Lancaster County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Lancaster 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 (23).

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. May 22, 2004Tornado$100 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This long tracked tornado is often referred to as the Hallam tornado. It initially touched down 3 miles west of Daykin in northern Jefferson county. The tornado was rated an f0 or f1 in Jefferson county damaging farm outbuildings, grain bins and trees. From there the tornado crossed into Saline county southwest of Western and remained an f0 or f1 until it struck the southern portion of Wilber where it strengthened to f2. Roofs were blown off of homes just southeast of Wilber.The tornado traveled from Wilber into Gage county, crossing the county line west of Clatonia where it grew to its most intense stage, f4. The tornado remained nearly at this strength as it crossed into…

2. May 6, 2015Flood$100 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Record rainfall of 5 to 10 inches fell across Lancaster County, and the Salt Creek basin on the evening of the 6th into the early morning of the 7th. This led to significant flooding along the creek, from near Roca north through the Lincoln metro area. The flooding resulted in numerous road closures, water rescues and some mandatory evacuations. The flooding was largely contained within the levy system within the city of Lincoln, but many parks and low-lined areas were flooded.

3. Oct 25, 1997Heavy Snow, Lancaster$16.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A major early season snowstorm struck the area. A heavy wet snowfall of 6 to 14 inches fell on trees, many of which were still fully or partially leafed, and caused extensive damage and/or total destruction. At least 205,000 residents in the affected area were without power just after the storm, many of the outages lasted for several days. Omaha Public Power District estimated that it was the worst outage in 50 years. Nearly 85% of the trees in the Omaha area and 25% of the trees in the Lincoln area sustained damage or were totally destroyed. Many emergency shelters in and around the Omaha and Lincoln areas were opened for use by those who suffered a hardship from the storm.

4. Aug 9, 2025Thunderstorm Wind$3.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A severe thunderstorm moved through the northwest portion of Lancaster County, Nebraska, generating a swath of very strong winds on the morning of August 9th, 2025. The most intense wind report was an estimated gust of 100 mph from an emergency manager in Malcolm at 03:58 CST, which was associated with significant damage in the area, including snapped telephone poles holding the football field lights.||Widespread damaging wind gusts were observed or measured by multiple public and Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) stations, with several reporting wind speeds exceeding 80 mph. These included an 82 mph measured gust at the Lincoln Airport ASOS station 5 miles west-northwest…

5. Jul 20, 2000Hail$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A very destructive hailstorm was centered on Firth Nebraska. The path of destruction was 6 to 8 miles wide and 20 to 30 miles long beginning near Sprague in Lancaster county and continuing to near Sterling in extreme northwest Johnson county. In Firth, hail up to the size of baseballs was driven by 50 mph winds. 148 out of 200 houses and businesses in town were heavily damaged with almost every north facing window broken out. Siding damage was also extensive. In Lancaster county, crop losses included around 20 percent of 10 thousand acres of corn, 30 percent of 6 thousand acres of soybeans and 10 percent of 2 thousand acres of sorghum. From southern Lancaster county into extreme…

6. Jul 31, 2024Thunderstorm Wind$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread severe wind gusts and straight line wind damage was observed across the entirety of Lancaster County with a line of severe thunderstorms that moved through the afternoon of July 31st. The highest measured wind gust was 92 miles per hour, recorded 1 mile southwest of Denton, Nebraska by a mesonet station. An 83 miles per hour wind gust was also measured by the Lincoln ASOS, and an 88 miles per hour wind gust was recorded by another mesonet station 4 miles northwest of Martell. Significant tree damage was reported across the county, with numerous trees blown down across the Lincoln metro. There were also several reports of structural damage, including a hotel which…

7. May 9, 2016Flash Flood$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous reports from a variety of sources of flash flooding in the southeast part of the city of Lincoln. Rainfall reports of 3.5 to over 5 inches of rainfall were received. This along with areas of several inches accumulation of hail led to widespread street flooding in the area. Small streams and creeks in the area also overflowed including Stevens Creek. Water was flowing over the bridge where Holdridge Street crosses Stevens Creek. Severe water rescues were performed from stranded motorists.

8. May 8, 1996Flash Flood$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   After two days of rain, southern Lancaster County received between 6 and 9 inches of rain. The copius amounts of rain resulted in flashing flooding on the Salt Creek at Roca, Lincoln, and Greenwood from late Wednesday, May 8th, to early May 9th. Damage estimates due to flooding was estimated at $1.5 million.

9. May 22, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$1.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wind gusts to 83 mph blew the roof off off of Duncan Aviation and flipped several aircraft. Water damaged the State Fair Park's grandstand and a large part of the roof blew off. There was extensive powerline and tree damage to much of Lincoln.

10. Jun 4, 2008Flash Flood$1.2 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    Heavy rain caused flash flooding which caused extensive damage to basements and businesses and closed numerous county roads, mostly south of Lincoln, and especially along Salt Creek. Gravel was washed from roads and cropland was also flooded. It was estimated that resurfacing gravel roads alone would cost $180,000 and damage to homes and businesses could approach $1 million. Unofficial reports of up to 8 inches of rain fell from this storm.

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

108°F3 times, most recently Jul 19, 2006

All-time low

−33°FJan 12, 1974

Warmest night

82°F2 times, most recently Jul 31, 2006

Coldest day

−10°FDec 24, 1983

Wettest day

6.15 inSep 30, 2026

Snowiest day

14.5 inJan 25, 2021

Hottest year

2024mean 55.2°F

Coldest year

1978mean 47.8°F

Wettest year

195142.17 in

Driest year

195317.55 in

Snowiest season

55.5 in2018-19

Station Lincoln Airport (USW00014939), 1,170 ft elevation, 5.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 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 USW00014939.
• 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.