Crowley County, Colorado severe weather history spans 157 recorded events between 1951 and 2024. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 68.2% of all recorded events. It ranks #2,669 nationally and #35 in Colorado.
157
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
5
Direct injuries
$69K
Property damage
The record
What the Crowley County, Colorado severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Crowley County, Colorado severe weather history averages 2.2 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 41 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 24 events fall before 1990 and 133 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is flash flood, with $30K in reported property damage. In total, 7 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Crowley County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 107 | 0 | $0 | 2.75 | 1961–2024 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 25 | 0 | $10K | 61 | 1955–2024 |
| Tornado | 17 | 0 | $28K | F2 | 1951–2021 |
| Flash Flood | 5 | 0 | $30K | 0 | 1997–2016 |
| Lightning | 1 | 0 | $1K | 0 | 2000–2000 |
| Funnel Cloud | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1996–1996 |
| Heavy Rain | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2022–2022 |
Decade by decade
Crowley County, Colorado severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
20 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 19 touched down inside it and 1 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1953-10-20 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 11.9 mi | Crossed in |
| 1977-04-13 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 5.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1965-05-23 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 5.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 1953-10-20 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1951-06-18 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 29.9 mi | Touched down here |
| 1987-06-24 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1986-05-15 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1980-06-10 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1978-05-27 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1953-08-16 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Crowley County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 9, 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | SUGAR CITY | 0 | 5 | $10K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Slow moving thunderstorms caused very heavy rain which flooded and closed highway 96 for a time. Several homes were evacuated just east of Sugar City. Residences had water in their basements, in some cases more than four feet deep, which damaged and destroyed personal effects.
This tornado formed at 1735 MST in Crowley County, 8.1 miles east-southeast of Sugar City, and moved east for around 0.8 miles before exiting Crowley County around 8.9 miles east-southeast of Sugar City at 1736 MST. The tornado continued in Otero County for another 0.35 miles, before dissipating at 1737 MST.
A brief tornado was reported by a Crowley county sheriffs officer on the outskirts of Crowley. There was no known damage. The brief, weak tornado was associated with the line of thunderstorms to the west of several supercell storms.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
5,647
Population (ACS)
$116K
Median home value
12
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 28, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Sep 14, 2013 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR |
| Apr 15, 2008 | Fire | ORDWAY FIRE | FM |
| Jan 7, 2007 | Snowstorm | SNOW | EM |
| Sep 5, 2005 | Coastal Storm | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Crowley County, Colorado?
157 events are on record between 1951 and 2024, causing 0 direct deaths and $69K in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Crowley County?
Hail, with 107 recorded events — 68.2% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Crowley County?
20 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 19 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Crowley County?
12 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Crowley County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Crowley County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Crowley County as very low risk, placing it in the 4 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Crowley County, Colorado severe weather history data come from?
Every figure is drawn from United States federal public-domain records: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events for the event archive, NOAA SPC SVRGIS for mapped tornado paths, FEMA for disaster declarations and risk ratings, and the U.S. Census for population context. Dates are shown in UTC and recent entries may still be revised by NOAA.
Nearby
Neighbouring counties
- Costilla County 24
- Custer County 164
- Conejos County 14
- Delta County 70
- Clear Creek County 35
- Denver County 535
Cite this page
“Crowley County, Colorado.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/colorado/crowley-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.