Nebraska wildfires

Are wildfire records common in Nebraska?

Nebraska averages about 4.6 wildfire records a year since 2000, 20th of 48 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2026 (17). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Nebraska records 11 wildfire records since 1996, 26th of 48 states and territories by that measure.

1. 1. Hawaii 441
2. 2. New Jersey 241
3. 3. Puerto Rico 137
4. 4. California 102
5. 5. Florida 91
6. 6. Oklahoma 88
7. 7. Delaware 87
8. 8. Washington 82
9. 9. Oregon 77
10. 10. Colorado 64
11. 26. Nebraska 11

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 wildfire records?

Per square mile, Red Willow County leads Nebraska: 5 days with a wildfire record since 1996, 7.0 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Cherry County has the most wildfire records (7 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. Red Willow County 7.0 (7)
2. Keith County 4.7 (5)
3. Blaine County 4.2 (3)
4. Thomas County 4.2 (3)
5. Sarpy County 4.2 (1)
6. Arthur County 4.2 (3)
7. Furnas County 4.2 (3)
8. Dakota County 3.8 (1)
9. Logan County 3.5 (2)
10. Nuckolls County 3.5 (2)
11. Dundy County 3.3 (3)
12. Douglas County 3.1 (1)

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 fire season in Nebraska?

49% of its wildfire records since 1996 fell in March and April. The busiest month is March (30 records).

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

What were the deadliest wildfire records in Nebraska?

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed by the National Weather Service, summed over each storm (one episode, or one named storm filed by several offices). Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.

The costliest wildfire records in Nebraska

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

Are wildfire 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.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.

The most recent wildfire records in Nebraska

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 wildfire records in Nebraska

FEMA has declared 10 disasters in Nebraska for wildfire, counting its incident type and declarations that name fire in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); one was a major disaster, the latest on June 30, 2026.

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

Next

• Red Willow County: the county's whole recordThe Nebraska county with the most wildfire records per square mile
• Wildfires across the United StatesEvery state ranked, by year and month
• Every natural hazard in NebraskaTornadoes, floods, storms, heat and the federal declarations
• Hail in Nebraska25,051 records
• Severe thunderstorm wind in Nebraska13,616 records
• Winter storms in Nebraska8,064 records