Harlan County

Every recorded tornado

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

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jun 14, 2014Thunderstorm Wind$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The line of thunderstorms with damaging wind gusts up near 80 MPH continued into Harlan County. Damage was reported in the Alma, Republican City and Harlan County Dam areas. Large tree limbs near 8 to 12 inches in diameter were downed. On the south side of Harlan County Lake near Patterson Harbor, a shelter and dock for multiple boats were damaged and at least 4 boats were rammed onto the shore. A camping trailer was blown over onto a vehicle. In Republican City, another trailer with a pontoon boat was blown onto its side.

2. 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 Harlan County. Hail generally up to the size of golf balls was reported across this area, though isolated larger hail also likely fell. 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. A farm machine shed was destroyed between Stamford and Orleans. The wind-driven large hail resulted in widespread damage to crops, siding, windows, and vehicles.

3. 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 Harlan County. Hail generally up to the size of golf balls was reported across this area, though isolated larger hail also likely fell. Wind gusts were estimated to be anywhere from 60 to 80 MPH, resulting in numerous reports of tree damage, including whole trees snapped and larger limbs downed. Outbuilding damage was reported near Alma. The wind-driven large hail resulted in widespread damage to crops, siding, windows, and vehicles.

4. Dec 29, 2006Ice Storm, Harlan$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…

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

   The highest wind gust of 75 mph was measured at 5:29 p.m. by a mesonet site 4 miles southeast of Oxford. A wind gust of 60 mph was also recorded six miles east-southeast of Oxford at 5:17 p.m. Strong sustained winds around 40 MPH or higher continued for a few hours across the area.

6. May 3, 2024Tornado$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This weak and somewhat intermittent tornado touched down near the intersection of Highway 183 and Highway 4, then moved northeast. Damage was limited to trees, pivots, and a a few power poles along its roughly seven mile track. The estimated peak wind was 85 MPH. The tornado lifted just north of the Harlan and Phelps County line between T Road and U Road.

7. Jun 7, 2018Thunderstorm Wind$350,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The emergency manager reported damage to a farmstead near this mesonet site. Damage included blown down power poles, building damage, uprooted trees, overturned pivots, windows blown out of a home and vehicles.

8. May 3, 2012Hail$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two separate areas of slow moving, hail-producing severe thunderstorms flared up within South Central Nebraska on this Thursday afternoon and early evening, one focused in the Harlan County area and the other farther north in Howard County and vicinity. The majority of hail reports from this event were from the Republican City and Orleans areas, with the largest hail up to baseball size reported several miles northwest of Republican City. The southern storms were the first to develop, and primarily consisted of two supercells that tracked southeast across parts of Harlan and western Franklin Counties between 3 PM and 6 PM CDT, before fizzling out near the Kansas border. As the…

9. Jun 29, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   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.…

10. Jun 29, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
    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.…

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°FJul 14, 1954

All-time low

−35°F2 times, most recently Dec 23, 1989

Warmest night

80°F3 times, most recently Jun 21, 2025

Coldest day

−14°FDec 23, 1990

Wettest day

7.15 inJul 14, 1973

Snowiest day

12.0 inFeb 3, 1903

Hottest year

2024mean 54.6°F

Coldest year

1993mean 48.2°F

Wettest year

199338.36 in

Driest year

195612.63 in

Snowiest season

48.0 in1959-60

Station Harlan County Lake (USC00253595), 2,010 ft elevation, 10.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1894 to October 26, 2026; 89.7% 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 USC00253595.
• 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.