Washington County

Every recorded tornado

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

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. May 22, 2004Hail$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail up to baseball size fell in Blair and west through south of town. The hail caused extensive damage to cars and at least two large car dealerships were hit with over 4500 cars damaged. Houses and trees in town were also damaged and Dana College sustained 1 million dollars in damage in broken windows, skylights and vents. Two hundred windows were broken on campus. The dollar damage total was from eastern Dodge county into Washington county, with over half of it likely in Washington county around and in the Blair area.

2. Aug 6, 1999Flash Flood$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Very heavy rain, Blair received 8 inches, fell over much of Washington county from Friday afternoon into early Saturday morning 8/7/99. Street flooding was reported in Arlington, Blair and Herman, especially along Bell Creek. A 20 foot deep gorge was carved out along highway 75 north of Fort Calhoun. Highway 30 in Arlington was flooded and highway 75 south of Blair was closed until 1100 am cst 8/7/99 due to flood waters. The flooding caused around 4 million dollars in damage mainly due to flooded basements and vehicles and washed out roads and bridges.

3. Oct 1, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm downburst winds produced a 5 to 6 mile wide path of damage from around 5 miles southwest of Ft. Calhoun into the Ft. Calhoun area. The wind damage was from the same storm complex that produced the damage in northwest Douglas county. Winds with this damage path were estimated by the NWS to be stronger than those observed in Douglas county, perhaps around 100 mph. The winds caused extensive tree damage and also destroyed a house just northwest of Ft. Calhoun causing 2 minor injuries. Windows were reported to be blown out by the winds and wind driven hail also caused substantial window, roof and siding damage with an estimated 85 percent of all homes in town damaged to…

4. Aug 9, 2025Thunderstorm Wind$2.7 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A damaging wind event swept across Washington County, Nebraska, during the morning hours of August 9th, 2025, with a path of damage extending from the southwest to the eastern portion of the county. Measured wind reports indicated damaging wind speeds, with a maximum measured gust of 86 miles per hour reported by a public station 1 mile south-southeast of Blair. Widespread measured gusts throughout the county ranged from 58 miles per hour (recorded at the Blair Municipal AWOS) to 70 miles per hour.||However, the severity of the damage suggested straight-line winds were considerably higher, with the peak estimated wind speed reaching 110 miles per hour 1 mile south-southeast of…

5. Apr 22, 2001Tornado$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down 4 1/2 miles north northeast of Arlington and moved north northeast for approximately 5 miles before lifting 1 mile east of county road 15 on county road 16. The tornado damaged 6 farmsteads including farm homes and barns and leveled 3 outbuildings west of Blair as well as downing power lines and damaging trees. One man was injured slightly when a 2 by 4 flew through a window hitting him on the chest and cutting him with flying glass.

6. Jun 1, 2011Flood$550,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding along the Missouri River gradually worsened during June as record releases from Gavins Point Dam brought widespread flooding along the river. The river near Blair climbed to around its 26.5 foot flood stage late in May, and then steadily rose into mid to late June climbing to a little over 32 feet during the last week or so of the month. The flooding in Washington county was especially felt in the Fort Calhoun area where at least 60 homes or cabins were flooded or cutoff by flood waters. At least 200 residences in the county were evacuated leaving at least 500 people displaced. This prompted the city to open the high school up for flood victims. Blair spent $500,000 to…

7. Jul 1, 2011Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding along the Missouri River gradually worsened during June and continued through July as record releases from Gavins Point Dam brought widespread flooding along the River. The river near Blair climbed to around its 26.5 foot flood stage late in May, and then steadily rose in June reaching a little over 32 feet during the last week or so of the month. The river fell slightly during July but remained in the moderate category into August. The flooding in Washington county was especially felt in the Fort Calhoun area where at least 60 homes or cabins were flooded or cutoff by flood waters. At least 200 residences in the county were evacuated leaving at least 500 people…

8. Jun 20, 1996Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down north of Arlington and damaged St. Paul's Lutheran Church and School and eight nearby farmsteads.

9. Jun 12, 2010Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rainfall of 3 to 5 inches fell across much of the Elkhorn River basin in the week ending June 12th. This caused extensive flooding along the Elkhorn River and many of its tributaries, which was prolonged by additional heavy rain after June 12th. Flooding along the Elkhorn in Washington county closed Highway 30 near Arlington for several days as well as many county roads in the area. Farmland near the river also sustained flood damage. Emergency management stated that there was $100,000 in damage alone to public roads in Washington and Dodge counties.

10. Jul 5, 1998Flash Flood$240,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Heavy rain from thunderstorms produced flash flooding. Sewer systems in the Fremont area backed up into basements of homes causing damage. York Creek near Herman and Bell Creek just east of Arlington overflowed their banks. Some homes east of Arlington had to be evacuated. Eight of these homes were flooded. A portion of U.S. highway 30 near Arlington had to be closed for a period of time. Nearly 3000 acres of soybeans were destroyed near Arlington.

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, 18.8 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.
• 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.