Furnas County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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. Jun 29, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A vicious severe thunderstorm roared south across a part of south-central Nebraska during the late afternoon and evening. The damage path extended from Gothenburg to Beaver City and Stamford. Wind driven hail and torrential rain shredded crops, broke windows and caused considerable property damage. Agricultural losses were in the tens of millions of dollars. This storm was likely the worst this generation had experienced, and "old-timers" had to remember back to 1937 for a comparable storm. The severe thunderstorm complex started early in the afternoon in the Nebraska Sand Hills and dropped south rapidly. Widespread reports of 70 mph winds were received from western Dawson county.…

2. Jun 14, 2014Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A line of thunderstorms moved through Furnas County, with wind gusts estimated as high as 80 MPH. There was a measured gust of 60 MPH near Edison at 10:14 p.m. CDT. Across roughly the northern half of Furnas County, power poles and large tree limbs were downed, with some trees completely blown over. A barn was destroyed approximately 7 miles south of Cambridge. The town of Arapahoe lost power.

3. Jun 29, 2023Hail$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail up to three inches in diameter resulted in numerous broken windows and siding damage. This hail was accompanied by wind gusts near 70 MPH.

4. Jun 29, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A cluster of thunderstorms sliding east just north of the Nebraska-Kansas state line produced widespread severe weather across central and southern portions of Furnas County. Hail generally up to the size of golf balls was reported across this area, though isolated larger hail fell west of Wilsonville (3 inches in diameter) and in Beaver City (baseball size). Wind gusts were estimated to be anywhere from 60 to 70 MPH, resulting in numerous reports of tree damage, including whole trees snapped and larger limbs downed. The wind-driven large hail resulted in widespread damage to crops, siding, windows, and vehicles.

5. Dec 25, 2016High Wind, Furnas$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The highest wind gust of 68 mph was measured at 5:12 p.m. by a mesonet site 5 miles north-northwest of Oxford. Strong sustained winds around 40 MPH or higher continued for a few hours across the area.

6. Dec 25, 2016High Wind, Furnas$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The highest wind gust of 68 mph was measured at 5:12 p.m. by a mesonet site 5 miles north-northwest of Oxford. Strong sustained winds around 40 MPH or higher continued for a few hours across the area.

7. Dec 29, 2006Ice Storm, Furnas$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A wide variety of significant winter weather began impacting portions of south central Nebraska during the day on Friday (12/29) and continued through Saturday night (12/30), before exiting the area on Sunday (12/31). Freezing rain, sleet, and snow began Friday afternoon in portions of Dawson county, with snowfall amounts as high as 9 inches. By Friday night most of the precipitation had turned to sleet and freezing rain, pressing further east to around highway 281. This led to significant ice accumulations which continued through Saturday night. The areas just west of Grand Island and Hastings received significant ice accrual from the storm, with up to an inch of ice reported…

8. Jun 29, 2023Hail$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Extensive home and vehicle damage was reported from hail up to baseball size, driven by wind gusts near 70 MPH.

9. Jun 14, 2014Hail$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   During a month that had several rounds of severe weather in South Central Nebraska, what transpired on this Saturday evening into the very early morning of Sunday the 15th was likely one of the most significant severe weather events of the entire 2014 convective season, especially in terms of widespread wind damage that raked from west-to-east through most locations near and south of Interstate 80 during the later evening. Earlier in the event, more discrete convection resulted primarily in numerous reports of severe-criteria hail, some as large as tennis ball to grapefruit size, along with four confirmed, brief EF0 tornadoes that yielded no reports of damage. The first of these…

10. Jun 29, 2023Hail$1.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    A cluster of thunderstorms sliding east just north of the Nebraska-Kansas state line produced widespread severe weather across central and southern portions of Furnas County. Hail generally up to the size of golf balls was reported across this area, though isolated larger hail fell west of Wilsonville (3 inches in diameter) and in Beaver City (baseball size). Wind gusts were estimated to be anywhere from 60 to 70 MPH, resulting in numerous reports of tree damage, including whole trees snapped and larger limbs downed. The wind-driven large hail resulted in widespread damage to crops, siding, windows, and vehicles.

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

117°FJul 13, 1934

All-time low

−35°FFeb 12, 1899

Warmest night

89°FAug 5, 1908

Coldest day

−4°F2 times, most recently Dec 21, 1983

Wettest day

5.80 inJun 24, 1966

Snowiest day

18.0 inApr 17, 1944

Hottest year

1900mean 57.1°F

Coldest year

1915mean 49.4°F

Wettest year

190539.50 in

Driest year

191011.30 in

Snowiest season

68.0 in1983-84

Station Beaver City (USC00250640), 2,148 ft elevation, 10.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to August 31, 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 USC00250640.
• 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.