Colfax County, Nebraska

What hazards hit Colfax County most?

The most frequent records are hail reports: 129 since 1958. 55% of its hail reports since 1958 fell in May and June. The rank column places the county among Nebraska's counties by days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land over each hazard's complete period.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (county and forecast-zone records attributed to the county; a zone record shows its own totals on each county it covers). Days: dates with at least one record of the hazard in the county. Ranks: days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer), since 1950 for tornadoes, 1955 for hail and thunderstorm wind, 1996 for the rest.

How many tornadoes has Colfax County had?

NOAA records 33 tornadoes in Colfax County from 1952 to 2024, the strongest rated F4, with 0 deaths and 0 injuries recorded in the county. That is 13th of 93 Nebraska counties by days with tornadoes per 1,000 square miles since 1950. A tornado that crossed a county line is counted in each county it touched, with the length of its path inside the county.

Counted as whole tornadoes rather than county records, the Storm Prediction Center's database holds 34 tornadoes whose track touched Colfax County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 33: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 0 people.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in Nebraska.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, tornado records by county (path length in the county, maximum width); ratings as published: F scale before February 1, 2007, EF scale after. Whole-track figures: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database (1950-2025). SPC severe weather database.

When was the last damaging storm in Colfax County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the June 11, 2010 flood ($2.0 million in damage in 2025 dollars).

Heavy rain from roughly June 7th into the 14th produced prolonged flooding along Shell Creek and its tributaries from near Lindsay in Platte county downstream to around Schuyler in Colfax county. The high water flooded many county roads and forced the closure of Highway 15 north of Schuyler for a while. Shell Creek or one of its tributaries also flooded sections of northeast Schuyler prompting homes and businesses to sandbag to try to limit the damage. Nonetheless, some damage to about 200 homes and businesses occurred anyway, mostly to basements. Damage was also noted to county roads and crops because of the prolonged period of high water. Emergency management reported that at one time as many as 40 county roads and 40 bridges were under water in the county. …
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 230015)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database; every record of 2025-2026 is listed, earlier ones when they caused deaths, injuries or $250,000 of damage (2025 dollars), and every tornado.

The deadliest and costliest records

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths and injuries direct and indirect; damage is property plus crops as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars.

Is it getting more frequent?

Records per decade for Colfax County's most frequent hazards. Counts rose everywhere after 1996, when NOAA began recording every event type, so compare decades within a hazard's complete period only (the shaded cells come before it).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records per calendar decade; zone records from the CZ_TYPE field (Z).

What time of year?

55% of its hail reports since 1958 fell in May and June. The two busiest months are in violet.

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

Federal disaster declarations for Colfax County

FEMA's register lists 20 declarations that include Colfax County: 18 major disasters, 2 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for flood (9) and severe storm (6).

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), declarations through October 2, 2026; one declaration is counted once however many areas it names. OpenFEMA dataset page.

How many floods has Colfax County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 27 flood or flash flood records for Colfax County from 1996 to 2024, on 22 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Colfax County ranks 1033rd of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $1.8 million on 171 claims filed in Colfax County; the most in one year was 52 in 2008. Claims count insured losses only: uninsured flood damage is not in this file.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026; claims by year of loss, payments in the dollars of the year paid. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk for Colfax County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Colfax County Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $12.6 million. These are FEMA's model estimates of future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of what happened; they can differ from the record above.

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, county table, December 2025 release. FEMA's National Risk Index map.

Counties that share a border with Colfax County

1. Dodge County 834
2. Platte County 739
3. Butler County 564
4. Cuming County 512
5. Stanton County 487
6. Colfax County 445

Source: U.S. Census Bureau county adjacency file; NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950. The Census Bureau's adjacency file.

Next

• Tornadoes in NebraskaEvery Nebraska tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Hail in NebraskaThe state's hail reports, by county, year and month
• The Nebraska recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Colfax CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Colfax County's FEMA declarations (CSV)20 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis