Gage County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Gage 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 (3).

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. May 22, 2004Tornado$20.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This long tracked tornado is often referred to as the Hallam tornado. It initially touched down 3 miles west of Daykin in northern Jefferson county. The tornado was rated an f0 or f1 in Jefferson county damaging farm outbuildings, grain bins and trees. From there the tornado crossed into Saline county southwest of Western and remained an f0 or f1 until it struck the southern portion of Wilber where it strengthened to f2. Roofs were blown off of homes just southeast of Wilber.The tornado traveled from Wilber into Gage county, crossing the county line west of Clatonia where it grew to its most intense stage, f4. The tornado remained nearly at this strength as it crossed into…

2. May 8, 1996Tornado$12.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The beginning of the tornado started 4 1/2 miles west northwest of downtown Beatrice, just north of the Homestead National Monument. The storm damaged trees just north of state highway 4 when it struck several homes, primarily lifting the roofs off of them. The tornado was rated F1 at that point. Around 1/2 mile to the east, the tornado struck a subdivision. The damage was more severe, with collapsed outer walls and roofs off homes. The tornado damage was rated as a strong F2 in this area. The tornado, continuing to move in an east southeast direction, nearly paralleling highway 4, struck a church. Part of the roof was lost off the church. After striking the church, the tornado…

3. Apr 15, 2006Tornado$4.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado formed about 6 miles west of Wymore at 433 pm CDT (1533 CST), tracked northeast to around 4 miles east of Beatrice where it caused f2 damage, then tracked just south of Adams and crossed into Johnson county 2 miles southeast of Adams around 515 pm CDT. In Johnson county the tornado tracked another 5 miles before dissipating or lifting 3 miles north of Sterling. This tornado formed from a supercell which then became rain-wrapped and took on a heavy rain (hp) supercell characteristics.In Gage county, the average width of the damage path of the tornado was around 150 yards, but it did reach around 1/2 mile in a 3 mile stretch from 4 miles east of Beatrice to 6 miles east…

4. Oct 25, 1997Heavy Snow, Gage$2.0 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.

5. May 29, 2008Tornado$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A bow echo that moved across the Beatrice area spun up an EF2 tornado just north of town while south through east of town a narrow path of straight line wind damage occurred. The tornado touched down around 2 miles east of Highway 77 near Hackberry Road where it severely damaged two houses. Farm outbuildings were also severely damaged or destroyed. The tornado was rated an EF2 at that location. From there the tornado damaged a church on Elm Road with trees also snapped or uprooted in both areas as well. The tornado continued east northeast causing substantial tree and outbuilding damage to 10 more farmsteads, along with some house damage. Most of the damage occurred along…

6. May 7, 2015Flood$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Moderate flooding occurred along the Big Blue River through northern and central Gage County. The flooding was extensive over the western and southern side of the city of Beatrice leading to many local streets to be closed, in addition to U.S. Highway 77 and U.S. 136. The Big Blue River at Beatrice crested at 30.11 feet, or 12.11 feet above flood stage late in the evening on the 7th.

7. May 6, 2007Flood$650,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rainfall of 4 to 5 inches fell over much of the Big Blue River basin in Gage county from Friday May 4th through Sunday May 6th, with 4.26 inches reported in Beatrice. The heavy rain caused the Big Blue River to flood with both the gage in Beatrice and near Barneston reporting above flood stage readings for a few days. In Beatrice the Big Blue River reached a 23.9 foot crest around 230 pm CDT on May 7th, flood stage 16 feet. The river first crossed flood stage in Beatrice around 815 am on May 6th and didn't drop below flood stage until 730 am on the 9th.|At Barneston the Big Blue River reached a 24.5 foot crest around 345 pm CDT on May 7th, flood stage is 20 feet. The river near…

8. Dec 10, 2007Ice Storm, Gage$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Freezing rain accumulated between 1/2 and 3/4 of an inch across the county causing fairly widespread minor to moderate tree damage. More significant tree damage along with downed power lines and other damage was observed south of Beatrice, with some power outages reported. In Wymore most of the trees sustained damage and nearly every street in town was blocked at some point throughout the day.|

9. May 22, 1996Hail$450,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wind driven tennis ball sized hail resulted in severe roof, siding, and window damage in Wymore.

10. Apr 11, 2001Tornado$400,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A tornado caused extensive damage in Virginia with most of the damage occurring along a 4 block long and 1 block wide stretch through the center of town. One house was almost completely destroyed causing minor injuries to 2 people living there. Six other homes and businesses sustained extensive damage, and trees and other debris were scattered all over the community.

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

114°F3 times, most recently Aug 13, 1936

All-time low

−27°F4 times, most recently Feb 17, 2021

Warmest night

87°FJul 18, 1898

Coldest day

−13°FFeb 11, 1899

Wettest day

8.10 inMay 7, 2015

Snowiest day

21.0 inFeb 11, 1965

Hottest year

1934mean 56.5°F

Coldest year

1902mean 48.7°F

Wettest year

201546.19 in

Driest year

193612.38 in

Snowiest season

59.7 in1959-60

Station Crete 4ESE (USC00252020), 1,460 ft elevation, 24.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 27, 2026; 92.2% 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 USC00252020.
• 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.