Cass County

Every recorded tornado

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

Claims by ZIP code

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.

Mapped landslides

Mapped by NE Univ of NE Lincoln (1).

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. Mar 13, 2019Flood$15.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This is for flooding along the Missouri River. The river gage at Plattsmouth, operated by the Army Corps of Engineers, peaked at 40.62 feet at 6 am on March 16th. Minor flood stage is 26 feet, moderate flood stage is 32 feet while major flood stage is 35 feet. Preliminary this peak is a record crest. This record flooding caused substantial damages to the water treatment plant for the city of Plattsmouth. Flooding continued into the next month.

2. Oct 25, 1997Heavy Snow, Cass$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A major early season snowstorm struck the area. A heavy wet snowfall of 6 to 14 inches fell on trees, many of which were still fully or partially leafed, and caused extensive damage and/or total destruction. At least 205,000 residents in the affected area were without power just after the storm, many of the outages lasted for several days. Omaha Public Power District estimated that it was the worst outage in 50 years. Nearly 85% of the trees in the Omaha area and 25% of the trees in the Lincoln area sustained damage or were totally destroyed. Many emergency shelters in and around the Omaha and Lincoln areas were opened for use by those who suffered a hardship from the storm.

3. Jul 28, 1996Hail$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorms producing large hail resulted in over 1,000 claims of damage to vehicles and homes in the Plattsmouth area.

4. Mar 23, 2009Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This is the fifth and last of 5 cyclic tornadoes that a low-topped supercell thunderstorm produced at it tracked southeast through east of the Lincoln area. This tornado touched down in Alvo and tracked a little over 10 miles north northeast before lifting just west of South Bend. The tornado knocked down power poles and transmission lines, snapped trees and damaged houses and destroyed farm out buildings along its path. One of the downed power lines fell on a car trapping its occupant for several hours. Several cars were crushed by fallen trees in the Alvo area. From the 3 confirmed tornadoes that hit the county, plus any associated wind damage, emergency management estimated…

5. Mar 17, 2010Flood$625,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Melting snow and periods of rain brought a prolonged period of flooding along the Missouri River. The river stage at Plattsmouth remained about its 26 foot flood stage for around 9 days in mid to late March, cresting at a little over 29 feet around midnight on the 22nd. The flooding mainly affected agricultural lowlands, but several roads near the river flooded, including the road that led to Plattsmouth's public boat dock and water treatment plant. Plant workers had to use a small boat to reach the plant. Damage included silt/debris clean-up and gravel washed off of county roads, which was estimated to be between $250,000 and $1 million according to emergency management.

6. Aug 10, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A microburst from a thunderstorm caused extensive damage to a small area from near Greenwood to the Ashland County Club southwest of Asland (which is near the border of Saunders and Cass counties). The winds were estimated at around 100 mph by a damage survey compiled by a NWS storm survey team. The most extensive damage was at the Nebraska Raceway Park near Greenwood. Damage there included an overturned mobile home, camper, 4 empty semi trailers and a 2 ton storage trailer. Two ticket booths were destroyed and significant damage was done to a set of bleachers and a crash fence. Damage was estimated at nearly 1/2 million dollars at the track. The winds also downed numerous limbs…

7. Jun 21, 2010Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rainfall of 2 to over 4 inches that fell during the evening of 6/20 caused flooding along Weeping Water Creek and most likely many of its tributaries. The flooding caused the evacuations of Weeping Water, Union and Nehawka and shelters were established in each of those towns. Weeping Water Creek at Union crested at a record, almost 33 feet, during the morning of 6/21. Flood stage is 25 feet. The creek at Union was above flood stage from the early morning until early evening hours of 6/21. Many county roads and bridges were flooded in the area as were farmlands near the creek.

8. Jun 1, 2011Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding along the Missouri River gradually worsened during June as record releases from Gavins Point Dam brought widespread flooding along the river. The river at Plattsmouth started the month around 30 feet, flood stage is 26 feet. The river then gradually rose through June reaching a little over 36 feet by the end of the month. The river remained in major flood stage into July. The high water initially flooded marshy areas and farmland along the river along with a few roads and recreation areas, including a road to the Plattsmouth water treatment plant. By the middle of the month some businesses and homes began to flood and most of 210 dwellings around Lake Waconda in the area…

9. Sep 11, 1996Lightning$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning started a fire that destroyed a building and damaged bulk oil storage tanks.

10. Jul 23, 1997Lightning$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Lightning struck a radio station transmitter tower causing significant damage.

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

110°FJul 21, 1974

All-time low

−23°F3 times, most recently Feb 16, 2021

Warmest night

84°FJul 24, 2012

Coldest day

−12°FDec 24, 1983

Wettest day

6.46 inAug 7, 1999

Snowiest day

18.3 inFeb 11, 1965

Hottest year

2012mean 55.8°F

Coldest year

1951mean 48.0°F

Wettest year

196544.85 in

Driest year

202017.65 in

Snowiest season

57.8 in1974-75

Station Omaha Eppley Airfield (USW00014942), 980 ft elevation, 26.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 26, 2026; 100.0% 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 USW00014942.
• 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.