Sheridan County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jul 1, 2012Drought, Sheridan$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe drought conditions (D2), which began the month of June, intensified to extreme drought conditions (D3) by the end of the month. Pastures that make up close to 79 percent of the land use in Sheridan County (2007 Census USDA) was rated 69% poor or very poor. The lack of rain limited grazing capacity as the departure from normal precipitation reached below 2 inches. Crop producers began silage of dryland corn. On July 23rd all counties in Nebraska were approved for CRP Emergency Haying and Grazing. The drought continued into August.

2. Sep 1, 2012Wildfire, Sheridan$6.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A wildfire ignited by lightning in late August continued into September to burn approximately 44,159 acres in Nebraska before being contained on September 4th. The wildfire spread north into South Dakota for a total of 77,159 acres burned before containment. Initial assessments showed the wildfire burned approximately 100 power poles. The Rushville Sheriff requested an Evacuate Immediate (NWEM) message as the fire spread into parks and to alert homeowners and campers in the area. The fire stats showed 50 to 60 outbuildings destroyed, and approximately 10 homes damaged as well as two homes and two commercial properties destroyed. The Nebraska National Guard was deployed (14…

3. Aug 29, 2012Wildfire, Sheridan$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A wildfire was ignited by lightning August 29th that spread quickly north across grassland and timbers across northwest Sheridan County. The wildfire burned approximate 44,159 acres in Nebraska and moved north into South Dakota. Initial assessments showed the wildfire burned approximately 100 power poles. The Rushville Sheriff requested an Evacuate Immediate (NWEM) message as the fire spread into parks and to alert homeowners and campers in the area. The fire stats showed 50 to 60 outbuildings destroyed, and approximately 10 homes damaged. The wildfire continued into September.

4. Aug 29, 2012Lightning$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning ignited a wildfire on August 29th that spread quickly north across grassland and timbers across northwest Sheridan County. The wildfire burned approximate 44,159 acres in Nebraska and moved north into South Dakota. Initial assessments showed the wildfire burned approximately 100 power poles. The Rushville Sheriff requested an Evacuate Immediate (NWEM) message as the fire spread into parks and to alert homeowners and campers in the area. The fire stats showed 50 to 60 outbuildings destroyed, and approximately 10 homes damaged. The wildfire continued into September.

5. Jun 21, 1997Hail$750,000
6. Aug 3, 1996Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   RUSH CREEK BRIDGE WASHED OUT 3 MILES SOUTH OF RUSHVILLE. FIVE FEET OF WATER IN BASEMENT 6 MILES NORTH OF RUSHVILLE. RAINFALL OF 5 TO 6 INCHES IN AND AROUND RUSHVILLE.

7. Jun 19, 1997Hail$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds in excess of 60 mph damaged roofs and blew a tree over which landed on a parked vehicle in the town of Gordon.

8. Jun 20, 2006Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An anti-cyclonic left-moving supercell produced a brief, weak tornado that ripped off the roof of a home, destroyed the attached two car garage, moved outbuildings, and destroyed metal cattle shields. Debris from the destroyed home impacted a large metal machine shed and was scattered along a 1 mile path northeast of the farmstead. The home was a complete loss as the chimney fell into the house breaking floor joists.

9. Jun 20, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Outflow winds estimated at 90 mph, from an anti-cyclonic left-moving supercell that produced a weak tornado 1.5 miles south of Rushville, uprooted trees, took roofs off two buildings, toppled an old wooden grain elevator, and overturned a camper. Falling trees damaged homes, businesses, and vehicles.

10. May 10, 2000Hail$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Extensive damage to houses and vehicles in Rushville.

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

111°F2 times, most recently Jul 25, 2026

All-time low

−36°FDec 22, 2022

Warmest night

77°FJul 26, 2026

Coldest day

−15°FJan 13, 2024

Wettest day

3.88 inJun 17, 2003

Hottest year

1999mean 50.5°F

Coldest year

2014mean 45.6°F

Wettest year

201422.65 in

Driest year

20067.82 in

Station Pine Ridge Airport (USW00094039), 3,287 ft elevation, 23.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1997 to October 26, 2026; 96.7% 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 USW00094039.
• 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.