Dawson County, Nebraska

What hazards hit Dawson County most?

The most frequent records are hail reports: 367 since 1956. 49% of its hail reports since 1956 fell in May and June. 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 Dawson County had?

NOAA records 58 tornadoes in Dawson County from 1953 to 2023, the strongest rated F3, with 0 deaths and 16 injuries recorded in the county. That is 28th of 93 Nebraska counties by days with tornadoes per 1,000 square miles since 1950. 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 59 tornadoes whose track touched Dawson County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 58: 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 Dawson County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the March 12, 2026 wildfire ($1.9 million in damage in 2025 dollars).

A wildfire which started about 5 miles southwest of Brady in Lincoln County, spread rapidly east-southeast during the late afternoon and evening hours of March 12th. Thanks to sub-15% relative humidity and strong western/northwest winds, the fire quickly reached Dawson County about 6 miles north of Farman around 7:30 PM. Despite the valiant efforts of local fire fighters, the strong winds pushed the fire across State Highway 47 and toward the outer reaches of the Midway Lake area. Around 10:00 PM, a cold front shifted winds to the north and resulted in a new fire head on the south side. Though expected, this shift spread the fire rapidly to the south toward the town of Farman. The town was evacuated due to the extreme fire behavior and risk to the community. Fortunately, the fire did not reach the community thanks to the efforts of local firefighters and residents. …
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1350911)

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 Dawson 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).

High wind and dust storms in the 2010s: 36 records against 9 in the decade before, 36 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 Dawson 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?

49% of its hail reports since 1956 fell in May and June. The two busiest months are in violet.

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

Federal disaster declarations for Dawson County

FEMA's register lists 15 declarations that include Dawson County: 12 major disasters, 2 emergencies and one fire management assistance declaration. Most were for severe storm (7) and flood (3).

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 Dawson County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 21 flood or flash flood records for Dawson County from 1996 to 2019, on 17 days, with 1 death. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Dawson County ranks 1366th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $508,000 on 89 claims filed in Dawson County; the most in one year was 31 in 2019. 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 Dawson County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Dawson County Relatively Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $23.4 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 Dawson County

1. Lincoln County 2,085
2. Custer County 1,526
3. Buffalo County 1,053
4. Dawson County 994
5. Phelps County 695
6. Frontier County 689
7. Gosper County 496

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
• Hail in NebraskaThe state's hail reports, 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 Dawson CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Dawson County's FEMA declarations (CSV)15 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis