Crowley County, Colorado

What hazards hit Crowley County most?

The most frequent records are hail reports: 107 since 1961. 63% of its hail reports since 1961 fell in May and June. The rank column places the county among Colorado'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 Crowley County had?

NOAA records 17 tornadoes in Crowley County from 1951 to 2021, the strongest rated F2, with 0 deaths and 0 injuries recorded in the county. That is 24th of 63 Colorado 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 17 tornadoes whose track touched Crowley County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 17, the same count); along their whole tracks they killed 0 people.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in Colorado.

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 Crowley County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the April 15, 2008 wildfire (2 deaths and $6.9 million in damage in 2025 dollars).

A wildfire erupted west of Ordway and strong winds spread the blaze rapidly east northeastward. Highways 96 and 71 were shut down, as 8900 acres of grassland was consumed. Twenty-four structures were destroyed west and north of Ordway. Over 150 power poles were destroyed. The entire town of Ordway was evacuated. Tragically, two firefighters perished when the truck they were in plummeted into a culvert, where a bridge had burned out.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 96184)

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 Crowley 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).

High wind and dust storms in the 2010s: 27 records against 8 in the decade before, 27 of them forecast-zone records. Cells marked z rose mostly through zone records. The local National Weather Service office files these once per forecast zone, so a change in how it draws its zones or splits a storm into records moves this count as much as the weather does; read it beside the Crowley County days with a record above.

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

What time of year?

63% of its hail reports since 1961 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 Crowley County

FEMA's register lists 12 declarations that include Crowley County: 7 major disasters, 4 emergencies and one fire management assistance declaration. Most were for biological (2) and flood (2).

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 Crowley County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 5 flood or flash flood records for Crowley County from 1997 to 2016, on 5 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Crowley County ranks 2830th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $0 on 1 claim filed in Crowley County; the most in one year was 1 in 2011. 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 Crowley County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Crowley County Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $2.3 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 Crowley County

1. Pueblo County 1,704
2. Lincoln County 1,100
3. Kiowa County 630
4. Otero County 556
5. Crowley County 219

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 ColoradoEvery Colorado tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Hail in ColoradoThe state's hail reports, by county, year and month
• The Colorado recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Crowley CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Crowley County's FEMA declarations (CSV)12 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis