PlainHazard

Nebraska drought

Every recorded drought record since 1996 · 85 counties with a record

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 3,444 drought records in Nebraska from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 265 a year since 2000. The costliest was the July 1, 2012 drought ($307 million in 2025 dollars). Nebraska ranks 5th of 51 states and territories by count and 12th of 50 per square mile.

Drought in Nebraska, 1996 to 2026

Drought records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026.

  • recorded, no damage figure
  • under $1 million
  • $1 million or more
  • $10 million or more
  • $100 million or more, or 10 deaths
  • $1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
  • a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
  • a year with a death
Records
3,4441996 to June 30, 2026
A year since 2000
265average
Deaths
00 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars
$422Mas filed
Busiest year
2013724 records

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; deaths and damage as filed, damage in 2025 dollars. Search the record at NCEI.

Are drought records common in Nebraska?

Nebraska averages about 265 drought records a year since 2000, 5th of 51 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2013 (724). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Nebraska records 448 drought records since 1996, 12th of 50 states and territories by that measure.

  1. 1. Hawaii 2624
  2. 2. New Jersey 1205
  3. 3. Delaware 1062
  4. 4. Oklahoma 971
  5. 5. Georgia 900
  6. 6. Texas 711
  7. 7. New Mexico 528
  8. 8. Alabama 527
  9. 9. Tennessee 477
  10. 10. Iowa 466
  11. 12. Nebraska 448

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.

Which counties in Nebraska have the most drought records?

Per square mile, Dakota County leads Nebraska: 59 days with a drought record since 1996, 223.3 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Cherry County has the most drought records (97 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).

  1. Dakota County 223.3 (59)
  2. Dixon County 124.0 (59)
  3. Deuel County 111.4 (49)
  4. Gosper County 111.3 (51)
  5. Nance County 111.0 (49)
  6. Kearney County 102.7 (53)
  7. Boyd County 102.0 (55)
  8. Logan County 101.6 (59)
  9. Merrick County 98.4 (55)
  10. Polk County 98.0 (43)
  11. Garfield County 96.6 (57)
  12. Wheeler County 95.6 (55)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.

When is drought season in Nebraska?

Nebraska's drought records by month. The busiest month is May (338 records).

The values, month by month

Jan 258 · Feb 282 · Mar 327 · Apr 318 · May 338 · Jun 277 · Jul 267 · Aug 252 · Sep 266 · Oct 270 · Nov 310 · Dec 279 (records).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.

The costliest drought records in Nebraska

Nebraska: the most damaging storms since 1993, 2025 dollars
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2012-07-01 DroughtHolt County · forecast zone Holt One storm episode: 25 records in 25 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $307M
2002-12-01 DroughtHarlan County · forecast zone Harlan One storm episode: 24 records in 24 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $33M
2000-09-01 DroughtHarlan County · forecast zone Harlan One storm episode: 24 records in 24 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $17M
2012-06-20 DroughtBlaine County · forecast zone Blaine One storm episode: 22 records in 17 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $13M
2022-08-01 DroughtDixon County · forecast zone Dixon One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $12M
2012-10-01 DroughtHarlan County · forecast zone Harlan One storm episode: 24 records in 24 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $12M
2022-07-01 DroughtDixon County · forecast zone Dixon One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $7.6M
2023-10-01 DroughtDakota County · forecast zone Dakota One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $6.5M

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.

Are drought records becoming more frequent in Nebraska?

Nebraska's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.

Drought: Nebraska and the United States by decade (2020s to June 30, 2026)
DecadeNebraskaUnited StatesNebraska's share
1996-99355,6000.6%
2000s7518,5710.4%
2010s1,44631,4414.6%
2020-261,88830,1476.3%

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.

The most recent drought records in Nebraska

The 12 most recent records, to June 30, 2026
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2026-06-01 DroughtWayne County · forecast zone Wayne 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtThurston County · forecast zone Thurston 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtSeward County · forecast zone Seward 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtSaline County · forecast zone Saline 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtPierce County · forecast zone Pierce 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtMadison County · forecast zone Madison 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtLancaster County · forecast zone Lancaster 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtKnox County · forecast zone Knox 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtCedar County · forecast zone Cedar 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtButler County · forecast zone Butler 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtBoone County · forecast zone Boone 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtAntelope County · forecast zone Antelope 0 0 –

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.

Federal disaster declarations for drought records in Nebraska

FEMA has declared 1 disaster in Nebraska for drought, counting its incident type and declarations that name the hazard in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); 0 were major disasters, the latest on January 18, 1977.

The 12 most recent
DeclaredNumberTitleAreas named
1977-01-18EM-3022Drought2

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

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