Saunders County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 (2).

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 13, 2019Flood$52.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This is for flooding along the Platte River. The river gage at Ashland, operated by the USGS, peaked at 24.35 feet at 7 am on March 16th. Minor flood stage is 20 feet, moderate flood stage is 22 feet while major flood stage is 26 feet. Preliminary this peak is the highest on record. Ice jamming also played a role in the flooding at this location. The net effect of this flooding was overwhelmed by the high water that immediately proceeded any river ice movement. This gage was also impacted by levee breaches all along this portion of the Platte River. Damages are based on an estimate from the Army Corps of Engineers Omaha District. This dollar amount also takes into account the…

2. Oct 25, 1997Heavy Snow, Saunders$2.0 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.

3. Aug 9, 2025Thunderstorm Wind$1.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A severe thunderstorm moved across the southeast portion of Saunders County, Nebraska, generating a swath of damaging straight-line winds on the morning of August 9th, 2025. The strongest reported wind was an estimated gust of 95 mph from an emergency manager in Ithaca at 04:40 CST, associated with the destruction of a barn.||Widespread extensive damage was concentrated in the eastern parts of the county, particularly in and around Yutan, Mead, and near Leshara. In Yutan, public reports indicated damaging winds, estimated as high as 90 to 100 mph, causing widespread tree and powerline damage and tilting power poles into the road. Near Leshara, estimated 90 mph winds caused…

4. Jun 22, 2024Flood$1.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Training thunderstorms brought a swath of heavy rain to portions of southern Nebraska, beginning in Dawson County, and expanding into portions of northeast and east-central Nebraska. Areas upstream the Platte River, primarily in Merrick, Howard and Nance counties saw over 5 inches of rain with these storms. As such, this heavy upstream rain in addition to one to two inches of additional rain that fell across Saunders county resulted in the Platte River reaching flood stage. The Platte near the intersection of Dodge, Douglas and Saunders counties crested at 1:15 CDT at 11.89 feet. Flood stage at this portion of the river is 11.0 feet. Flooding was also observed at the Lashara and…

5. Mar 14, 2019Flood$950,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This is for flooding along the Platte River. The river gage at Leshara, operated by the USGS, peaked at 12.38 feet at 8 am on March 15th. Minor flood stage is 8 feet, moderate flood stage is 10 feet while major flood stage is 12 feet. Preliminary this peak is the highest on record. Ice jamming also played a role in the flooding at this location. The net effect of this flooding was overwhelmed by the high water that immediately proceeded any river ice movement.

6. Sep 16, 2006Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rainfall of 2 to 5 inches fell over a large part of central and western Saunders county during the overnight hours of 9/15/06 and early 9/16/06. The heavy rain initially flooded tributaries of Wahoo Creek around the Wahoo area, including Sand Creek, flooding and eventually closing Highway 92 west of town, Highway 77 east of town and old Highway 77 south of town. Besides flooding hundreds of acres of farmland, the flood waters also affected the Fairgrounds and surrounding areas of east and southeast Wahoo, and at least 1 car was flooded. A dance floor east of town was severely damaged by the flood waters along with railroad tracks in the vicinity. The water eventually consolidated…

7. Sep 13, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds and hail up to 2 inches in diameter caused substantial damage to the University of Nebraska agricultural research center. Winds were estimated to have gusted between 70 and 80 mph. Damage estimates to the center included $800,000 in crop damage, $500,000 in building damage and $250,000 in vehicle damage. Thirty-seven buildings had broken windows, siding and/or roof damage. Several horses were injured and had to be euthanized when the open-front portable building they were in was toppled.

8. May 7, 2015Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Very heavy rainfall of 4 to 7 inches fell across the Salt Creek River basin on the evening of the 6th into the early morning of the 7th. This led to significant flooding along the creek into the Ashland area. The flooding affected lower lined areas of the south and east side of Ashland, as well as rural areas upstream of town.

9. May 30, 2008Flood$275,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Nearly a week of significant rain culminated with heavy rain during the evening of May 29th. This caused Wahoo Creek and some of its tributaries, including Sand Creek, to flood from southwest of Wahoo through the Ithaca area and then to near Wahoo Creek's mouth with the Platte River just northeast of Ashland. County roads in the area and sections of Highways 77 and 92 were closed for a while due to flood waters. Three bridges sustained significant damage including one which collapsed completely. Other flooding included agricultural lands and a park near Wahoo. Wahoo Creek at Ithaca crested at 21.8 feet around 445pm CDT on May 30th, flood stage is 19 feet. The creek at Ithaca fell…

10. Jun 5, 2008Flood$275,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Heavy rain fell across parts of the Wahoo Creek basin on June 4th prompting Wahoo Creek and some of its tributaries, including Sand Creek and Cottonwood Creek, to flood for the second time in a week. Additional rain on June 5th prolonged the flooding along the lower reaches of Wahoo Creek. The flooding was observed from west of Wahoo through the Ithaca area and then to near Wahoo Creek's mouth with the Platte River just northeast of Ashland. County roads in the area and also old Highway 77 and part of Highway 92 were closed for a while due to flood waters. The flooding damaged roads, bridges and guardrails and many culverts were clogged with debris. One bridge was lost and 2…

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

108°FJun 22, 1988

All-time low

−37°FJan 10, 1982

Warmest night

84°FJul 14, 1980

Coldest day

−12°FDec 22, 1989

Wettest day

5.70 inJul 2, 2024

Snowiest day

10.0 inJan 26, 2021

Hottest year

1987mean 54.0°F

Coldest year

1996mean 46.7°F

Wettest year

201542.26 in

Driest year

198814.85 in

Snowiest season

38.4 in2009-10

Station Mead 6S (USC00255362), 1,170 ft elevation, 5.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1968 to October 27, 2026; 99.1% 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 USC00255362.
• 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.