Sarpy County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Sarpy County: 2.
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 (4).

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. Mar 15, 2019Flood$420 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Levee R-613 failed causing major flooding at Offutt Air Force Base and the Papillion Creek Wastewater Plant.

2. Jul 31, 2024Thunderstorm Wind$15.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A line of intense thunderstorms swept across Sarpy county, resulting in widespread significant wind damage. While the greatest measured wind gust was 80 miles per hour, recorded by a mesonet station in Papillion, narrow swaths of enhanced straight line wind damage was consistent with wind speeds closer to 100 miles per hour. One such swath impacted portions of northeast Gretna, where multiple homes had windows blown out, trees uprooted, and large portions of their roofs blown off. Most of this damage was noted around the intersection of 168th Street and Meridian Street. Additionally, numerous powerlines and traffic lights were damaged or blown down across the county. Multiple…

3. Oct 25, 1997Heavy Snow, Sarpy$8.0 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. Jun 24, 1997Flash Flood$1.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rains caused debris to clog a drainage ditch near a railroad track. The ditch filled with water and washed part of the track away. This lead to a derailment of 28 train box cars that were filled with grain.

5. Jul 27, 1996Hail$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An isolated severe thunderstorm developed over parts of Douglas and Sarpy Counties. Nearly $300,000 damage was done by hail to aircraft and vehicles at Offutt Air Force Base. 3,000 to 5,000 acres of corn and soybeans were also lost. Numerous reports of damage to cars, homes, and businesses.

6. Feb 18, 1997Flood, Sarpy$380,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Mild temperatures melted snowcover in a short time period allowing for a sudden runoff into streams and rivers which were still intact with thicker than normal ice. The runoff into the streams and rivers was sufficient to break up the ice. Ice jams formed at many locations causing flooding. Serious flooding occurred on the lower Loup and lower Platte rivers. The strongest and most urban flooding occurred in the stretch of the Platte river along Saunders and Sarpy counties between the mouth of the Elkhorn river to the State Highway 6 bridge near Linoma Beach/Beacon View. This was the result of a 2.5 mile long ice jam along the Platte river. Thomas Lakes was severely impacted with…

7. Sep 1, 2011Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding along the Missouri River in Sarpy county gradually worsened during June and moderate flooding persisted into late August before releases from Gavins Point Dam began dropping. Initially the high releases and flooding was due to snow melt and heavy rain, but persistent heavy rain events above Sioux City as the summer wore on kept the reservoirs full and releases high. The river near Omaha climbed to around its 29 foot flood stage late in May and rose steadily through June reaching around 36 feet toward the end of the month. The river fell slightly during the first week of July but continued around 35 feet through much July before falling to around 34 feet over the first…

8. Apr 20, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm gusts estimated at 70 to 80 mph did major roof damage to several homes and businesses in Papillion.

9. Aug 1, 2011Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding along the Missouri River gradually worsened during June and moderate flooding persisted into late August before releases from Gavins Point Dam began dropping. Initially the high releases and flooding was due to snow melt and heavy rain, but persistent heavy rain events above Sioux City as the summer wore on kept the reservoirs full and releases high. The river near Omaha climbed to around its 29 foot flood stage late in May and rose steadily through June reaching around 36 feet toward the end of the month. The river fell slightly during the first week of July but continued around 35 feet through much July before falling to around 34 feet over the first half of August. By…

10. Aug 17, 2002Lightning$125,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Lightning struck a house in Bellevue igniting a fire that caused about $75,000 in damage to the structure and $50,000 damage to its contents.

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 21, 1974

All-time low

−23°F3 times, most recently Feb 16, 2021

Warmest night

84°FJul 24, 2012

Coldest day

−12°FDec 24, 1983

Wettest day

6.46 inAug 7, 1999

Snowiest day

18.3 inFeb 11, 1965

Hottest year

2012mean 55.8°F

Coldest year

1951mean 48.0°F

Wettest year

196544.85 in

Driest year

202017.65 in

Snowiest season

57.8 in1974-75

Station Omaha Eppley Airfield (USW00014942), 980 ft elevation, 13.2 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 USW00014942.
• 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.