Dakota County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Dakota 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 (2).

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. Jul 16, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds caused widespread damage over most of Dakota county. The winds caused widespread tree damage, blew down power lines and poles, destroyed many farm buildings, and damaged many homes. Livestock loss resulted from some of the destroyed farm buildings. Crops were also damaged, although most of the crop damage was attributed to accompanying large hail.

2. Aug 17, 2001Tornado$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado completely destroyed at least ten houses and heavily damaged several others. The tornado heavily damaged the town school, including taking most of the roof off the school. The only church in town and a telephone company building were also heavily damaged. Power lines, poles, and trees were blown down, and electricity and water service were knocked out. Three empty box cars on the southeast side of Jackson were toppled. Three injuries included a woman with a broken leg and cuts rescued from the rubble of a house, and two children with minor injuries.

3. Mar 13, 2019Flood$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Nebraska Highway 26E Spur was closed due to flooding, with water reaching into portions of Ponca. In addition, flooding resulted in extensive damage to public infrastructure including numerous county and township roads, culverts, and some bridges.

4. Jun 24, 2024Flood$1.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rainfall amounts across Dakota County from June 20-22 were generally a half inch or less. However, farther north and upstream 6 to 10 plus inches fell across portions of southeast South Dakota and northwest Iowa. Record flood waters along the Vermillion and Big Sioux Rivers emptied into the Missouri River, pushing river levels into minor flooding. ||Missouri River flooding resulted in the evacuation of the Lower Scenic Park Campground and damage to parts of the park, including the soccer fields and some campground electrical pedestals. The police shooting range was also damaged. Preliminary damage assessments estimate loss to public infrastructure to be nearly 1.18 million…

5. Jul 16, 1996Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain of 6 to 10 inches caused flash flooding of lowlands and creeks in northern and eastern Dakota County. Roads were closed by the flooding with damage occurring to some roads. Several motorists were stranded and had to be rescued during the early morning hours. Basement flooding also was widespread with resulting damage. Flooding of cropland may have damaged crops, but any damage caused by flooding could not be separated from extensive hail damage which occurred with the storm.

6. Jul 25, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds caused widespread damage to trees and structures. The worst structural damage was on a farm just south of Jackson where two barns and a windmill were totally destroyed, shingles on the roof of the house were blown off, an air conditioner was destroyed, five horses were injured, and electricity was cut off. In Jackson, shingles were blown off the roofs of buildings, siding was damaged from wind blown debris, and a few homes suffered damage when large branches fell. Major tree damage in Jackson included a few large trees blown over. Power lines and poles were blown down or damaged by falling trees, resulting in power outages.

7. Jul 16, 1996Hail$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large hail caused devastating crop damage in much of Dakota County with many crops totally destroyed. Very strong winds and heavy rain contributed to the damage. An estimated half of the county's 64,300 acres of corn was wiped out with about half of the remaining corn acreage sustaining damage. About a third of the county's 52,200 acres of beans were wiped out while most of the remaining bean acreage sustained varying damage. Smaller crops also suffered extensive damage. The hail also caused damage to vehicles and buildings.

8. Jul 16, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds caused tree and power line damage, destroyed farm buildings, and caused scattered damage to homes. The thunderstorm winds affected most of Dakota County.

9. Jul 2, 1999Hail$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large hail dented cars and siding, and broke windows.

10. Aug 18, 2011Hail$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Large hail caused widespread damage to crops, vehicles, and windows.

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°F2 times, most recently Jul 12, 1995

All-time low

−28°F3 times, most recently Feb 16, 2021

Warmest night

81°FJun 21, 2025

Coldest day

−13°FDec 21, 1989

Wettest day

5.50 inJul 17, 1972

Snowiest day

18.4 inMar 15, 2004

Hottest year

2012mean 52.5°F

Coldest year

1996mean 45.1°F

Wettest year

201441.36 in

Driest year

197614.33 in

Snowiest season

65.9 in1961-62

Station Sioux City Airport (USW00014943), 1,092 ft elevation, 4.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1940 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 USW00014943.
• 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.