Polk County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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. Jun 20, 2011Tornado$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The second EF3 tornado of the day touched down approximately 4 miles east of Polk and continued north for nearly 10 miles before lifting approximately 6 miles west-northwest of Osceola. Damage was noted right at the start of the path, with a brick home on Highway 66 west of Polk suffering significant roof, window and tree damage, and a semi-truck and trailer were knocked over onto its side. About 2 miles north of Highway 66, a residence suffered minor tree damage and lost an outbuilding, and a combine was tossed about 100 yards into a field. As the tornado continued north, numerous power poles were snapped, irrigation pivots were overturned, and crops were stripped from the…

2. Oct 9, 2001Tornado$1.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A strong tornado entered Polk County from Hamilton County.

3. Jul 9, 2013Heat, Polk$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hundreds of heat-related cattle deaths occurred durring the afternoon hours on July 9th over portions of central Nebraska. This included areas of Dawson and Polk counties, and possibly other neighboring counties. Ranchers and feedlot operators typically do not reveal specifics and some do not report their losses at all, so exact numbers were not available. A spokesman for the Nebraska Cattlemen told the Lincoln Journal Star that the number of deaths across Nebraska was near what occurred in 2009, when casualties were near 4,000 head. Other reports confirmed that this was the worst loss of cattle since 2009. Each head was worth about $1,500, resulting in losses in the millions of…

4. Jun 9, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorms ripped south-central Nebraska with tornadoes, damaging winds and hail. A rain-wrapped tornado was sighted in western Valley county shortly after 7:30 pm by several storm chasers. The tornado blasted 2 farmsteads, one of which was abandoned. A total of 14 outbuildings were damaged or destroyed. The tornado was in the far western part of Valley county along the Comstock road. Another brief tornado was reported near Arcadia a short time later but no damage was confirmed.Elsewhere, vicious high winds over 70 mph did extensive damage north of Shelby in eastern Polk county. Several farmsteads sustained house, outbuilding, grain bin and tree damage. In one case, a garage…

5. May 21, 2024Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A brief EF0 rated tornado skirted its way across northern Polk County in the early morning hours of May 21st. The tornado damaged trees, downed power lines and poles, and overturned several irrigation pivots. The peak wind was estimated to be 80 MPH.

6. Dec 25, 2016High Wind, Polk$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The highest wind gust of 72 mph was measured at 7:32 p.m. by a mesonet site in Osceola. Other wind gusts included 67 mph nine miles west-northwest of Osceola, 65 mph one mile east-northeast of Shelby and 60 mph six miles west of Stromsburg. Strong sustained winds around 40 MPH or higher continued for a few hours across the area.

7. May 27, 2019Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rainfall resulted in widespread flooding across Polk County. Clear Creek, Davis Creek and the Big Blue River were all out of their banks. The Clear Creek gauge, located in rural portions of Polk County north of Shelby, crested at 8.23 feet the afternoon of the 28th, and that was the 4th-highest crest on record. Numerous rural roads and bridges were covered in water. Due to the Davis Creek flooding, water covered a portion of Highway 81/92 just outside the west side of Osceola and threatened the highway as well as homes and property on the east side of town. To keep people from driving into Osceola, Highway 81/92 was closed approximately 3 miles east of town.

8. Dec 30, 2006Ice Storm, Polk$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A wide variety of significant winter weather began impacting portions of south central Nebraska during the day on Friday (12/29) and continued through Saturday night (12/30), before exiting the area on Sunday (12/31). Freezing rain, sleet, and snow began Friday afternoon in portions of Dawson county, with snowfall amounts as high as 9 inches. By Friday night most of the precipitation had turned to sleet and freezing rain, pressing further east to around highway 281. This led to significant ice accumulations which continued through Saturday night. The areas just west of Grand Island and Hastings received significant ice accrual from the storm, with up to an inch of ice reported…

9. Dec 15, 2021Tornado$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This Polk County tornado touched down southeast of Polk and crossed Highway 66 about two miles east of town. The estimated maximum wind speed of 100 MPH was based upon multiple stretches of snapped power poles. Several irrigation pivots were overturned along and near its path.

10. Dec 15, 2021Thunderstorm Wind$350,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Straight-line winds in this area were estimated to be around 85 MPH. In addition to a few irrigation pivots being overturned, a large metal-framed structure with attached canopy at an area cattle lot suffered significant 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

116°F2 times, most recently Jul 25, 1936

All-time low

−31°FFeb 16, 2021

Warmest night

92°FJul 25, 1936

Coldest day

−12°FFeb 1, 1917

Wettest day

6.95 inAug 16, 2017

Snowiest day

13.0 in2 times, most recently Nov 28, 1983

Hottest year

1934mean 55.9°F

Coldest year

2008mean 47.1°F

Wettest year

197741.59 in

Driest year

193613.21 in

Snowiest season

65.0 in1931-32

Station Osceola (USC00256375), 1,662 ft elevation, 0.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1907 to October 3, 2026; 99.5% 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 USC00256375.
• 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.