Keith County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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.

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. May 23, 2024Tornado$3.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A brief, but significant, tornado developed in the Lakeview Subdivision and traveled to the northeast. Multiple dwellings suffered damage, including a large pole barn destroyed and single family homes with roof or exterior wall loss. Multiple trees were also downed.

2. Jul 21, 2003Hail$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail initially struck the west side of Ogallala and then moved southeast across the town with numerous cars and boats sustaining severe body damage and broken windshields. Vinyl siding on homes were also damaged and windows broken.

3. Jul 19, 2024Hail$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Golf ball to tennis ball sized hail reported on the west side of Ogallala.

4. Jun 30, 2026Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm wind gusts between 80 and 90 MPH occurred near Kingsley Dam. Several campers were overturned at Beach Area 5 Campground. Eight minor injuries were reported with none hospitalized. The strong winds led to severe beach erosion between Beach Area 5 and Beach Area 12 Campgrounds. Some campers parked on the shoreline were swallowed up by the lake due to the erosion. Damage reports are from Broadcast Media and Emergency Management.

5. Jul 1, 2012Drought, Keith$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 54 percent of the land use in Keith County (2007 Census USDA) was rated 69% poor or very poor. The lack of rain limited grazing capacity 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.

6. Oct 18, 2012Wildfire, Keith$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A wildfire started about one mile north of Interstate 80 near Paxton that was fanned by high winds. The high winds caused the wildfire to quickly spread southeast, crossing Interstate 80 and then burning for an additional 12 miles southeast into northeast Perkins County. The wildfire reached up to 1.5 miles wide. The wildfire destroyed two occupied homes, one abandoned home and various outbuildings were destroyed as well. In addition to building structures the wildfire destroyed several pieces of farm implements, while several power poles and culverts were damaged. The area burned was estimated at 10,000 acres of farm flat and rolling hills. Three firemen developed eye problems…

7. Jul 6, 2002Flash Flood$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tropical-like system moved into Southwest Nebraska Friday night and Saturday. Thunderstorms formed along a stationary front and persisted over the same area . Total rainfall was from 8 to 11 inches. Flood waters began to inundate hotels and businesses along Interstate 80 in Ogallala at 7 AM MST. One bridge and numerous roads were damaged or washed out. One person was killed 4 miles west of Ogallala at 759 AM MST as a bridge approach collapsed on Interstate 80. There were 64 homes with water damage. Forty of the homes sustained minor damage while the remaining 24 were total losses or sustained major damage.

8. Jun 21, 2026Thunderstorm Wind$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm wind gusts, estimated at 80 MPH, destroyed sheds and outbuildings and damaged several roofs. Pivot irrigation systems were also overturned at this location.

9. May 23, 2024Tornado$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado touched down near road M5 south and Road West 40 in southwestern Keith county where it damaged power poles, snapped several trees off and destroyed a 5000 bushel grain bin. The tornado traveled to the east, overturning two center pivot irrigation systems approximately a quarter mile east of the initial touchdown point. The tornado continued east, damaging outbuildings and overturning a third pivot. The tornado traveled further east, overturning a semi trailer, damaging a shelter belt and striping shingles and siding off a house at a farmstead. The tornado then tracked northeast, where it flipped a fourth center pivot, and damaged outbuildings at a farmstead. The…

10. Jul 19, 1999Tornado$500,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    The tornado touched down briefly 4 miles southwest of Ogallala where its intensity was F0. The tornado then lifted and touched down again in the southeast part of Ogallala as an F1 and travelled northwest through a mobile home park destroying two trailers and damaging ten others. It then crossed Highway 61 and struck Indian Hills Manor breaking all the windows on the east side of the building and taking the roof off WEL-Life, a senior residence near Indian Hills. It then hit two homes, taking the roof off one and removing the garage from the other.

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

115°FJul 24, 1940

All-time low

−36°FDec 22, 1989

Warmest night

87°FJun 20, 1893

Coldest day

−11°FFeb 3, 1989

Wettest day

6.50 inJul 7, 2002

Snowiest day

16.0 inMar 28, 1980

Hottest year

1938mean 54.4°F

Coldest year

1993mean 46.4°F

Wettest year

191538.77 in

Driest year

20226.13 in

Snowiest season

66.6 in1979-80

Station Ogallala (USC00256200), 3,230 ft elevation, 1.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 27, 2026; 97.6% 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 USC00256200.
• 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.