Stanton County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Jun 16, 2014Tornado$12.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado developed about 5.5 miles southwest of the town of Pilger and moved directly northeast directly striking the town. The tornado did violent damage within the town of Pilger. Nearly 75 percent of the structures in the town received some damage, while structures near the center of the tornado were completely destroyed. A 5-year-old girl was killed and her mother seriously injured while attempting to take cover from their mobile home to a storm shelter. The tornado continued to move northeast past the town crossing Highway 275 about 1 mile west of the Cuming County line. The tornado continued northeast exiting Stanton County about 2.25 miles northeast of the city of…

2. Jun 16, 2014Tornado$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado began to the southwest of the Stanton and increased in intensity and size as it moved to the north northeast, passing to the west of the city of Stanton by about 2 miles. The tornado did the most significant damage to the north of Stanton where two farmsteads were completely destroyed just to the south of Highway 275. Here two vehicles, one car and one truck, were picked up by the tornado and tossed over a quarter of a mile. The tornado also completely destroyed two other homes and outbuildings, as well as debarking trees. The tornado continued northeast of Highway 275 for about 3 miles before roping out.

3. Jun 11, 2010Flood$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rainfall of at least 3 to 5 inches fell over much of the upper Elkhorn River basin in the week ending 7am 6/12, including 1 to 2 inch 24 hour amounts ending 7am the 12th. This caused record or near record flooding along the Elkhorn River from around Clearwater and Neligh downstream to the Elkhorn's confluence with the Platte River. The flooding was prolonged by additional rains the next few days. In Stanton county at least 70 miles of gravel roads along the Elkhorn were damaged by flood waters, two bridges were destroyed and several others seriously damaged. Several culverts were also washed away. In addition, the main water supply line to Stanton that ran under the Elkhorn…

4. Jun 16, 2017Tornado$350,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This is a continuation of the tornado that was in Wayne County. The tornado continued moving east-southeastward. Several sheds and barns were damaged or flattened by the tornado during the end of the tornado's path.

5. Mar 30, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$164,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds estimated at 60 to 70 mph overturned a semi-trailer truck on Highway 15 north of Pilger injuring the driver.

6. Apr 18, 2004Hail$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail a little larger than baseball size caused significant damage in the Woodland Park vicinity in far northwest Stanton county. Numerous homes had holes punched in their roofs and vinyl siding. Cars were also damaged, including broken windshields.

7. Aug 4, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$90,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds destroyed 2 hog confinement barns. Debris was scattered over a mile in length.

8. Jun 16, 2014Tornado$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado developed to the southeast of the Pilger tornado as it was nearing the town of Pilger. The tornado stuck one farmstead in Stanton County along 1st Road before exiting into Cuming County about 2.5 miles southeast of Pilger. At this farmstead outbuildings were destroyed, trees were downed, and power lines were blown down. The tornado then continued into Cuming County.

9. Oct 9, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This was the first of 2 supercells that tracked across parts of Stanton county this evening causing damage. Thunderstorm winds estimated at over 80 mph downed power lines and destroyed several hog and grain bins south of Stanton.

10. Mar 30, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$36,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Thunderstorm winds estimated at 60 to 70 mph overturned a semi-trailer truck on Highway 15.

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

113°FJul 11, 1954

All-time low

−31°FFeb 16, 2021

Warmest night

82°FAug 26, 1955

Coldest day

−14°FDec 21, 1989

Wettest day

5.42 inJun 4, 1991

Snowiest day

19.0 inFeb 18, 1984

Hottest year

2012mean 53.2°F

Coldest year

1950mean 45.5°F

Wettest year

200737.81 in

Driest year

202213.27 in

Snowiest season

86.1 in1983-84

Station Norfolk Karl Stefan Mem Airport (USW00014941), 1,562 ft elevation, 9.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1945 to October 26, 2026; 99.9% 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 USW00014941.
• 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.