Kearney County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jun 12, 2002Hail$20.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A wicked severe thunderstorm ripped across Buffalo and Kearney counties, dumping hail larger than softballs and causing about 100 million dollars in damage in those two counties. As the severe storm rolled across Buffalo county, it moved southeast along Highway 40 through Amherst, near Riverdale and eventually into the city of Kearney. In excess of 6000 structures will require roof, window, and siding repairs. In some cases, hail stones penetrated the shingles, sheeting, and interior ceiling drywall. One person reported an 8 inch diameter hole in their roof. Another home owner sustained $60,000 in damage. One more home owner reported hail stones landing on the living room couch,…

2. Dec 29, 2006Ice Storm, Kearney$10.0 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…

3. Jun 12, 2002Hail$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A wicked severe thunderstorm ripped across Buffalo and Kearney counties, dumping hail larger than softballs and causing about 100 million dollars in damage in those two counties. As the severe storm rolled across Buffalo county, it moved southeast along Highway 40 through Amherst, near Riverdale and eventually into the city of Kearney. In excess of 6000 structures will require roof, window, and siding repairs. In some cases, hail stones penetrated the shingles, sheeting, and interior ceiling drywall. One person reported an 8 inch diameter hole in their roof. Another home owner sustained $60,000 in damage. One more home owner reported hail stones landing on the living room couch,…

4. Jun 6, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wind gusts peaked around 100 MPH along this path, with the most significant damage occurring approximately one mile east of Minden to two miles north-northeast of Minden. Numerous irrigation pivots were flipped and large tree limbs were downed. Along with multiple power poles being snapped, three large metal transmission towers were also downed. A metal outbuilding lost a portion of its roof. Significant crop damage was reported in this whole area.

5. May 11, 2005Flash Flood$3.0 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…

6. Jun 14, 2014Thunderstorm Wind$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wind gusts estimated to reach near 80 MPH at times moved through the county, resulting in numerous overturned irrigation pivots and downed trees.

7. Jul 9, 2014Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A large swath of severe crop damage occurred on this Wednesday evening. Isolated thunderstorms occurred through the afternoon over the Sandhills, generally dissipating as they moved southeast into South Central Nebraska. However, by late afternoon thunderstorms intensified with supercells and high-end multicells becoming dominant. The most intense storm of this event produced a prolific swath of significant severe weather. This storm formed over Loup County around 4 p.m. CDT and subsequently tracked south-southeastward through Valley, Sherman, eastern Buffalo, Adams and Webster counties. By 9 p.m. CDT, the storm finally reached the Nebraska-Kansas border. It was responsible for…

8. Dec 25, 2016High Wind, Kearney$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The highest wind gust of 73 mph was measured at 6:19 p.m. by a mesonet site 2 miles north of Norman. Other wind gusts during this period included 67 mph four miles north-northwest of Hildreth, 60 mph two miles east of Axtell and 57 mph six miles northwest of Minden. Strong sustained winds around 40 MPH or higher continued for a few hours across the area.

9. Jul 6, 2024Tornado$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A small tornado touched down near a farmstead northwest of Norman and caused large tree limbs to fall onto a house. The tornado continued southeast where it snapped four power poles along K Road, overturned pivots, and carried a small brain bin over 500 yards from its original location. The tornado continued southeast and produced a few locations of minor damage before lifting prior to crossing 42 Road southeast of Norman. The peak wind gust was estimated to be 100 MPH.

10. Jul 6, 2024Tornado$500,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    This tornado touched down in the area of the golf course, then moved southeast through the northeast part of town, just south of the airport. The ground circulation was likely small and somewhat disorganized at this stage, as most of the damage in town was to trees. The tornado grew in intensity on the northeast outskirts of town, where a couple metal buildings sustained roof and overhead door damage. The tornado appeared to track along the highway northeast of town before crossing into a corn field and overturning pivots. Based on storm chaser video, this is where the condensation funnel was largest and most obvious. The end of the track between 33 Road and 34 Road was confirmed…

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

118°FJul 24, 1936

All-time low

−33°FFeb 12, 1899

Warmest night

87°F2 times, most recently Jul 23, 1940

Coldest day

−11°FFeb 8, 1936

Wettest day

5.30 inJun 14, 1967

Snowiest day

15.0 inNov 28, 1983

Hottest year

1933mean 56.6°F

Coldest year

1903mean 48.7°F

Wettest year

199341.89 in

Driest year

197412.63 in

Snowiest season

84.4 in1983-84

Station Minden (USC00255565), 2,160 ft elevation, 2.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 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 USC00255565.
• 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.