Madison County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Madison County: 6.
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 (1).

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. Dec 30, 2006Winter Storm, Madison$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Freezing rain accumulated from at least 1/2 inch to over 1 inch in some locations on trees, power lines, vehicles and other untreated objects. The weight of the ice, and a mix of light sleet that also fell briefly late Saturday night, caused widespread tree damage and also felled numerous power lines and power poles. The area most hard hit was from north through west through southwest of Norfolk where some 500 power poles were toppled and power was lost for days. Fallen trees also caused damage to cars and houses...mainly to western Madison county. The storm caused around 1.5 million dollars worth of damage to utility companies in the county.

2. Jun 14, 2010Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rainfall of at least 3 to 5 inches fell over much of the upper Elkhorn River basin in the week ending 7am 6/12. This caused record or near record flooding along the Elkhorn River from around Clearwater and Neligh downstream to the Elkhorn's confluence with the Platte River. The flooding was prolonged and intensified by additional rains the next few days. In Madison county many gravel roads along the Elkhorn were flooded as were Highways 81 and 275 near and west of Norfolk which were closed for a while. On 6/15 a railroad bridge just southwest of Norfolk washed away with 3 people on it that were assessing possible damage. One person was drowned, the 2 others were rescued. Another…

3. Jun 18, 1998Flood, Madison$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding along the Shell Creek caused significant damage to homes and businesses in the Newman Grove area.

4. May 30, 2007Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rainfall of 2 to 4 inches fell across much of Madison county. The heavy rain caused Battle Creek to flood low areas around the Battle Creek area, including Highway 121 near town causing its closure. The creek also flooded the water treatment plant and prompted sandbagging around town, with up to 10,000 bags used. At least 400 homes received some sort of flood damage. The flooding also left debris in several county bridges.

5. Jun 4, 1999Flash Flood$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Around 5 inches of rain fell in the Madison area causing flash flooding along Union Creek which forced some residents along the creek to be evacuated to the auditorium. The heavy rain also ripped up around a block of asphalt covering a brick street and washed out a half-mile section of railroad track near town.

6. Apr 14, 2012Flash Flood$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rainfall, unofficially up to 5 inches in parts of Norfolk, combined with large accumulations of hail and caused flash flooding in parts of Norfolk and other locations across the northern sections of the county. In Norfolk the hail and heavy rain clogged storm drainage systems flooding streets and causing flooded basements. In addition, the hail clogged the drainage system for stairway that led down to the emergency room of a local hospital. The entrance then filled with water which caused the steel door to collapse sending a flood of water into the hospital. This caused the relocation of the emergency entrance and also prompted the moving of some patients.

7. Mar 13, 2019Flood$194,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This is for flooding along the Elkhorn River. The river gage at Norfolk, operated by the USGS, peaked at 15.5 feet at 7 am on March 14th. Minor flood stage is 12 feet. Major flood stage is 17 feet. Preliminary this was the 3rd highest crest on record. A 30 year old man was killed by flood waters when he was on top of a car at 4 am CDT on the 14th in a field east of north First Street in Norfolk. Water swept away the man and the body was never found. Water closed US Hyway 275 on the 14th and numerous streets were under water due to the flooding in Norfolk.

8. May 27, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at over 60 mph destroyed a silo and part of a cattle barn on one farmstead about 8 miles west of Madison and a center pivot system was overturned in that area. A machine shed sustained heavy damage around 9 miles west of Madison.

9. Jun 15, 2024Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Public report of county roads submerged in water. A storm damage survey the next day confirmed several locations where the roads were still under water or partially washed out. By around 7 PM CDT, widespread street flooding was reported in Norfolk. As the storms slowly moved southeast, additional flooding was reported by a county official across central portions of the county where numerous county roads were flooded in addition to considerable lowland flooding.

10. Sep 30, 2007Lightning$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A lightning strike started a house fire in Norfolk causing around $100,000 damage.

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

113°FJul 11, 1954

All-time low

−31°FFeb 16, 2021

Warmest night

82°FAug 26, 1955

Coldest day

−14°FDec 21, 1989

Wettest day

5.42 inJun 4, 1991

Snowiest day

19.0 inFeb 18, 1984

Hottest year

2012mean 53.2°F

Coldest year

1950mean 45.5°F

Wettest year

200737.81 in

Driest year

202213.27 in

Snowiest season

86.1 in1983-84

Station Norfolk Karl Stefan Mem Airport (USW00014941), 1,562 ft elevation, 2.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1945 to October 26, 2026; 99.9% 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 USW00014941.
• 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.