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.

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.

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.

Costliest events since 1996

1. Nov 14, 1996Ice Storm, Lincoln$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An ice storm consisting of several periods of freezing rain caused widespread damage to power lines and poles, and to trees. Power lines snapped, cable wires were ripped down, and tree debris littered and blocked some roads. Thousands lost power, some for 5 days. Travel was curtailed by icy surfaces and there were numerous accidents, although no serious injuries were reported. The ice storm was described as the worst in 40 years in the Worthington area. Many small farm structures were damaged. A 600 foot radio tower in Worthington was toppled. Schools and business were forced to close. Damage continued after the ice storm ended, including some damage occurring when ice melted…

2. Apr 1, 2011Flood$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding of lakes, streams, and lowlands, including some farmland, continued in the county through April. While flooding of small streams abated, lake and lowland flooding continued with very slow improvement. Several roads remained flooded. High water and groundwater levels resulting from record precipitation in the previous year was the main reason that the flooding either grew worse or improved so slowly.

3. Oct 16, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds destroyed a barn, damaged its contents, damaged other farm buildings, blew down several trees, and damaged structures at a golf course.

4. Apr 1, 2019Flood$152,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Runoff from occasional precipitation in late March and very early April maintained significant flooding of agricultural and pasture lands near the Redwood River. The Redwood River at Russell (gage site RUSM5) crested at 0.80 feet above flood stage on April 8.

5. Mar 13, 2019Flood$118,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding resulted in damage to public infrastructure including county and township roads and culverts. The property damage costs include estimates for public property losses.

6. Jul 28, 2002Hail$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large hail caused damage to windows, vehicles, and crops. The amount of crop damage was not known.

7. Jun 12, 2004Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado destroyed a barn, machine shed, and several outbuildings on two farms. The tornado blew the roof off a hoop barn and caused a tarp covering the barn to fall on hogs inside, suffocating several of them. Two sprayers, three tractors, and other equipment in the machine shed were damaged. The tornado also damaged trees and crops.

8. Jun 22, 1997Hail$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large hail devastated crops in most of Lincoln County. An estimated 180 thousand acres of crops were affected, with 80 thousand acres totally destroyed.

9. Aug 6, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds damaged trees and power lines, and some vehicles were damaged by falling trees.

10. Jul 1, 2011Tornado$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A tornado destroyed several outbuildings and storage buildings, took the roofs off several other structures, and otherwise damaged the siding and roofs of several structures including some homes. Widespread tree damage included several trees blown down and debarking at tree tops.

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

108°F4 times, most recently Jul 16, 1936

All-time low

−44°FDec 24, 1983

Warmest night

82°FSep 5, 1913

Coldest day

−19°FJan 23, 1936

Wettest day

6.18 inJun 17, 1957

Snowiest day

17.0 inFeb 2, 2011

Hottest year

1931mean 50.3°F

Coldest year

1951mean 39.2°F

Wettest year

201939.66 in

Driest year

19769.25 in

Snowiest season

87.7 in2010-11

Station Pipestone (USC00216565), 1,658 ft elevation, 25.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1877 to October 27, 2026; 98.4% 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 USC00216565.
• 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.