Knox County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

Mapped landslides

Mapped by NE Univ of NE Lincoln (81).

1. Landslides mapped in the USGS compilation of landslide inventories across the United States (version 3.0, 2025), rated probable or better. The compilation joins inventories made by federal and state agencies for different purposes and areas, so the number mapped in a county reflects how closely it has been surveyed as much as how often its slopes fail. An area with few records may simply not have been mapped. Deaths are as recorded in the inventories; a slide listed in two inventories is counted once.

USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0, retrieved October 27, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Nov 28, 2005Winter Storm, Knox$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An intense low pressure system that tracked from Kansas into Iowa brought a major winter storm to much of Nebraska and adjacent sections of Colorado, Kansas and the Dakotas Sunday and Monday November 27th and 28th. The storm caused blizzard conditions across a large part of central and northeast Nebraska, and shut down a 220-mile stretch of Interstate 80 much of Monday. The Interstate remained closed into Tuesday morning. In addition, many, if not most, other roads in central and northeast Nebraska were closed for at least a time during the storm. Major highways in northeast Nebraska that were closed included Highway 81 north of Columbus and Highway 275 around Norfolk. Many…

2. Jun 23, 2000Hail$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A hail storm began northwest of Crofton Nebraska and cut a half mile wide swath of damage down to Hartington in Cedar county. Hail, which at times was baseball size, was driven by 50 mph winds causing extensive damage to cars, windows, siding, roofs and crops in the area. Insurance agents stated that between 1 and 2 million dollars in damage was sustained from around Crofton through Hartington. The worst damage was reported at the junction of Highways 81 and 12, 5 miles east of Crofton. Around the junction of Higways 12 and 81 local agronomists estimated that defoliation of corn was in the 85 to 90 percent range with 35 percent of the crop dead.

3. Mar 13, 2019Flood$1.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This is for flooding along the Niobrara River. The river gauge at Verdel, operated by the USGS, peaked at 19.38 feet at 6 pm on March 13th. Major flood stage is 10 feet. This peak is the highest on record. This gauge was destroyed by ice and floodwaters during the event. The high water value was obtained post-flood by the USGS. This historic flooding along the Niobrara River was the result of rain, snowmelt and the failure of the upstream Spencer Dam. The dam failed due to overtopping with some estimates of 3 to 5 feet of water going over the dam. The resulting wave of water from this dam failure caused substantial damage in low-lying areas of the town of Niobrara. Damage was…

4. May 5, 2007Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A grain bin was damaged as this tornado initially touched down along with two or three large power line support structures northwest of Crofton. The tornado tracked toward Lewis and Clark Lake taking the roof off of a house and destroying a garage. The tornado also caused other roof damage as it continued tracking toward Lewis and Clark Lake. When it reached the lake it caused significant damage to a recreation area and marina. The tornado also caused 3 minor injuries when it apparently lifted a large SUV off the ground and carried it a hundred feet or so before setting it down with the windows blown in. Numerous campers and boats were flipped or missing at the recreation area,…

5. Dec 29, 2006Winter Storm, Knox$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Snow started falling over northern and western Knox county, mainly north through west of Center, Friday afternoon the 29th. Snowfall by mid Saturday morning had accumulated to a bit over 6 inches near Niobrara. Meanwhile, freezing rain developed east through south of Niobrara Friday night with snow mixing with or changing to freezing rain over most of the county Saturday. Some ice accumulations of between 1/4 inch and 1 inch occurred, mainly from around Crofton and Bloomfield toward Creighton then to Wausa. The icing caused tree and power pole damage and which downed power lines knocking out power to sections of the county, mainly the southeast half. Around 50 power poles were…

6. Jun 1, 2011Flood$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding along the Missouri River gradually worsened over the area during June as record releases from Ft. Randal Dam brought widespread flooding along the river. In Knox county the flooding closed Highway 12 between Verdel and Niobrara and east of Niobrara and also closed Highway 14/37 north of Niobrara. The flooding also forced the evacuation of 50 to 60 residences including the Lazy River Acres area in between Niobrara and Verdel. The flooding carried over into July.

7. Jun 3, 2000Hail$50,000
8. Jul 1, 2011Flood$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding along the Missouri River gradually worsened over the area during June and persisted through July as record releases from Ft. Randal Dam brought widespread flooding along the River. In Knox county the flooding closed Highway 12 between Verdel and Niobrara and east of Niobrara and also closed Highway 14/37 north of Niobrara. The flooding also forced the evacuation of 50 to 60 residences including the Lazy River Acres area in between Niobrara and Verdel. The flooding carried over into August.

9. Aug 1, 2011Flood$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding along the Missouri River gradually worsened over the area during June and July and persisted into August as record releases due to heavy rain and mountain snow melt above Ft. Randal Dam brought widespread flooding along the River. In Knox county the flooding closed Highway 12 between Verdel and Niobrara and the highway east of Niobrara and also closed Highway 14/37 north of Niobrara. The flooding also forced the evacuation of 50 to 60 residences including the Lazy River Acres area between Niobrara and Verdel. The flooding carried over into September.

10. Jul 22, 2010Flood$35,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Rainfall of at least 4 to 8 inches fell across the Ponca Creek basin from late in the evening of the 21st into the early morning hours of the 22nd. The heavy rain caused flooding along Ponca Creek for much of July 22nd. The creek near Verdel crested a little over 14.5 feet during the early afternoon hours of the 22nd, flood stage is 12 feet. The flooding caused numerous washouts of county roads and and also flooded Highway 12 along with agricultural lowlands. Several culverts needed replacement after the flood. There was also significant flooding of a resort near the Missouri River close to where Ponca Creek flows into it with over 2 feet of water reported in the campground.

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 17, 1936

All-time low

−41°FFeb 2, 1905

Warmest night

86°FJul 12, 1901

Coldest day

−22°FFeb 9, 1899

Wettest day

6.10 inMay 21, 1903

Snowiest day

19.0 inJan 19, 1988

Hottest year

2012mean 53.3°F

Coldest year

1951mean 44.5°F

Wettest year

194438.27 in

Driest year

197412.62 in

Snowiest season

73.8 in1959-60

Station Tyndall (USC00398472), 1,420 ft elevation, 25.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 23, 2026; 99.6% 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 USC00398472.
• 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.
• Landslides USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0 (2025).
• 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.