Knox County, Nebraska severe weather history spans 549 recorded events between 1950 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 57.7% of all recorded events. It ranks #730 nationally and #27 in Nebraska.
549
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
112
Direct injuries
$9.5M
Property damage
The record
What the Knox County, Nebraska severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Knox County, Nebraska severe weather history averages 7.3 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 204 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 90 events fall before 1990 and 459 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Knox County, Nebraska record is tornado, responsible for 1 direct deaths. The costliest is tornado, with $5.7M in reported property damage. In total, 8 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Knox County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 317 | 0 | $1.6M | 4.5 | 1957–2025 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 143 | 0 | $561K | 87 | 1955–2025 |
| Tornado | 46 | 1 | $5.7M | F2 | 1950–2013 |
| Flood | 20 | 0 | $1.6M | 0 | 2007–2024 |
| Flash Flood | 17 | 0 | $79K | 0 | 1996–2021 |
| Heavy Rain | 3 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2009–2010 |
| Lightning | 2 | 0 | $500 | 0 | 1996–2000 |
| Funnel Cloud | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1998–1998 |
Decade by decade
Knox County, Nebraska severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
52 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 45 touched down inside it and 7 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1965-05-08 | EF4 | 4 | 53 | 125.7 mi | Crossed in |
| 2013-10-04 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 6.4 mi | Crossed in |
| 1975-05-06 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 44.8 mi | Crossed in |
| 1954-06-18 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 10.6 mi | Crossed in |
| 1959-05-30 | EF2 | 1 | 2 | 26.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 2007-05-05 | EF2 | 0 | 3 | 5.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1985-04-20 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 35.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1975-06-21 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1950-06-13 | EF2 | 0 | 101 | 4.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2009-03-23 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.8 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Knox County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 1959 | Tornado | 1 | 2 | $250K | |
| Jun 13, 1950 | Tornado | 0 | 101 | $25K | |
| Jul 5, 1984 | Hail | 0 | 5 | $0 | |
| May 5, 2007 | Tornado | CROFTON | 0 | 3 | $1.0M |
| Apr 25, 1994 | Tornado | Bloomfield | 0 | 1 | $500K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A hail storm began northwest of Crofton Nebraska and cut a half mile wide swath of damage down to Hartington in Cedar county. Hail, which at times was baseball size, was driven by 50 mph winds causing extensive damage to cars, windows, siding, roofs and crops in the area. Insurance agents stated that between 1 and 2 million dollars in damage was sustained from around Crofton through Hartington. The worst damage was reported at the junction of Highways 81 and 12, 5 miles east of Crofton. Around the junction of Higways 12 and 81 local agronomists estimated that defoliation of corn was in the 85 to 90 percent range with 35 percent of the crop dead.
A small tornado touched down about four and a half miles south of Bloomfield. One person was injured as he took cover in a ditch as the tornado approached. Debris from a building fell on him and broke his leg. There was damage to outbuildings and irrigation systems on more than a dozen farms.
Flooding along the Missouri River gradually worsened over the area during June as record releases from Ft. Randal Dam brought widespread flooding along the river. In Knox county the flooding closed Highway 12 between Verdel and Niobrara and east of Niobrara and also closed Highway 14/37 north of Niobrara. The flooding also forced the evacuation of 50 to 60 residences including the Lazy River Acres area in between Niobrara and Verdel. The flooding carried over into July.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
8,363
Population (ACS)
$128K
Median home value
18
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 27, 2022 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR |
| Apr 4, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Mar 21, 2019 | Flood | SEVERE WINTER STORM, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Jun 29, 2018 | Snowstorm | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR |
| Aug 12, 2011 | Flood | FLOODING | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Knox County, Nebraska?
549 events are on record between 1950 and 2025, causing 1 direct deaths and $9.5M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Knox County?
Hail, with 317 recorded events — 57.7% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Knox County?
52 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 45 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Knox County?
18 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Knox County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Knox County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Knox County as very low risk, placing it in the 30 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Knox County, Nebraska severe weather history data come from?
Every figure is drawn from United States federal public-domain records: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events for the event archive, NOAA SPC SVRGIS for mapped tornado paths, FEMA for disaster declarations and risk ratings, and the U.S. Census for population context. Dates are shown in UTC and recent entries may still be revised by NOAA.
Nearby
Neighbouring counties
- Kimball County 426
- Lancaster County 965
- Keya Paha County 246
- Lincoln County 1,855
- Keith County 775
- Logan County 292
Cite this page
“Knox County, Nebraska.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/nebraska/knox-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.