Hamilton County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 9, 2021Thunderstorm Wind$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wind gusts through this area were estimated to be near 90 MPH. The peak measured wind gust was 80 MPH, recorded at 11:00 PM CDT by a mesonet station located four miles northwest of Stockham. Article from the Aurora News-Register reported that a farmer from the Giltner area had crop damage, at least nine irrigation pivots damaged, and nine grain bins either damaged or destroyed. An irrigation pivot just west of Giltner was also flipped. An NWS Hastings employee noted pivot and grain bin damage straight south of Giltner. Time and speed estimated from surrounding reports and observations.

2. Jul 9, 2021Thunderstorm Wind$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A wind gust of 78 MPH was recorded by a mesonet station located just west of Aurora at 10:54 PM CDT and a gust of 64 MPH was recorded by a mesonet station located in Aurora at 10:57 PM CDT. Along with numerous reports of tree damage and power outages, there was minor roof and window damage to a few business in Aurora, as well as reports of tree limbs falling onto cars.

3. Jul 9, 2021Thunderstorm Wind$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wind gusts were estimated to be near 95 MPH through this area. Widespread significant tree damage, crop damage, downed power lines, snapped power poles, and power outages were reported along and near this path. A high-voltage transmission line was downed approximately four miles southwest of Aurora, crossing Interstate 80 and causing traffic issues. Several outbuildings and grain bins were damaged or destroyed, mainly south of Aurora. A 66 ft by 120 ft outbuilding just southwest of Aurora was damaged, with sheets of metal blown upwards of 200 yards away. Semi-trucks were blown over on Interstate 80 near both the Aurora and Giltner exits.

4. Dec 30, 2006Ice Storm, Hamilton$4.0 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…

5. Jun 20, 2011Tornado$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado touched down approximately 5 miles south-southwest of Hampton, just south of Interstate 80, where a home suffered some roof damage and a grain truck was overturned. A cattle shed was also destroyed, trees were damaged, and a few wooden power poles were snapped. A few moments later the tornado crossed over the interstate in front of many spectators. Just north of the interstate, roof panels were ripped from an outbuilding and more power poles were broken. A roof was partially removed from a double wide trailer just southwest of Hampton and irrigation pivots were knocked over. The tornado continued on a path just west of Hampton, moving north-northeast. Along its path,…

6. May 11, 2005Flash Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Though well predicted, the severe weather and flooding on the night of May 11 was even worse than imagined. Thunderstorms ravaged a large part of south central Nebraska with hail, high winds, a tornado and catastrophic flooding.During evening and early morning hours, 4 to 12 inches of fell from Dawson County east to York County. At Kenesaw and Wood River, over 11 inches of rain was measured. The city of Grand Island set a rainfall record for a single event with 7.21 inches of rain. Statically, this event was a 100 year rain and flood event for the area. In Wood River, 12 people were evacuated due to rising water. It was estimated every structure in Wood River sustained some sort…

7. Jun 22, 2009Heat, Hamilton$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A strong upper level ridge anchored across the central U.S. allowed for hot air to build into the region, and along with surface dewpoints in the upper 60s and lower 70s, made for muggy conditions. Heat indices across the area reached into the 100 to 110 degree range on the 23rd, which lead to the deaths of approximately 4000 head of cattle. The afternoon high temperatures reached into the mid to upper 90s, which was a change from the previous few weeks, where highs had generally been in the 70s and 80s. The cooler than normal high temperatures had prevented the cattle from properly shedding their winter coats, which aided in their overheating.

8. Jun 4, 2022Hail$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Quarter to golf ball size hail was reported across Aurora.

9. Jun 3, 2014Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wind gusts estimated near 70 MPH resulted in damage to area grain bins, outbuildings and irrigation pivots.

10. May 23, 2016Hail$1.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    Hail ranging from quarter to tennis ball size was reported, with the largest located northwest of town. Car windows were broken.

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

111°F2 times, most recently Jul 24, 1940

All-time low

−28°FJan 27, 1963

Warmest night

82°FJul 19, 1940

Coldest day

−9°F3 times, most recently Dec 24, 1983

Wettest day

6.50 inMay 11, 2005

Snowiest day

17.8 inMar 20, 2006

Hottest year

2012mean 55.1°F

Coldest year

1951mean 47.3°F

Wettest year

201939.71 in

Driest year

201211.55 in

Snowiest season

78.6 in1983-84

Station Grand Is Cntrl Ne Regional Airport (USW00014935), 1,843 ft elevation, 16.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1938 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 USW00014935.
• 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.