Gregory County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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. Aug 6, 2019Tornado$7.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado developed and touched down in the heart of town near Washington and 7th streets, causing damage to several trees at the touchdown point. Shortly after, the tornado severely damaged several structures while tracking south, including leveling several buildings at the lumber yard, destroying the civic center, and causing significant damage to the school. The start of the school year was delayed by two weeks due to extent of the damage. Two people were (directly) injured by debris when a garage collapsed on them while moving vehicles to safety. Numerous power transmission poles and lines were removed by the tornado. Around 2 miles south southeast of Burke, the tornado struck…

2. Aug 3, 2009Hail$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large hail, up to two inches in diameter, fell in a swath a few miles wide from northwestern to south central Gregory County. The hail broke numerous windows, severely damaged siding and roofs of homes and other buildings, and severely damaged vehicles, while covering the ground in several places. Property damage was especially severe in the town of Gregory. Crop damage was also severe along the swath, with corn crops in some areas destroyed to the point of only small stubble left.

3. Mar 13, 2019Flood$1.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding resulted in extensive damage to public infrastructure including numerous county and township roads, culverts, and some bridges.

4. Aug 9, 2002Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado destroyed a church, a county highway shop, several garages, several small sheds, a mobile home, a camper, and a ten thousand bushel silo. The church was ripped from its foundation, with debris and contents blown over a wide area. Tree damage includes uprooted trees, and power lines were blown down. A resulting power outage lasted for several hours. Windows in many homes and some businesses were broken. The Herrick Honey House was severely damaged, and a honey truck was tipped over. Holes were punched in the walls of some houses by flying debris.

5. Nov 27, 2005Ice Storm, Gregory$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy freezing rain coated roads, trees, power lines, and most other objects with ice up to 3 inches thick. Travel quickly became difficult to impossible. Many roads including Interstate Highways 90 and 29 were closed for extended periods of time. Most schools and businesses were forced to close. Electric power was lost over widespread areas when many miles of power lines and thousands of poles were knocked down, with more damaged. Strong winds which accompanied the ice storm and the immediately following blizzard combined with the weight of the ice to bring down many of the power lines and poles. Tens of thousands of households and businesses lost power, with the time power was…

6. Aug 9, 2019Flash Flood$630,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous county roads were damaged with culverts or roads washed out.

7. Jul 2, 1999Hail$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large hail fell over a wide area, including the towns of Gregory, Burke, and Bonesteel. The hail damaged roofs, broke windows, and dented vehicles. Crops in some areas were totally destroyed.

8. Jun 21, 2024Flood$352,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rainfall amounts across Gregory County from June 20-22 generally ranged from 2 to 5 inches. Some overland flooding ensued with 84 damage reports to roads, most due to plugged culverts. Preliminary damage assessments estimate loss to public infrastructure across the county to be nearly 352 thousand dollars.

9. Sep 12, 2019Flood$205,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding resulted in crop losses and damage to public infrastructure including numerous county and township roads, culverts, and some bridges. Crop loss estimates provided by the United States Department of Agriculture.

10. Jan 17, 1996Blizzard, Gregory$150,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A blizzard spread across the area from the west. Snow accumulating 3 to 12 inches was accompanied by 50 to 60 mph winds and very cold temperatures. The blizzard was accompanied by wind chill readings around 70 below zero. Roads and many businesses, schools, and other activities were shut down. The total destruction of at least 3 homes by fire was due in part to the inability of firefighters to travel across the blocked roads. Several accidents occurred and other vehicles slid into ditches or became stranded. One man died of exposure near Bridgewater after his vehicle was stranded. Power outages occurred, one due to a transformer exploding in Gregory County. Some pipes froze and…

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

114°FJul 16, 1936

All-time low

−36°FDec 21, 1983

Warmest night

90°FJul 25, 1936

Coldest day

−17°FJan 14, 2024

Wettest day

5.21 inJul 17, 1923

Snowiest day

19.5 inNov 2, 1972

Hottest year

1934mean 51.8°F

Coldest year

2009mean 43.4°F

Wettest year

201941.60 in

Driest year

201213.13 in

Snowiest season

75.7 in2022-23

Station Gregory (USC00393452), 2,160 ft elevation, 8.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1906 to October 23, 2026; 98.0% 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 USC00393452.
• 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.