Banner County

Every recorded tornado

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

Mapped landslides

Mapped by NE Univ of NE Lincoln (4).

1. Landslides mapped in the USGS compilation of landslide inventories across the United States (version 3.0, 2025), rated probable or better. The compilation joins inventories made by federal and state agencies for different purposes and areas, so the number mapped in a county reflects how closely it has been surveyed as much as how often its slopes fail. An area with few records may simply not have been mapped. Deaths are as recorded in the inventories; a slide listed in two inventories is counted once.

USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0, retrieved October 27, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Apr 4, 1997Blizzard, Banner$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong winds combined with snow amounts of generally 8 to 12 inches to create widespread blizzard conditions in the Nebraska panhandle. Closed and impassable roads became the norm from the evening of April 4 through April 6 due to blowing and drifting snow. Many automobile accidents occurred as a result of the treacherous conditions, and many power lines were downed due to the weight of snow. Many livestock were killed by the snow and accompanying cold temperatures because the storm occurred in the calving season. The highest snow amount was 12 inches in the Wildcat Hills region of Banner County, and the strongest wind recorded was 68 MPH at Sidney at 900 PM April 5.

2. Apr 6, 2024Blizzard, Banner$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Scotts Bluff Emergency Manager and KNEB station manager reported blizzard conditions in Banner County for well over 3 hours. Widespread power outages reported across Banner County from power poles being blown down. Wind gusts were in excess of 50 mph during this time as well from the Charlie Mesonet site 5 miles northeast of Harrisburg.

3. Jun 27, 2005Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado moved SSE across parts of eastern Banner county, remaining over open country. Some power lines, power transmission towers and poles blown down as well as trees uprooted. Damage to irrigation pivots also reported.

4. Jun 2, 1997Flash Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread flash flooding then flooding caused crop, road and bridge damage.

5. Jun 2, 2024Hail$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A storm chaser reported 2-inch diameter hail 4 miles E of Harrisburg.

6. Apr 21, 2001Winter Storm, Banner$100,000
7. Jun 26, 1999Hail$50,000
8. May 30, 1996Tornado$30,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado destroyed a barn and several out buildings. Damage wasalso down to a windbreak, seven corrals and a shed.

9. Jun 12, 2017Tornado$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A short-lived tornado touched down east of Highway 71 southeast of Harrisburg, NE. A calving barn was moved about 10 yards from its original location. One horse was killed with several other horses injured. Several power poles were broken. A grain bin was pushed off its foundation, landing east into grove of trees. Pole barn rolled with only a few walls left standing (DI 1, DOD 7).

10. Mar 8, 2000Winter Storm, Banner$25,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Strong and gusty winds combined with snow to create near blizzard-like conditions over most of the Nebraska panhandle. Many roads were closed, including a 100 mile stretch of Interstate 80. Winds gusted as high as 58 mph at Sidney, NE, with gusts to 49 mph recorded at Scottsbluff, NE.

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

106°FAug 3, 2026

All-time low

−44°FDec 22, 1989

Warmest night

72°F2 times, most recently Jul 27, 2026

Coldest day

−16°FJan 12, 1963

Wettest day

4.00 inMay 24, 1933

Snowiest day

30.0 inDec 14, 1925

Hottest year

2012mean 50.6°F

Coldest year

1964mean 43.5°F

Wettest year

201526.47 in

Driest year

20126.12 in

Snowiest season

96.3 in2015-16

Station Harrisburg 12WNW (USC00253605), 4,550 ft elevation, 13.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1961 to September 30, 2026; 98.5% 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 USC00253605.
• 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.
• Landslides USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0 (2025).
• 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.