Sioux County

Every recorded tornado

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

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 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 (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.

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jun 4, 1999Hail$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Golfball size hail reported on east side of Harrison, NE

2. Jun 7, 2010Hail$12,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail of various sizes fell for 20 minutes. Extensive damage to home with broken windows and skylights.

3. Jun 4, 1999Hail$10,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   2.50 inch hail reported 22 miles northeast of Harrison, NE

4. Jul 4, 2001Hail$10,000
5. Feb 25, 1998Blizzard, Sioux$10,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Blizzard conditions and snow packed roads occurred across the panhandle. On the 25th, winds were sustained at 35 to 45 MPH with gusts over 60 MPH, caused several accidents around the Scottsbluff area. A 59 year old man was seriously injured when his semi-tractor trailer slid into a ditch 13 miles north of Scottsbluff on Nebraska highway 71. In Sidney, winds were sustained at 35 to 45 MPH, with gusts up to 55 mph, and knocked out power to schools and neighbourhoods. Many schools and highways were closed, including Interstate 80 west of Sidney to the Nebraska-Wyoming border. On the 26th, winds gusting to 72 MPH combined with 9 inches of snow across the northern half of the…

6. Jun 12, 2017Tornado$6,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado crossed the WY/NE state line into Sioux County, NE at 1630 MST, and continued northeast before lifting west of Highway 29, 8 miles south-southwest of Harrison, NE at 1701 MST. Damage consistent with EF-2 intensity was noted by the survey team to the residence, as well as to surrounding trees and outbuildings (DI 2, DOD 6) 13 miles southwest of Harrison, NE. One resident at this location was treated and released at a local hospital with injuries incurred from flying debris in the home.

7. Jun 7, 2010Hail$5,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Moist southerly winds brought 50 to mid 60 degree dew points into the area. Due to so much moisture present, low status formed and lasted through the early afternoon. The stratus caused the atmosphere to remain stable through the early afternoon until the stratus began to clear out. With the moisture still present during the afternoon and a strong jet stream overhead, thunderstorms that former over the higher terrain of Southeast Wyoming began to move eastward into the panhandle. The unstable conditions also allowed thunderstorms to develop in the panhandle during the late afternoon and evening hours.

8. Jul 22, 2010Hail$5,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   According to spotter's report, an area from Ardmore, SD to south of the Nebraska state line, house windows were broken by hail. Estimated 60 MPH winds. Car windows broken. Over 1.00 inches of rainfall. Gravel piles along HWY 71 blown across the road. Estimated time of report.

9. Jun 7, 2010Hail$4,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Largest hail was 3.25 inches in diameter. Damage to house with broken windows and significant damage to siding on north side. Vehicle received severe dents and broken windshield.

10. Mar 6, 1998Winter Storm, Sioux$3,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A winter storm affected the Nebraska panhandle, with 12 inches of snowfall reported in Broadwater, A total of 10 inches of snow fell in Kimball and Chadron, with 8 inches of total snowfall in Potter and across Dawes county. Up to 7 inches of snow was reported across the rest of the panhandle. Highways in the central and northern panhandle were icy and snow packed. Visibility dropped to less than a mile at times in Scottsbluff and in Chadron. A man lost control of his vehicle on icy Interstate 80, 3 miles west of Lodgepole. The vehicle rolled onto it's top and slid into a ditch and was totalled. The driver of the vehicle was not injured. Another rollover accident occurred one mile…

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°FJul 7, 1989

All-time low

−44°FDec 22, 1989

Warmest night

78°FJul 21, 2026

Coldest day

−19°FFeb 3, 1989

Wettest day

3.26 inApr 19, 2000

Snowiest day

16.0 inMar 14, 2002

Hottest year

2024mean 50.2°F

Coldest year

1903mean 42.8°F

Wettest year

198220.61 in

Driest year

20124.44 in

Snowiest season

67.0 in2013-14

Station Agate 3 E (USC00250030), 4,670 ft elevation, 5.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1900 to October 20, 2026; 96.0% 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 USC00250030.
• 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.