Colfax County, Nebraska severe weather history spans 263 recorded events between 1952 and 2026. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 48.7% of all recorded events. It ranks #2,019 nationally and #78 in Nebraska.
263
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
0
Direct injuries
$31.8M
Property damage
The record
What the Colfax County, Nebraska severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Colfax County, Nebraska severe weather history averages 3.6 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 79 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 37 events fall before 1990 and 226 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is tornado, with $25.9M 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 Colfax County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 128 | 0 | $3.0M | 3 | 1958–2026 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 75 | 0 | $50K | 83 | 1958–2025 |
| Tornado | 33 | 0 | $25.9M | F4 | 1952–2024 |
| Flash Flood | 13 | 0 | $300K | 0 | 1996–2024 |
| Flood | 9 | 0 | $2.5M | 0 | 2007–2019 |
| Funnel Cloud | 4 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1997–2024 |
| Heavy Rain | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2019–2019 |
Decade by decade
Colfax County, Nebraska severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
37 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 30 touched down inside it and 7 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990-03-13 | EF4 | 0 | 8 | 131.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1977-05-04 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 7.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 1952-08-13 | EF3 | 0 | 1 | 44.4 mi | Crossed in |
| 1998-06-23 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 2.7 mi | Touched down here |
| 1998-06-23 | EF2 | 0 | 17 | 6.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1982-05-20 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 7.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1965-05-08 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 24.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1963-04-28 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 13.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2024-05-24 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 4.9 mi | Touched down here |
| 2024-05-24 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 11.8 mi | Crossed in |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Hail up to golfball-size fell in the Schuyler area for around 20 minutes. The hail caused considerable damage to houses, vehicles and trees in town. The ground was almost completely covered white with hail and hail fragments. An insurance agent stated the damage was in the millions of dollars.
Heavy rain which fell on May 29th eventually worked its way down Shell Creek to just northeast of Schuyler overflowing into a tributary which flooded the northeast section of town late on May 30th. The flooding continued into Saturday, May 31st and forced the evacuation of some people in town. The water mostly flooded basements and garages, but it also affected the main floors of a few homes and several businesses. In all 250 homes and buildings were damaged and 8 families were permanently displaced. The water reached 4 to 5 feet deep on a few streets. Just north of town the flood waters crossed Highway 15 for a while. The dollar damage due to flooding in town and the surrounding rural areas of Colfax county exceeded $1 million.
Rainfall of 2 to 3 inches fell in an hour or so producing flash flooding along Maple Creek and it's tributaries near and north of Howells. Water covered 4th Street and both approaches over Maple Creek near town. The rain fell on saturated soils due to heavy rain that fell earlier in the week. Damage from this flooding consisted mainly of gravel washed off county roads and some crop damage.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
10,641
Population (ACS)
$145K
Median home value
20
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 21, 2025 | Winter Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR |
| Aug 20, 2024 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Apr 4, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Mar 21, 2019 | Flood | SEVERE WINTER STORM, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Aug 27, 2018 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Colfax County, Nebraska?
263 events are on record between 1952 and 2026, causing 0 direct deaths and $31.8M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Colfax County?
Hail, with 128 recorded events — 48.7% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Colfax County?
37 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 30 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Colfax County?
20 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Colfax County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Colfax County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Colfax County as very low risk, placing it in the 29 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Colfax County, Nebraska 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
- Clay County 623
- Cuming County 316
- Cheyenne County 840
- Custer County 1,323
- Cherry County 1,463
- Dakota County 225
Cite this page
“Colfax County, Nebraska.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/nebraska/colfax-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.