Richardson County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 (10).

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 10, 2007Ice Storm, Richardson$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Freezing rain accumulated between 1/2 and 1 inch across the county causing widespread moderate to major tree damage. Power lines and other damage was also noted with many power outages reported, some lasting a few days.

2. Oct 30, 2024Thunderstorm Wind$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A swath of destructive straight line winds impacted portions of southeast Richardson County including Falls City. The Falls City ASOS measured a 91 miles per hour wind gust at 1:09 pm CDT, and again at 1:12 pm CDT. The ASOS lost power and stopped transmitting data at 1:15 pm CDT. Widespread tree damage was reported across Falls City with snow plows assisting in the removal of tree debris. Trees went through the roofs of two homes, and an additional house had a wall blown down as reported by law enforcement. A large factory in town lost approximately 3 to 4 thousand square feet of its roof. Powerlines were down across the southeast portion of the county, debris was strewn out…

3. Jun 11, 2010Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain over much of eastern Nebraska and western Iowa during most of June caused a prolonged period of flooding along the Missouri River, especially downstream of Omaha through Rulo. The river at Rulo reached a record crest of around 26.6 feet during the evening of 6/23, flood stage is 17 feet. An earlier crest of around 25 feet was measured on 6/17. The river remained flood stage into and through July. Highway 159 near Rulo was closed for a time and substantial flooding of lowlands along the river occurred including cabins, homes and recreation areas. At least 30 to 40 people were evacuated from 20 homes that were damaged by flood waters.

4. Mar 13, 2019Flood$425,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This is for flooding along the Missouri River. The river gage at Rulo, operated by the USGS, peaked at 28.14 feet at 5 pm on March 17th. Major flood stage is 26 feet. Preliminarily this peak is the highest on record. Flooding continued into the next month. Levee R520 overtopped as a result of this high water. Several houses just to the Northeast on the Rulo side of the bridge were under water and the bridge crossing the Missouri River from Nebraska to Missouri was closed due to water over the road.

5. Jun 1, 2008Flood$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This flooding event carried over from May when heavy rain producing thunderstorms during the last week of May occurred along the Missouri River basin. The heavy rains caused the Missouri River to flood from near its confluence with the Platte River near Plattsmouth downstream through Rulo which is in extreme southeast Richardson county. Heavy rain which continued over sections of the Missouri River basin during the first week of June caused the flooding to continue along the Missouri River in Richardson county until mid evening on June 21st. The Flooding from this event along the Missouri River in Richardson county began during the mid afternoon hours of May 30th. The river at…

6. Mar 11, 2010Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Melting snow, along with several rain events, brought a prolonged period of lowland flooding along the Missouri River, especially downstream of its confluence with the Platte River near Plattsmouth. The river at Rulo first crossed flood stage, 17 feet, during the evening of 3/11 and remained above flood stage until the morning of the 31st. The river at Rulo crested around 22 feet during the morning of the 25th. Agricultural lowlands and a few county roads near the river flooded in Richardson county and some cabins and recreational areas near Rulo also experienced flood waters.

7. Jun 4, 2015Flood$125,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Significant flooding was observed along the Big Nemaha River near Falls City. The flooding including closing of many gravel and county roads, as well State Highway 8. The flooding also included agricultural low-lands along the river as well.

8. Jul 1, 2011Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding along the Missouri River gradually worsened during June as record releases from Gavins Point Dam brought widespread flooding along the River. The river at Rulo rose to a record crest around 27 feet by the end of the June before falling slightly as levees were breached and widened by the flood waters. Flood stage is 17 feet. The flooding persisted into August. The high water flooded farmland along the river, along with roads, cabins, recreation areas and a few businesses. Highway 159 in Holt county Missouri flooded by the middle of the June prompting the closure of the Rulo, Nebraska bridge over the Missouri River for the summer. Over $100 thousand had already been spent…

9. Apr 18, 2002High Wind, Richardson$100,000
10. Jun 25, 2024Flood$75,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Excessive rainfall across much of eastern South Dakota resulted in river flooding along the Missouri River at the end of June. Moderate flood stage was observed along the Missouri. The Missouri River flooding in Richardson County did not crest until July 1, and will be included on in July StormData. At 1:25 pm CDT on the 28th, emergency management reported several feet of water in the parking lot of the Rulo boat ramp. At 10:38 am, emergency management sent multiple photos to the office of roads and homes near the river edge that had begun to be inundated with water.

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

114°F4 times, most recently Aug 13, 1936

All-time low

−30°FJan 13, 1916

Warmest night

87°F2 times, most recently Jun 19, 1921

Coldest day

−10°F3 times, most recently Dec 22, 1989

Wettest day

7.05 inJul 13, 1992

Snowiest day

12.0 inFeb 13, 1978

Hottest year

1921mean 57.8°F

Coldest year

1993mean 49.5°F

Wettest year

197357.33 in

Driest year

198815.78 in

Snowiest season

58.0 in1959-60

Station Falls City Brenner Field (USW00094957), 980 ft elevation, 4.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1912 to October 26, 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 USW00094957.
• 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.