Garfield County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jul 1, 2012Drought, Garfield$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe drought conditions (D2), which began the month of June, intensified to extreme drought conditions (D3) by the end of the month. Pastures that make up close to 76 percent of the land use in Garfield County (2007 Census USDA) was rated 69% poor or very poor. The lack of rain limited grazing capacity and created increased sales of livestock as the departure from normal precipitation reached below 3 inches. Crop producers began silage of dryland corn. On July 23rd all counties in Nebraska were approved for CRP Emergency Haying and Grazing. The drought continued into August.

2. Jun 19, 2025Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Emergency management reports numerous large tree limbs down and building and grandstand damage at the Garfield County Fairgrounds. Power reported out in several locations around town. Winds estimated at around 80 MPH.

3. Apr 11, 2023Wildfire, Garfield$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Fire started approximately 15 miles north of Burwell during the morning of April 11th. Named the Lowry Fire and aided by strong southerly winds, low relative humidity, and hot temperatures, the fire traveled north approximately 6 miles to the north northeast consuming approximately 6000 acres. Along with two injuries, a total of four structures were destroyed including a storage building at the Rowse Hydraulic Rake Factory. The fire was contained on April 13th.

4. Jun 12, 2010Flood$130,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorms with prolonged heavy rain falling on already saturated ground caused widespread flooding. Three to five inches of rain contributed to numerous secondary roads being under water or washed away. Low land flooding also occurred in the Burwell City Park near the North Loup River.

5. Jun 16, 2014Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   At 1801CST, a tornado touched down 1 mile north of Burwell and traveled 5.2 miles before dissipating 5 miles northeast of Burwell. The tornado traveled northeast where the storm damage observed included several large tree trunks and wooden power poles snapped. The tornado crossed Highway 11 and overturned a center irrigation pivot system and downed additional large limbs before dissipating at 1815CST. Peak winds were estimated at 120 mph with the tornado rated an EF-2. Maximum path width was 500 yards.

6. Jun 16, 2014Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   At 1820CST, the tornado touched down 8 miles northeast of Burwell and moved northeast. The tornado damaged trees, street signs, and buildings along the damage path. Tree trunks were snapped in this area with maximum winds estimated at 125 mph. the tornado was rated an EF-2 with a maximum path width of 700 yards.

7. May 12, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   On the west side of Burwell, the roof of a 15 by 15 foot horse barn was blown off the building. Numerous trees were uprooted in Burwell. At the Garfield County Fairgrounds, the roof was blown off the grandstand.

8. Jun 8, 2002Lightning$60,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Fire...initiated by a lightning strike...destroyed a home.

9. Jun 21, 2010Lightning$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   On June 21st lightning struck a tree next to a home that caused the house to catch on fire. The resident was an elderly male that died of smoke inhalation.

10. Jun 13, 2026Hail$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Delayed, relayed report. Vehicle and building damage from hail. Based on damage, estimated to be golf ball size. Time estimated from radar.

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°FJul 11, 1954

All-time low

−34°FJan 27, 1963

Warmest night

79°FJun 30, 1963

Coldest day

−10°F3 times, most recently Dec 21, 1990

Wettest day

5.80 inAug 23, 1983

Snowiest day

16.4 inJan 19, 2023

Hottest year

2012mean 52.2°F

Coldest year

1950mean 45.1°F

Wettest year

200736.69 in

Driest year

195510.45 in

Snowiest season

67.5 in1983-84

Station Burwell 2WSW (USC00251345), 2,255 ft elevation, 4.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 26, 2026; 90.7% 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 USC00251345.
• 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.
• 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.