Niobrara County

Every recorded tornado

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

Mapped landslides

Mapped by WY WSGS (4).

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jun 4, 2015Flash Flood$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   As much as eight inches of rain fell from slow moving thunderstorms across south and southeast Niobrara County during the predawn hours, which resulted in widespread flash flooding. Excessive runoff upstream into the Niobrara River and nearby creeks caused them to overflow their banks. Law enforcement officials evacuated residents of Lusk as well as those living along the Niobrara River downstream to Van Tassel several hours in advance of the flood wave. The worst damage occurred in Lusk where 20 to 30 homes and 15 to 20 businesses were destroyed. Flood waters and debris rushed down Main Street in Lusk, swamped four blocks, and shut down the town's water supply. The US Highway 85…

2. Oct 4, 1998Blizzard, Niobrara$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   8 to 12 inches of heavy, wet snow fell across eastern Converse County and Niobrara County. The heavy snow downed trees and power lines. Ice build up was up to 6 inches around many power lines. The build up of ice around the power lines along with 40 mph winds, caused 200 power poles to snap. 4000 people were without power for up to 5 days in the Lusk, Manville, Van Tassle, and Lance Creek areas.. Interstate 80 between Cheyenne and Laramie was closed due to near zero visibilities.

3. Apr 19, 2000Winter Storm, Niobrara$175,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   High winds and heavy snow caused widespread damage to power poles resultingin power outages. 6 to 8 inches of snow fell in Lusk, WY with gusty winds resulted in blizzardlike conditions.

4. Aug 6, 2006Flash Flood$40,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rainfall produced flash flooding along Dogie, Spring and Lance creeks, washing outa bridge and road.

5. Oct 24, 1997Blizzard, Niobrara$10,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An early season blizzard dumped up to 20 inches of snow in areas of southeastern Wyoming, downing power poles and power lines as well as making many roads impassable. Wet, wind-driven snow damaged trees in addition to unharvested milo, corn and sunflower fields, and many motorists were stranded on impassable roads or when vehicles slid off roads. High school athletic events were postponed, and high school bands and athletic teams were stranded when their buses could continue no further. The following occurrences were documented as occurring on the 24th. Semi-tractor trucks with trailers tipped over after jackknifing on Interstate 80 near Sinclair and at milepost 340; no damage…

6. Aug 29, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$10,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong thunderstorm winds knocked down a shed.

7. Jul 6, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$10,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong wind gusts damaged corrals and sheds as well as removed some roof shingles.

8. Aug 28, 1996Hail$10,000
9. Aug 28, 1996Hail$5,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large hail broke windows in the area.

10. Aug 28, 1996Hail$5,000

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

105°FJul 25, 2003

All-time low

−26°FJan 14, 2024

Warmest night

71°FJul 31, 2006

Coldest day

−13°FDec 23, 2022

Wettest day

2.93 inApr 19, 2000

Snowiest day

17.5 inMay 10, 2015

Hottest year

2012mean 48.6°F

Coldest year

2019mean 43.3°F

Wettest year

202320.84 in

Driest year

20126.08 in

Snowiest season

96.4 in2013-14

Station Torrington 29N (USC00488997), 4,860 ft elevation, 27.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1994 to October 23, 2026; 98.7% 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 USC00488997.
• 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.