Dakota County, Nebraska

What hazards hit Dakota County most?

The most frequent records are winter storm records: 143 since 1996. 52% of its winter storm records since 1996 fell in January and February. The rank column places the county among Nebraska's counties by days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land over each hazard's complete period.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (county and forecast-zone records attributed to the county; a zone record shows its own totals on each county it covers). Days: dates with at least one record of the hazard in the county. Ranks: days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer), since 1950 for tornadoes, 1955 for hail and thunderstorm wind, 1996 for the rest.

How many tornadoes has Dakota County had?

NOAA records 8 tornadoes in Dakota County from 1955 to 2014, the strongest rated F4, with 0 deaths and 4 injuries recorded in the county. A tornado that crossed a county line is counted in each county it touched, with the length of its path inside the county.

Counted as whole tornadoes rather than county records, the Storm Prediction Center's database holds 9 tornadoes whose track touched Dakota County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 8: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 0 people.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in Nebraska.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, tornado records by county (path length in the county, maximum width); ratings as published: F scale before February 1, 2007, EF scale after. Whole-track figures: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database (1950-2025). SPC severe weather database.

When was the last damaging storm in Dakota County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the June 24, 2024 flood ($1.1 million in damage in 2025 dollars).

Rainfall amounts across Dakota County from June 20-22 were generally a half inch or less. However, farther north and upstream 6 to 10 plus inches fell across portions of southeast South Dakota and northwest Iowa. Record flood waters along the Vermillion and Big Sioux Rivers emptied into the Missouri River, pushing river levels into minor flooding. Missouri River flooding resulted in the evacuation of the Lower Scenic Park Campground and damage to parts of the park, including the soccer fields and some campground electrical pedestals. The police shooting range was also damaged. Preliminary damage assessments estimate loss to public infrastructure to be nearly 1.18 million dollars. For additional information on river flooding, please see other flood entries for Dakota County.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1196714)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database; every record of 2025-2026 is listed, earlier ones when they caused deaths, injuries or $250,000 of damage (2025 dollars), and every tornado.

The deadliest and costliest records

A damage figure marked "step" is a record from before 1993: NOAA then filed damage by category, and the figure is the category as entered, in the dollars of that year, not an estimate of the loss.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths and injuries direct and indirect; damage is property plus crops as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars.

Is it getting more frequent?

Records per decade for Dakota County's most frequent hazards. Counts rose everywhere after 1996, when NOAA began recording every event type, so compare decades within a hazard's complete period only (the shaded cells come before it).

Drought in the 2020-26: 43 records against 11 in the decade before, 43 of them forecast-zone records. Cells marked z rose mostly through zone records. The local National Weather Service office files these once per forecast zone, so a change in how it draws its zones or splits a storm into records moves this count as much as the weather does; read it beside the Dakota County days with a record above.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records per calendar decade; zone records from the CZ_TYPE field (Z).

What time of year?

52% of its winter storm records since 1996 fell in January and February. The two busiest months are in violet.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began.

Federal disaster declarations for Dakota County

FEMA's register lists 16 declarations that include Dakota County: 13 major disasters, 3 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for flood (7) and severe storm (5).

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), declarations through October 2, 2026; one declaration is counted once however many areas it names. OpenFEMA dataset page.

How many floods has Dakota County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 34 flood or flash flood records for Dakota County from 1996 to 2024, on 27 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Dakota County ranks 1366th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $926,000 on 89 claims filed in Dakota County; the most in one year was 65 in 2011. Claims count insured losses only: uninsured flood damage is not in this file.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026; claims by year of loss, payments in the dollars of the year paid. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk for Dakota County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Dakota County Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $11.5 million. These are FEMA's model estimates of future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of what happened; they can differ from the record above.

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, county table, December 2025 release. FEMA's National Risk Index map.

Counties that share a border with Dakota County

1. Woodbury County, IA 1,213
2. Union County, SD 834
3. Dixon County 657
4. Dakota County 511
5. Thurston County 433

Source: U.S. Census Bureau county adjacency file; NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950. The Census Bureau's adjacency file.

Next

• Tornadoes in NebraskaEvery Nebraska tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Winter storms in NebraskaThe state's winter storm records, by county, year and month
• The Nebraska recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Dakota CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Dakota County's FEMA declarations (CSV)16 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis