Colorado County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Colorado County: 1.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Every storm within 100 miles

1. Tropical storms and hurricanes (34 kt or more, still tropical) at closest approach. Post-tropical remnants with gale-force winds are listed but not counted. Direct: track within 50 miles; near: within 100 miles. Distance is measured to the county boundary for counties and to the city centre for cities, using positions interpolated hourly between HURDAT2 fixes.

National Hurricane Center HURDAT2, 1851 to 2025.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Claims by ZIP code

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

River crests

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the county boundary (or inside the county).
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Apr 18, 2016Flash Flood$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous roads and bridges were closed and water rescues were performed due to flooding across northern portions of the county. The FM 109 bridge over Cummings Creek, just north of Brunes Mill Road north of Columbus, was completely washed out.

2. Aug 1, 1998Drought, Colorado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Drought conditions continue from July. After months of extremely dry and hot weather across SE Texas, relief came late in the month with welcomed rainfall and slightly cooler temperatures. Over 20 people across the region lost their lives due to the extreme heat and property and crop damage averaged $8.3 million per county since May. Locations across the region were finally catching up with rainfall toward the end of the month as the drought was coming to an end. NOTE: CROP AND PROPERTY DAMAGE LISTED HERE ARE FOR THE PERIOD MAY-AUGUST 1998.

3. May 10, 2012Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado touched down near a railroad track producing a small area of EF-2 damage when boxcars of a parked train were overturned. The tornado tracked toward the north northeast across a cemetery. Extensive tree damage occurred with numerous large trees snapped and debris deposited in different directions. The tornado then continued onto the grounds of Weimar High School where the press box of the football field was destroyed, stadium light poles were snapped, and a metal storage building was damaged. Eight injuries were reported, most of them occurring when a food service truck was overturned in the school parking lot.

4. Feb 15, 2021Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Colorado$305,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Bitter cold air and wind overspread SE Texas behind and Arctic front on Valentines Day with wind chill indices below zero for much the period from Sunday night to Tuesday morning. Increased power demand, wind and ice led to widespread power outages. Bursting pipes caused many to be without water as well.

5. Oct 19, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$215,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous power lines and telephone lines downed. Roofs also blown off several businesses.

6. Jun 4, 2004Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Damage in Columbus. Numerous trees and power lines down across the county, especially along a 20-mile stretch between Weimar and Frelsburg.

7. Jan 24, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Damage on NW side of Eagle Lake surveyed by emergency manager. Several areas of tree and metal roof damage found along a fairly broad path. Damage and radar consistent with straight line wind damage.

8. Aug 29, 1999Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Four cars and other structures near golf course damaged and three large trees downed. Dime sized hail also reported.

9. May 30, 1999Hail$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous reports of baseball-sized hail between Sheridan and Columbus.

10. Apr 2, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Tree down on house with widespread wind damage in the city.

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

116°FSep 4, 2000

All-time low

4°F2 times, most recently Dec 24, 1989

Warmest night

82°F3 times, most recently Aug 14, 2013

Coldest day

22°FDec 23, 1989

Wettest day

10.00 inJun 13, 1973

Snowiest day

7.5 inFeb 13, 1960

Hottest year

2023mean 73.5°F

Coldest year

1973mean 64.7°F

Wettest year

201566.82 in

Driest year

200819.49 in

Station Columbus (USC00411911), 225 ft elevation, 3.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1962 to October 15, 2026; 86.4% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

Neighbouring counties

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USC00411911.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.