged from fallen trees and limbs on the fringes of the tornado or from strong straight line winds.

2. May 6, 2007Flash Flood$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Water reported flowing over rural roads north of Sabetha.

3. Apr 5, 1999Tornado$350,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down 5 miles east of Seneca and moved northeast for about 10 miles. Considerable damage occured to 6 farm buildings. Twelve hogs were killed.

4. Mar 30, 2006Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This F1 tornado touched down 7.5 miles south of Sabetha, damaged one farmstead, then moved east-northeast to the Brown county border, roughly 6 miles south of Sabetha, where it damaged a second farmstead. Debris from the first homestead was scattered over a mile northeast. Some of the debris was lodged in treetops in a nearby woods. Other wood debris was driven several feet into the ground. The tornado had a path length of about 2 miles in Nemaha County with a path width of about 100 yards. The tornado then crossed the border into Brown County. The damage in Nemaha county was estimated at $200,000. This tornado formed in a bow echo that produced an otherwise wide swath of wind damage.

5. Apr 5, 1999Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A small tornado struck near Seneca and damaged a few farm homes and out buildings. One person was injured.

6. May 9, 1996Tornado$95,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A small tornado hit a farmstead damaging and destroying several buildings. Pieces of tin from the damaged buildings were observed to be circling counter-clockwise. However, the farmers home was not damaged.

7. May 6, 2007Flash Flood$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several reports of minor street flooding but one road was reported completely under water.

8. Apr 5, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong winds damaged 3 to 4 houses near Centralia.

9. May 9, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   High winds damaged several farm buildings, torn down power lines and damaged trees in and around Seneca.

10. Jul 1, 1997Hail$40,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Two to four inch hail stones hammered large holes into the siding on the north side of 6 houses. They also shattered the windows on and dented several vehicles and pieces of farm machinery.

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, 26.4 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.