Morrill County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jun 12, 2017Tornado$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A long-track discontinuous tornado path was surveyed by the NWS damage team, initially touching down northwest of the Highway 26 and L62A intersection, 4 miles north-northwest of Bayard, NE. The tornado continued east along and north of L62A. Significant damage consistent of EF-2 tornadic damage was surveyed at a farmhouse approximately 6 miles northeast of Bayard. The house was severely damaged with the roof taken off and numerous exterior walls destroyed (DI 4, DOD 8). A detached garage was swept clean (DI 1, DOD 8) with several trucks slid from their original location. A flat bed and horse trailer were lofted 100 yards from their original position. Trees to the west of the…

2. Apr 6, 2024Blizzard, Morrill$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   KNEB Station Manager reported widespread power outages across Morrill County from snow and strong winds. UPR site TOWER1 (UP417) located 6 miles east southeast of Bridgeport reported sustained winds greater than 35 mph from 6 April 23:59 to 7 April 5:28 AM MST.

3. Apr 23, 2008Hail$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail from 3/4 inch to around 2 inches in diameter fell over and around Bridgeport, Nebraska, with large hail reported to have fallen in Bridgeport for almost one half hour. The hail damaged cars and windows.

4. Jun 2, 1997Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread flash flooding followed by flooding along tributaries of the North Platte River caused crop, road and bridge damage. Several culverts and bridges were washed out on county roads. 100 people were briefly evacuated in Northport due to flooding.

5. Jul 3, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two 70 foot tall grain bins blown off and away from their foundations. A 100 foot tall radion tower blown over. Two to three foot diameter trees blown over and snapped off. Power poles snapped off, primarily in the center of town.

6. Apr 23, 2008Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado moved in a northwesterly direction primarily over open country, but did severely damage or destroy a house and outbuildings along county road 78 west of U.S. Highway 385.

7. Jul 20, 2024Hail$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous storms developed over the Nebraska panhandle during the afternoon of the 20th with hail reported. One particular storm near Bayard was the left split of an initial supercell storm that ended up producing 2-3 inch hail.

8. May 3, 2003Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado destroyed mobile home, damaged a wind mill and damaged an irrigation center pivot. Power lines also blown down along track.

9. Jun 7, 2010Tornado$60,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An RV was completely destroyed. Estimated duration, path length and width.

10. Apr 18, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    High winds damaged roofs and irrigation equipment in and near Bridgeport, NE.

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

110°FJul 11, 1939

All-time low

−46°FFeb 6, 1899

Warmest night

78°FJun 16, 1898

Coldest day

−13°FDec 22, 1989

Wettest day

3.18 inJun 7, 1953

Snowiest day

17.6 inApr 25, 1935

Hottest year

2012mean 53.0°F

Coldest year

1993mean 45.6°F

Wettest year

191527.48 in

Driest year

20126.99 in

Snowiest season

81.9 in2009-10

Station Scottsbluff W B Heilig Field Airport (USW00024028), 3,957 ft elevation, 25.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 25, 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 USW00024028.
• 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.