Kimball County, Nebraska

What hazards hit Kimball County most?

The most frequent records are hail reports: 264 since 1958. 62% of its hail reports since 1958 fell in June and July. 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 Kimball County had?

NOAA records 66 tornadoes in Kimball County from 1954 to 2026, the strongest rated F3, with 0 deaths and 0 injuries recorded in the county. That is 17th 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 61 tornadoes whose track touched Kimball County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 66: 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 Kimball County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the April 6, 2024 blizzard ($1.4 million in damage in 2025 dollars).

Scotts Bluff Emergency Manager and KNEB station manager reported blizzard conditions in Kimball County for well over 3 hours. KNEB Station Manager reported Highway 71 closed between the town of Kimball and Gering due to blizzard conditions. Wind gusts were in excess of 50 mph on the Kimball AWOS with sustained winds of 35 mph or stronger during this time. Widespread power outages were reported across Kimball County.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1163255)

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

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 Kimball 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: 53 records against 7 in the decade before, 53 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 Kimball 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?

62% of its hail reports since 1958 fell in June and July. The two busiest months are in violet.

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

Federal disaster declarations for Kimball County

FEMA's register lists 8 declarations that include Kimball County: 6 major disasters, 2 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (4) and biological (2).

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.

FEMA's modeled risk for Kimball County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Kimball County Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $3.6 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 Kimball County

1. Laramie County, WY 5,081
2. Weld County, CO 2,459
3. Cheyenne County 1,087
4. Logan County, CO 1,062
5. Kimball County 650
6. Banner County 388

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 Kimball CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Kimball County's FEMA declarations (CSV)8 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis