Arthur County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Mar 12, 2026Wildfire, Arthur$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Fire initiated during the early afternoon hours of March 12th east of Angora in Morrill County. Aided by 50 MPH winds, the fire tracked east of Garden County and spread across southwestern Arthur County. By the time the fire was contained on March 28th, approximately 64,590 acres of rangeland was consumed in the fire. The fire resulted in one fatality in southwestern Arthur County. One primary residence was destroyed, along with 6 outbuildings damaged in the fire. Two calf-cow pairs were lost in the fire in Arthur County.

2. Jul 5, 2015Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Most of a metal roof was blown off of a residents home. In addition, extensive water damage was also reported to this residence.

3. Jul 4, 1998Flash Flood$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rainfall of approximately 2.50 inches in 20 minutes caused flash flooding in the coummunity of Arthur. There was extensive damage to streets and roads, basements flooded, and water in homes and businesses.

4. Jun 21, 2015Hail$40,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Windows were broken, screens were knocked out, and a car was damaged.

5. Aug 28, 2002Lightning$30,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck the TV antenna on a house and then traveled through the wiring in the house. The house received extensive fire, heat and smoke damage.

6. Jun 10, 2004Tornado$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   During touchdown the tornado damaged or uprooted numerous trees, destroyed a wind mill and a 40 foot metal tower. The metal roof of nearby barn was peeled off and a trailer home was moved about 1 foot, with damage to the roof and siding.

7. Jun 21, 2015Hail$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A window was broken, screens were knocked out, and a car sustained damage from tennis ball size hail.

8. Mar 6, 1998Winter Storm, Arthur$15,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A winter storm produced from three to six inches of snowfall across Western and North Central Nebraska with some amounts up to 10 inches in parts of North Central Nebraska. I-80 was closed from Ogallala to Lincoln due to hazardous driving conditions created by the snow and blowing snow. Many schools were cancelled on Monday. Several traffic accidents due to icy road conditions were reported.

9. Jun 5, 2009Hail$10,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wind gusts of approximately 60 MPH accompanied the hail.

10. Jun 6, 2005Tornado$10,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Several storm chasers followed the supercell storm and recorded the tornado development. The tornado broke off or uprooted numerous trees, destroyed one small shed, peeled off the roof of another outbuilding, and damaged shingles on a home.

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

113°FJul 25, 1936

All-time low

−33°FDec 22, 1989

Warmest night

79°FJul 27, 2026

Coldest day

−14°FFeb 4, 1989

Wettest day

3.58 inSep 4, 1937

Snowiest day

24.0 inMar 27, 1939

Hottest year

1938mean 51.7°F

Coldest year

1993mean 45.1°F

Wettest year

200928.56 in

Driest year

19319.02 in

Snowiest season

66.5 in1979-80

Station Arthur (USC00250365), 3,651 ft elevation, 0.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1929 to October 25, 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 USC00250365.
• 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.