Greeley County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jul 12, 2004Thunderstorm Wind$3.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A severe thunderstorm produced 90 mph winds and large hail across Greeley county. Widespread property and crop damage was reported.

2. Mar 13, 2019Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Excessive rainfall, blizzard conditions, and high winds occurred on this Tuesday night, Wednesday and Thursday, and they were followed by extensive and significant flooding that lasted for days afterward. The seeds of the disastrous flooding were planted in the weeks leading up to this event. The factors that came together made this a worst case scenario. February through early March was bitterly cold and snowy due to a blocking ridge between Alaska and Hawaii and the downstream trough along the West Coast of the United States. The 32-day stretch from February 4th through March 7th was the third coldest on record, after 1936 and 1960. By itself, February was the coldest month in…

3. Dec 29, 2006Ice Storm, Greeley$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…

4. Apr 14, 2012Hail$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail the size of hen eggs damaged a law enforcement vehicle. There were also reports from north of Spalding of hail causing roof and siding damage, breaking windows out of homes and buildings, and vehicle damage.

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

   Based on observations from neighboring counties such as Valley and Howard, a significant high wind event impacted Greeley County for over two hours, likely featuring peak gusts of generally 60-70 MPH and sustained speeds 40-50 MPH.

6. Jun 7, 2024Thunderstorm Wind$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wind gusts estimated to be near 80 MPH resulted in a long swath of damage in Greeley and Nance counties. Report from social media noted this swath was approximately 6 to 8 miles wide. Widespread tree damage was reported, including large limbs downed and trunks split, as well as several flipped irrigation pivots. The combination of wind and hail caused widespread crop damage in the area.

7. Jun 7, 2024Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wind gusts estimated to be near 80 MPH caused widespread damage in eastern Valley and western Greeley counties. Along with tree damage, a handful of power poles were snapped, and several irrigation pivots were flipped. A number of grain bins and outbuildings were damaged, and a home north of North Loup suffered siding damage and also had a couple of trailers shifted from their parked spots.

8. Apr 14, 2012Hail$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Multiple rounds of severe thunderstorms pounded parts of the 24-county area on this Saturday, resulting in numerous reports of large hail and damaging winds along with four brief EF0 tornadoes. However, considering that the entire area spent the day under its only High Risk convective outlook of the spring from the Storm Prediction Center, the situation could have been worse. No injuries were reported in South Central Nebraska, and all significant, long-track tornadoes in the region remained to the south across central and southern Kansas and northern Oklahoma. Locally, most severe weather targeted counties between Interstate 80 and the Kansas border. The first three brief…

9. Apr 26, 2024Tornado$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Through a roughly 10 minute process, during which the parent supercell did not move much, a fourth tornado formed in northern Howard County before crossing into Greeley County. This tornado was rated an EF2 with estimated peak wind speeds of 135 MPH based upon metal power pole damage just west of the Highway 281 and 22 junction near Wolbach. The tornado had previously destroyed a metal building to the southwest, and would go on to destroy a couple of wood framed outbuildings to the northeast of Highway 281. The south edge of the tornado likely passed just north of the Highway 281 and 22 junction. It was in this general area and along the county line that the tornado was at least…

10. Apr 13, 2018Blizzard, Greeley$400,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Frequent wind gusts of 35 to 45 mph occurred. Visibility was frequently down to one quarter mile or less with blowing, drifting, and falling snow. Travel was perilous. A snowfall total of 3.2 inches was reported in Greeley by a cooperative observer.

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

−38°FJan 12, 1912

Warmest night

80°FJun 18, 1953

Coldest day

−14°FJan 14, 2024

Wettest day

12.00 inJun 4, 1896

Snowiest day

22.0 inNov 26, 1919

Hottest year

1963mean 52.4°F

Coldest year

1996mean 44.3°F

Wettest year

199342.94 in

Driest year

201211.61 in

Snowiest season

54.5 in2000-01

Station Greeley (USC00253425), 2,020 ft elevation, 1.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1907 to October 27, 2026; 99.3% 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 USC00253425.
• 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.