Living in Nebraska and Iowa means we deal with severe weather on a fairly regular basis during the spring, summer, and even fall months. We’ve now reached June, which is the month when both states see their highest average numbers of tornadoes.
On average, Nebraska sees an average of 18 tornadoes in June and Iowa is just behind that with an average of 15 tornadoes in June. Which means now is a great time to go over your severe weather plan and make sure you are prepared. I’ve covered what to have in your emergency kit in this blog post and covered where you should seek shelter in your home in this blog post.
Another big part of being prepared is to know in which county you live. Many people don’t know where which county their city is in, which counties are around them, or where their county is on a map. The graphic below shows the counties we cover in our viewing area. Find yours and get to know the surrounding counties so you’ll know when severe weather is heading your way.
I’ll even help get you started! In Nebraska, Omaha falls into both Douglas and Sarpy counties. Lincoln is in Lancaster county to our southwest. Columbus is in Platte county, Norfolk in Madison county, and Fremont is in Dodge county. In Iowa, Council Bluffs is in Pottawattamie county, Denison is in Crawford county, Red Oak is in Montgomery county, and Clarinda is in Page county. In Missouri, Rock Port is in Atchison county, Maryville is in Nodaway county, and Oregon is in Holt county.
As a reminder, you should also have several ways to get severe weather alerts. It’s best to have a NOAA weather radio and an app on your phone (like Storm Shield!). Tune in to 3 News Now when there’s severe weather to get the latest updates, too. It’s not good to rely on outdoor warning sirens, because they’re only meant for those outside and you might not hear them at all if you’re inside, especially if you’re asleep!
