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Ponca, NE Natural Disasters and Weather Extremes

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The chance of earthquake damage in Ponca is about the same as Nebraska average and is much lower than the national average. The risk of tornado damage in Ponca is about the same as Nebraska average and is much higher than the national average.

Topics:Earthquake Index Volcano Index Tornado Index Other Weather Extremes Events Volcanos Nearby Historical Earthquake Events Historical Tornado Events

Earthquake Index, #95

Ponca, NE	0.04
Nebraska	0.04
U.S.	1.81

The earthquake index value is calculated based on historical earthquake events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the earthquake level in a region. A higher earthquake index value means a higher chance of an earthquake.

Volcano Index, #1

Ponca, NE	0.0000
Nebraska	0.0000
U.S.	0.0023

The volcano index value is calculated based on the currently known volcanoes using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the possibility of a region being affected by a possible volcano eruption. A higher volcano index value means a higher chance of being affected.

Tornado Index, #274

Ponca, NE	210.47
Nebraska	205.07
U.S.	136.45

The tornado index value is calculated based on historical tornado events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the tornado level in a region. A higher tornado index value means a higher chance of tornado events.

Other Weather Extremes Events

A total of 3,784 other weather extremes events within 50 miles of Ponca, NE were recorded from 1950 to 2010. The following is a break down of these events:

Type	Count	Type	Count	Type	Count	Type	Count	Type	Count
Avalanche:	0	Blizzard:	46	Cold:	57	Dense Fog:	0	Drought:	11
Dust Storm:	0	Flood:	248	Hail:	1,777	Heat:	7	Heavy Snow:	43
High Surf:	0	Hurricane:	0	Ice Storm:	8	Landslide:	0	Strong Wind:	52
Thunderstorm Winds:	1,329	Tropical Storm:	0	Wildfire:	1	Winter Storm:	75	Winter Weather:	56
Other:	74

Volcanos Nearby

No volcano is found in or near Ponca, NE.

Historical Earthquake Events

No historical earthquake events that had recorded magnitudes of 3.5 or above found in or near Ponca, NE.

No historical earthquake events found in or near Ponca, NE.

Historical Tornado Events

A total of 87 historical tornado events that had recorded magnitude of 2 or above found in or near Ponca, NE.

Distance (miles)	Date	Magnitude	Start Lat/Log	End Lat/Log	Length	Width	Fatalities	Injuries	Property Damage	Crop Damage	Affected County
6.6	1986-07-28	4	42°41'N / 96°58'W	42°32'N / 96°41'W	20.00 Miles	73 Yards	0	0	25.0M	0	Dixon
10.2	1986-07-28	4	42°32'N / 96°41'W	42°25'N / 96°25'W	20.00 Miles	73 Yards	0	1	25.0M	0	Dakota
11.2	2001-08-17	2	42°27'N / 96°34'W	42°26'N / 96°34'W	1.50 Miles	400 Yards	0	3	3.0M	0	Dakota
		Brief Description: A tornado completely destroyed at least ten houses and heavily damaged several others. The tornado heavily damaged the town school, including taking most of the roof off the school. The only church in town and a telephone company building were also heavily damaged. Power lines, poles, and trees were blown down, and electricity and water service were knocked out. Three empty box cars on the southeast side of Jackson were toppled. Three injuries included a woman with a broken leg and cuts rescued from the rubble of a house, and two children with minor injuries.
14.1	1980-05-29	2	42°39'N / 96°59'W	42°41'N / 96°55'W	3.30 Miles	60 Yards	0	0	2.5M	0	Dixon
14.7	1963-06-09	2	42°46'N / 96°37'W		2.00 Miles	33 Yards	0	2	25K	0	Plymouth
16.7	1964-05-05	3	42°31'N / 96°25'W	42°34'N / 96°21'W	4.10 Miles	300 Yards	0	7	2.5M	0	Woodbury
17.0	1963-06-09	2	42°23'N / 97°20'W	42°35'N / 96°43'W	34.10 Miles	33 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Cedar
17.5	1981-09-26	2	42°47'N / 96°53'W				0	0	25K	0	Clay
18.0	1992-05-16	2	42°22'N / 97°01'W	42°21'N / 96°50'W	8.00 Miles	100 Yards	0	0	2.5M	0	Dixon
18.6	1998-05-28	2	42°33'N / 97°08'W	42°33'N / 97°01'W	8.00 Miles	250 Yards	0	1	0	0	Cedar
		Brief Description: Three farms damaged. Eight to ten power poles downed 8 -10 miles east southeast of Hartington. Injury occurred about 9 miles east of Hartington southeast of the Highway 84/57 interchange.
18.7	1975-05-22	2	42°28'N / 96°22'W				0	0	25K	0	Woodbury
18.9	1967-08-16	2	42°47'N / 96°56'W				0	0	25K	0	Clay
19.5	1953-06-07	2	42°45'N / 96°36'W	42°52'N / 96°26'W	11.30 Miles	200 Yards	0	0	0K	0	Plymouth
20.4	1992-05-16	2	42°24'N / 97°02'W	42°22'N / 97°01'W	2.00 Miles	100 Yards	0	0	2.5M	0	Cedar
20.5	1984-06-11	2	42°47'N / 96°59'W				0	0	25K	0	Clay
20.6	1967-06-14	3	42°48'N / 96°35'W	42°52'N / 96°29'W	6.20 Miles	500 Yards	0	3	250K	0	Plymouth
20.7	1968-06-13	2	42°27'N / 96°20'W		0.10 Mile	100 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Woodbury
23.1	1964-08-10	2	42°25'N / 97°07'W				0	0	25K	0	Cedar
23.7	1955-05-26	2	42°14'N / 97°00'W	42°19'N / 96°55'W	6.50 Miles	167 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Wayne
24.1	1955-06-17	2	42°15'N / 97°06'W	42°21'N / 96°56'W	10.60 Miles	40 Yards	0	0	3K	0	Wayne
24.2	1970-06-15	2	42°02'N / 97°25'W	42°28'N / 96°25'W	59.10 Miles	33 Yards	0	0	0K	0	Madison
24.7	1965-06-07	3	42°55'N / 96°48'W				0	0	0K	0	Union
24.8	2003-06-23	4	42°30'N / 97°19'W	42°32'N / 97°04'W	13.00 Miles	1200 Yards	1	0	3.7M	0	Cedar
		Brief Description: An eventual f4 tornado began its destructive path around 6 miles southwest of Coleridge. The tornado moved northeast and crossed the northern sections of the city uprooting trees, downing power lines and destroying a couple of grain bins. A construction business in a garage was also destroyed. The tornado then continued northeast of town hitting a large hog farm. At this farm a 70-year-old man was killed while in a storage shed when a tractor that was flipped by the winds crushed him. Many livestock were also killed by debris or flung through the air by the deadly winds. In one case cattle were carried over a mile then left dead in a pile. The tornado then widened to around 3/4 of a mile, reaching its maximum intensity. Numerous vehicles were tossed at this location and a complete farmstead was flattened. Trees were also stripped and debarked. The tornado remained around 3/4 of a mile wide for a few more miles before turning slightly to the southeast and diminishing, but not before hitting 2 more farmsteads and moving one house off of its foundation. In total, 11 homes received substantial damage and between 100 and 200 utility poles were downed. M70EQ
25.1	1964-09-07	2	42°42'N / 96°15'W		2.00 Miles	250 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Plymouth
26.1	1978-07-05	2	42°54'N / 96°33'W	42°47'N / 96°10'W	20.80 Miles	30 Yards	0	0	2.5M	0	Plymouth
26.3	1994-07-05	3	42°20'N / 96°18'W		1.80 Miles	150 Yards	0	0	500K	5K	Woodbury
27.7	1964-04-20	2	42°14'N / 97°01'W				0	0	3K	0	Wayne
28.0	1986-07-28	4	42°25'N / 96°23'W	42°12'N / 96°11'W	11.50 Miles	73 Yards	0	1	250.0M	0	Woodbury
28.1	1954-06-17	3	42°07'N / 96°42'W	42°12'N / 96°42'W	5.70 Miles	163 Yards	1	0	250K	0	Thurston
28.7	1953-06-19	2	42°13'N / 97°01'W				0	1	3K	0	Wayne
28.7	1979-05-08	3	42°27'N / 96°10'W				0	4	25K	0	Woodbury
28.9	1962-05-21	3	42°26'N / 97°27'W	42°46'N / 97°06'W	29.00 Miles	500 Yards	0	1	2.5M	0	Cedar
28.9	1965-06-07	2	42°54'N / 97°03'W				0	0	0K	0	Clay
30.5	1963-03-16	2	42°48'N / 96°12'W		2.00 Miles	200 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Plymouth
30.9	1967-06-14	2	42°09'N / 96°29'W		0.50 Mile	33 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Thurston
31.4	1991-08-07	2	42°47'N / 96°10'W		1.50 Miles	63 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Plymouth
32.2	1965-06-07	3	42°52'N / 96°18'W	42°48'N / 96°05'W	11.50 Miles	100 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Plymouth
32.6	1953-06-07	2	42°15'N / 97°25'W	42°25'N / 97°07'W	18.90 Miles	33 Yards	0	4	25K	0	Cedar
33.0	1987-07-07	2	43°01'N / 96°29'W	43°00'N / 96°27'W	2.00 Miles	50 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Sioux
33.2	1954-06-17	3	42°05'N / 97°03'W	42°07'N / 96°42'W	17.90 Miles	163 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Stanton
33.2	1973-06-18	2	42°29'N / 96°04'W		2.00 Miles	400 Yards	2	10	250K	0	Woodbury
33.9	1987-07-07	2	43°04'N / 96°37'W	43°01'N / 96°29'W	6.00 Miles	50 Yards	0	0	0K	0	Union
34.2	1973-06-18	2	42°28'N / 96°03'W		1.00 Mile	300 Yards	0	5	250K	0	Woodbury
34.4	1998-06-23	2	42°12'N / 96°15'W	42°12'N / 96°15'W	2.00 Miles	50 Yards	0	0	0	0	Monona
		Brief Description: House destroyed.
35.1	1983-09-05	2	42°23'N / 96°04'W		2.50 Miles	127 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Woodbury
35.2	1967-06-14	2	42°53'N / 96°10'W		1.00 Mile	100 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Plymouth
35.3	1959-05-30	2	42°49'N / 97°29'W	42°50'N / 97°08'W	17.50 Miles	33 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Cedar
36.1	1964-05-08	3	42°47'N / 96°10'W	42°49'N / 95°59'W	9.30 Miles	200 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Plymouth
36.2	1970-07-14	2	42°36'N / 96°00'W		1.00 Mile	100 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Plymouth
36.5	1959-05-30	3	42°53'N / 97°17'W				0	0	25K	0	Yankton
37.0	1986-07-28	4	42°11'N / 96°14'W	42°11'N / 96°10'W	1.00 Mile	73 Yards	0	0	250.0M	0	Monona
37.9	1954-05-27	2	42°49'N / 96°05'W	42°51'N / 96°02'W	2.30 Miles	200 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Plymouth
38.4	1965-06-07	2	43°04'N / 97°02'W	43°07'N / 96°52'W	8.60 Miles	210 Yards	0	0	0K	0	Clay
39.4	1963-05-12	2	42°13'N / 96°12'W	42°18'N / 95°55'W	15.20 Miles	50 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Woodbury
39.7	1975-05-06	3	42°10'N / 97°28'W	42°49'N / 97°30'W	44.80 Miles	90 Yards	0	0	0K	0	Pierce
39.9	1970-07-14	2	43°10'N / 96°48'W	43°07'N / 96°44'W	3.80 Miles	33 Yards	1	1	25.0M	0	Lincoln
40.5	1970-07-01	2	43°09'N / 96°36'W	43°08'N / 96°32'W	2.30 Miles	1320 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Lincoln
40.5	1978-07-05	2	43°02'N / 96°15'W	42°56'N / 96°03'W	11.90 Miles	200 Yards	0	0	2.5M	0	Sioux
40.6	1966-06-02	2	43°06'N / 96°24'W	43°02'N / 96°11'W	11.50 Miles	300 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Sioux
40.6	1967-08-01	2	41°59'N / 96°50'W		2.00 Miles	33 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Cuming
42.0	1965-05-24	2	42°54'N / 97°24'W				0	0	25K	0	Yankton
42.1	1975-05-06	3	41°58'N / 97°12'W	42°12'N / 97°14'W	15.90 Miles	167 Yards	0	1	250K	0	Stanton
43.7	2003-06-24	2	43°08'N / 96°58'W	43°11'N / 97°03'W	7.00 Miles	400 Yards	0	0	0	0	Turner
		Brief Description: A tornado damaged farm buildings and equipment, as well as crops, trees, and power lines.
44.0	1954-06-18	3	43°03'N / 97°19'W	43°08'N / 97°05'W	12.80 Miles	33 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Yankton
44.6	1964-09-07	2	42°47'N / 95°58'W	42°47'N / 95°48'W	7.90 Miles	200 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Plymouth
44.7	2007-05-05	2	42°45'N / 97°30'W	42°48'N / 97°35'W	6.00 Miles	500 Yards	0	3	1.0M	0K	Knox
		Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: A grain bin was damaged as this tornado initially touched down along with two or three large power line support structures northwest of Crofton. The tornado tracked toward Lewis and Clark Lake taking the roof off of a house and destroying a garage. The tornado also caused other roof damage as it continued tracking toward Lewis and Clark Lake. When it reached the lake it caused significant damage to a recreation area and marina. The tornado also caused 3 minor injuries when it apparently lifted a large SUV off the ground and carried it a hundred feet or so before setting it down with the windows blown in. Numerous campers and boats were flipped or missing at the recreation area, along with vehicle damage. About $1 million in damage was estimated to have occurred at the recreation area. Many trees were also toppled. This tornado and others in Knox county downed 30 to 40 power poles. A Storage building in the area was also severely damaged. This tornado started as one tornado to the southwest was lifting and a weaker one to the northeast was forming. There were several reports by the public of multiple tornadoes in the area, either from the three tornadoes mentioned here, or from multiple vortexes within this tornado. The tornado crossed Lewis and Clark Lake and did f1 damage in South Dakota. EPISODE NARRATIVE: A warm front that was along the Kansas and Nebraska border early Saturday morning May 5th, lifted north during the day bringing widespread heavy rain and severe weather, including tornadoes, to eastern Nebraska and southwest Iowa. The warm front was part of a large upper level system that brought several days of severe weather and flooding to the region. Heavy rain and flooding was reported with some of the activity Saturday morning, along with isolated severe thunderstorm reports. However, during the afternoon the severe weather became more widespread over northeast Nebraska where supercells spawned several tornadoes. At this time, thunderstorms, some severe with heavy rain, produced flash flooding over parts of southeast Nebraska. By evening the severe weather, including supercell producing tornadoes, shifted into southwest Iowa, although isolated severe thunderstorms persisted over parts of eastern Nebraska until after midnight cdt.
44.9	1959-05-30	2	42°43'N / 97°37'W	42°49'N / 97°29'W	9.30 Miles	33 Yards	1	2	250K	0	Knox
46.4	1991-05-28	2	41°56'N / 96°24'W		1.00 Mile	440 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Burt
46.6	1991-08-07	2	42°49'N / 95°54'W	42°49'N / 95°49'W	3.00 Miles	80 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Plymouth
46.7	1964-05-05	3	42°34'N / 96°21'W	43°11'N / 95°26'W	62.90 Miles	300 Yards	0	0	2.5M	0	Plymouth
47.0	1964-06-22	2	43°07'N / 96°53'W	43°21'N / 96°53'W	16.10 Miles	33 Yards	0	0	0K	0	Lincoln
47.3	2008-05-01	2	43°08'N / 96°18'W	43°15'N / 96°22'W	9.00 Miles	400 Yards	0	0	0.5M	0K	Sioux
		Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: A tornado damaged numerous trees, including large trees uprooted, blew windows out of a home, destroyed a metal shed, blew two windows and part of a wall out of a metal building, damaged at least three grain bins, destroyed or damaged numerous outbuildings and small sheds, blew down or snapped off at least 15 power poles, bent a metal light pole, tipped one wagon and blew the top off another, blew down a barb wire fence and pushed fence posts almost to the ground, destroyed a hog barn, and flattened corn stubble, before crossing the county line into Lyon County. Contents inside several damaged or destroyed buildings and sheds were also damaged, especially on one farm where damaged buildings housed a farm and trucking business. EPISODE NARRATIVE: Thunderstorms produced 5 confirmed tornadoes over extreme northwest Iowa during the early evening hours of May 1st. One large long track tornado caused considerable damage, while the other 4 tornadoes were short lived and weak.
47.8	1968-09-22	3	43°01'N / 96°04'W	43°04'N / 95°59'W	4.70 Miles	50 Yards	0	0	2.5M	0	Sioux
47.9	1981-08-03	3	43°17'N / 97°09'W	43°06'N / 97°05'W	12.80 Miles	440 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Turner
48.0	1991-05-27	3	41°53'N / 96°28'W	41°56'N / 96°20'W	6.00 Miles	1760 Yards	0	2	2.5M	0	Burt
48.2	1953-06-07	2	42°08'N / 97°36'W	42°15'N / 97°25'W	12.10 Miles	33 Yards	0	2	25K	0	Pierce
48.5	1986-04-26	2	43°14'N / 96°56'W	43°16'N / 96°55'W	6.00 Miles	50 Yards	0	0	2.5M	0	Turner
48.6	1991-08-07	2	42°49'N / 95°49'W	42°45'N / 95°47'W	5.00 Miles	80 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Cherokee
48.6	1975-05-06	4	42°12'N / 97°34'W	42°16'N / 97°32'W	4.10 Miles	300 Yards	0	0	0K	0	Pierce
48.7	1986-04-26	2	43°16'N / 96°55'W	43°15'N / 96°51'W	6.00 Miles	50 Yards	0	0	2.5M	0	Lincoln
48.7	1972-09-20	2	42°59'N / 97°29'W				0	0	250K	0	Yankton
48.8	1972-08-05	2	43°01'N / 97°27'W		0.30 Mile	400 Yards	0	0	3K	0	Yankton
49.1	1985-04-20	2	42°54'N / 97°36'W	43°01'N / 97°26'W	10.00 Miles	440 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Yankton
49.2	1954-05-30	4	41°59'N / 97°22'W	42°03'N / 97°17'W	5.90 Miles	33 Yards	0	0	2.5M	0	Stanton
49.4	1992-06-16	2	41°52'N / 96°25'W	41°55'N / 96°21'W	4.00 Miles	150 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Burt
49.5	1965-06-07	4	43°11'N / 97°13'W	43°14'N / 97°04'W	7.80 Miles	647 Yards	1	0	2.5M	0	Turner
49.6	1965-06-07	4	43°10'N / 97°14'W	43°11'N / 97°13'W			0	0	2.5M	0	Yankton

* The information on this page is based on the global volcano database, the U.S. earthquake database of 1638-1985, and the U.S. Tornado and Weather Extremes database of 1950-2010.