Storm risk in Buffalo County, Nebraska

FEMA's overall hazard score for Buffalo County is 66.00 (Relatively Low), 1,070th of 3,144 counties. Hail scores 98.57 (Relatively High), strong wind 96.91 (Relatively High) and tornado 71.98 (Relatively Moderate). Expected hail loss is $498 per $1 million of buildings a year; NOAA logged 136 hail reports in Buffalo County from 2014 to June 2026.

FEMA National Risk Index, version December 2025, retrieved October 8, 2026. NOAA hail reports 2014 to June 2026.

Buffalo County: expected yearly loss per $1 million of buildings for hail, strong wind and tornado, on a log scale, against all U.S. counties and the counties of NE$0.1$1$10$100$1,000Hail: $498 per $1 million, 26th of 3,126 rated counties$498Hail26th of 3,126 countiesStrong wind: $181 per $1 million, 83rd of 3,121 rated counties$181Strong wind83rd of 3,121 countiesTornado: $348 per $1 million, 857th of 3,144 rated counties$348Tornado857th of 3,144 counties
  • Buffalo County, coloured by its FEMA rating
  • all U.S. counties
  • each county in the state
  • U.S. median
  • state median

Expected yearly loss per $1 million of buildings, log scale. Dot colour is FEMA’s rating band. The tornado lane counts everything exposed, not only buildings.

How FEMA rates Buffalo County

HazardRatingScore (0 to 100)Rank in U.S.Rank in NE
OverallRelatively Low 66.001,070 of 3,1447 of 93
HailRelatively High 98.5746 of 3,1266 of 93
Strong windRelatively High 96.9198 of 3,1264 of 93
TornadoRelatively Moderate 71.98882 of 3,12612 of 93

Expected yearly loss, in dollars

HazardThis county, total a yearPer $1M of buildingsState median countyU.S. median countyRank per $1M, U.S.Rank per $1M, state
Hail$5,669,644$498 $175$22 26 of 3,1268 of 93
Strong wind$2,056,696$181 $74$20 83 of 3,12124 of 93
Tornado$3,959,645$348 $440$199 857 of 3,14463 of 93

Rank 1 is the highest. Overall, hail and wind losses count buildings; the tornado row counts everything FEMA exposes, so it overstates building damage. Expected annual loss is an average over many years for the whole county, not a forecast for one roof.

What stands out in Buffalo County

  • FEMA expects hail in Buffalo County to cost $498 per $1 million of buildings a year: 22.28 times the U.S. median and 2.85 times the NE county median, ranked 26th of 3,126 counties nationally and 8th of 93 in Nebraska.
  • FEMA expects strong wind in Buffalo County to cost $181 per $1 million of buildings a year: 8.86 times the U.S. median and 2.45 times the NE county median, ranked 83rd of 3,121 counties nationally and 24th of 93 in Nebraska.
  • FEMA expects tornado in Buffalo County to cost $348 per $1 million of buildings a year: 1.75 times the U.S. median and 0.79 times the NE county median, ranked 857th of 3,144 counties nationally and 63rd of 93 in Nebraska.
  • Applying FEMA's estimate to a $236,800 home, the average yearly loss in Buffalo County is about $118 for hail and $43 for wind before any deductible; at the U.S. median county rates it would be $5.29 and $4.82.
  • If the next years look like 2014 to 2025, a roof kept 20 years in Buffalo County meets about 98.3 hail days of 1 inch or more; the median county in NOAA's file (1,275 counties) would give 35.0.
  • Built in 1979, the median home in Buffalo County is 47 years old, so an original roof has outlived a 3-tab shingle (15 to 20 years) and an architectural one (25 to 30 years); 75.8% of its 21,181 homes are at least 26 years old.
  • March to June holds 75 of the 136 hail reports in Buffalo County (55 percent); the quietest month is January, with 0 reports.

What hail and wind cost a home here in an average year

Enter a home value. The calculator applies Buffalo County’s own loss rate: the county’s expected yearly loss divided by the value of its buildings. It starts at the Census median home value for the county.

$118hail, a year; $5.29 at the U.S. median county rate
$43strong wind, a year; $4.82 at the U.S. median county rate
$3,213hail and wind together over 20 years, at today’s rate

Formula: home value × Buffalo County yearly loss ÷ building value. Hail: $5,669,644 ÷ $11,387,582,037 = 0.0004979. Wind: $2,056,696 ÷ $11,387,582,037 = 0.0001806. This is FEMA’s estimate of average damage to buildings and does not account for your deductible. Tornado is left out because FEMA’s tornado loss counts people and other exposure, not only buildings.

Read this as a yardstick. The rate is an average over every building in the county, from sheds to office towers, and over many years. Real losses come in rare, large storms; a roof with no damage in 19 years can need full replacement in the 20th. The figure is not a quote and not a prediction for one address.

Buffalo County in plain numbers

  • Buffalo County scores 66.00 in FEMA's overall hazard index (Relatively Low): 1,070th of 3,144 rated counties and 7th of 93 in Nebraska.
  • Hail scores 98.57 (Relatively High). FEMA expects $5,669,644 of hail damage to buildings in Buffalo County a year, which is $498 per $1 million of buildings, 22.28 times the U.S. median.
  • Strong wind scores 96.91 (Relatively High) with $2,056,696 of expected yearly building loss in Buffalo County: $181 per $1 million of buildings, 8.86 times the U.S. median.
  • Tornado scores 71.98 (Relatively Moderate) and FEMA's expected yearly tornado loss is $3,959,645, counting everything exposed, or $348 per $1 million of buildings in Buffalo County.
  • FEMA's own event record for Buffalo County averages 6.95 hail events and 3.69 strong-wind events a year.
  • NOAA logged 136 hail reports in Buffalo County between 2014 and June 2026, on 59 days with stones of 1 inch or more; the largest was 4 inches.
  • In Buffalo County, FEMA counts buildings worth 11.39 billion dollars and 50,007 residents.
  • Social vulnerability is Very Low in Buffalo County.
  • Community resilience there is Relatively High, for 50,007 residents.
  • 1 city in Buffalo County is covered on this site: Kearney. 12 Census ZIP areas have more than half of their land in the county.
  • Our guide range for a 2,000 sq ft asphalt roof in Kearney is $6,090 to $13,485.
  • Buffalo County ranks 5 of the 194 counties with a page here for hail loss per $1 million of buildings, 3 for wind and 52 for tornado.
  • In Buffalo County, June is the busiest month with 31 of the 136 reports (23 percent), against 0 reports in December.
  • Buffalo County's worst year was 2022, with 11 hail days at 1 inch or more and 24 reports. At the 2014 to 2025 pace that is 4.92 such days a year, one about every 2.4 months.
  • The median home in Buffalo County was built in 1979; 51.4% of its 21,181 housing units date from before 1980, 75.8% from before 2000 and 11.8% from 2010 on.
  • Census puts the median home value in Buffalo County at $236,800, and 65.2% of homes are lived in by their owners.
  • 1,655 single-family building permits were issued in Buffalo County from 2014 to 2025, about 78.1 per 1,000 homes, peaking in 2018.
  • NOAA lists 5 tornado tracks in Buffalo County since 2014; the strongest was an EF1 on April 26, 2024 near Ravenna, 2.32 miles long.
  • The fastest gust in NOAA's records for Buffalo County is 92 mph on December 15, 2021 at Gibbon.
  • The nearest county with a page here is Hall County, 30 miles from the centre of Buffalo County; its hail score is 98.00.
  • Across counties the median is one roofing firm for every 5,189 homes; Census counted 15 roofing contractor establishments in Buffalo County in 2023, one for every 1,412 homes.
  • FEMA has named Buffalo County in 3 disaster declarations since 2014, the latest 43 days before its data end, and 2 of them were storm-type.

The hail record of Buffalo County, year by year

NOAA logged 136 reports in Buffalo County; hail of 1 inch or more fell on 59 days. That is 4.9 such days a year; the median county in NOAA’s file has 1.8.

Buffalo County: NOAA hail reports per year, 2014 to June 2026, with the number of days that had hail of 1 inch or more05101520252014: 21 reports, 8 days at 1 inch or more, largest 2.75 inch142015: 18 reports, 6 days at 1 inch or more, largest 2.5 inch152016: 3 reports, 1 days at 1 inch or more, largest 1 inch162017: 10 reports, 3 days at 1 inch or more, largest 1.5 inch172018: 5 reports, 3 days at 1 inch or more, largest 1.75 inch182019: 16 reports, 9 days at 1 inch or more, largest 2 inch192020: 5 reports, 3 days at 1 inch or more, largest 1.75 inch202021: 3 reports, 3 days at 1 inch or more, largest 2 inch212022: 24 reports, 11 days at 1 inch or more, largest 4 inch222023: 18 reports, 6 days at 1 inch or more, largest 2.75 inch232024: 9 reports, 4 days at 1 inch or more, largest 1.75 inch242025: 4 reports, 2 days at 1 inch or more, largest 1.75 inch252026: 0 reports, 0 days at 1 inch or more, largest 0 inch26*
  • reports
  • days with hail of 1 inch or more
  • * 2026 runs to June only
Buffalo County: NOAA hail reports by calendar month, 2014 to June 2026January: 0 reports0JanFebruary: 0 reports0FebMarch: 2 reports2MarApril: 19 reports19AprMay: 23 reports23MayJune: 31 reports31JunJuly: 25 reports25JulAugust: 18 reports18AugSeptember: 13 reports13SepOctober: 4 reports4OctNovember: 1 reports1NovDecember: 0 reports0Dec

Reports by calendar month, all years together. Peak: June, 31 reports.

The same numbers as a table (years with at least one report)
YearReportsDays, 1 inch or moreDays, 1.75 inch or moreLargest stoneDamage reported
201421842.75 in$4,501,000
201518632.5 in$810,000
20163101 in–
201710301.5 in$225,000
20185311.75 in$550,000
201916942 in$1,250,000
20205311.75 in–
20213322 in$175,000
2022241164 in$4,875,000
202318632.75 in$13,350,000
20249411.75 in–
20254211.75 in–

Biggest hail days in Buffalo County

DateLargest stoneReports that dayDamage reportedNear
June 7, 20224 in3$4,350,000Ravenna
June 14, 20142.75 in6$200,000Gibbon
July 11, 20232.75 in1$100,000Ravenna
September 9, 20152.5 in6$435,000Kearney
July 22, 20232.5 in3$250,000Odessa

Where large hail was reported

FEMA scores the county as a whole. NOAA’s reports show where inside Buffalo County the big stones fell.

Reported hail locations, Buffalo County

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  • 691 to 1.74 in
  • 321.75 to 2.74 in, golf ball to tennis ball
  • 32.75 in and up, baseball

Largest plotted stone: 4 in. Bigger dots are bigger stones.

104 reports of 1 inch or larger have coordinates. Each dot is a reported location, not a storm path.

Sources: NOAA, Census county outline

Wind and tornado records for Buffalo County

Fastest gusts in Buffalo County

DateGustNear
December 15, 202192 mphGibbon
August 27, 201785 mphPleasanton
December 25, 201681 mphKearney
July 9, 202181 mphElm Creek

Strongest tornado tracks in Buffalo County

DateScaleLengthInjured / killedNear
April 26, 2024EF12.32 mi0 / 0Ravenna
December 15, 2021EF05.63 mi0 / 0Gibbon
December 15, 2021EF05.39 mi0 / 0Gibbon
December 25, 2016EF04.18 mi0 / 0Centennial Arpt

5 tornado tracks in all since 2014; the strongest 4 are listed.

How old the roofs are

Census counts homes by the decade they were built. Under each bar is the number of hail days of 1 inch or more that an original roof from that decade has met, at Buffalo County’s 2014 to 2025 pace of 4.92 such days a year. Most roofs have been replaced since; the row shows what a roof that never was would have taken.

Buffalo County: share of homes by decade built, with the hail days at 1 inch or more that an original roof from each decade has met at the county's 2014 to 2025 ratepre-1940: 14.5% of homes14.5%<19404471940s: 3.3% of homes3.3%1940s3981950s: 6.4% of homes6.4%1950s3491960s: 8.6% of homes8.6%1960s3001970s: 18.6% of homes18.6%1970s2511980s: 9.9% of homes9.9%1980s2021990s: 14.6% of homes14.6%1990s1522000s: 12.4% of homes12.4%2000s1032010s: 10.9% of homes10.9%2010s542020+: 0.8% of homes0.8%2020+15

Bars: share of 21,181 housing units by decade built. Figures under the decade: hail days met by an original roof, at the county’s 2014 to 2025 pace. The pace of earlier years is unknown.

Median year built1979
Built before 198051.4%
Built before 200075.8%
Built since 201011.8%
Owner-occupied65.2%
Median home value$236,800
Single-family permits, 2014 to 20251,655
Permits per 1,000 homes78.1

Asphalt shingles are rated 15 to 20 years (3-tab) and 25 to 30 years (architectural). Source: Census ACS 2019 to 2023 and Building Permits Survey.

Roofers and past disasters in Buffalo County

Roofing firms in Buffalo County

Roofing contractor establishments, 202315
Change since 2016+5 (+50%)
Homes per roofing firm1,412
Median across counties5,189
Employees, 202376

Source for Buffalo County: Census County Business Patterns, NAICS 238160.

FEMA disaster declarations naming Buffalo County since 2014

Declarations naming Buffalo County3
Storm / flood / winter / fire2 / 1 / 0 / 0
Median NE county4
Rank among 85 NE counties56
Days from the latest to the data cutoff43

Source for Buffalo County: OpenFEMA, data to 2026-09-15.

Nearby counties

The closest counties that have a risk page, by distance between county centres. Loss is per $1 million of buildings; the columns marked "times here" divide the neighbour's loss by Buffalo County's.

CountyMilesOverallHail lossHail, times hereWind lossWind, times hereNOAA hail reports
Hall County, NE30 Relatively Low $2080.42$340.1985
Lancaster County, NE125 Relatively Moderate $1740.35$1020.57186
Douglas County, NE154 Relatively High $1920.39$430.24198
Sarpy County, NE156 Relatively Moderate $1450.29$460.2678

All 194 counties, with a filter by state and sorting

Cities and ZIP areas in Buffalo County

1 city in this county is on PickARoofer. ZIP Code Tabulation Areas are Census shapes that approximate ZIP codes; where we have a city’s ZIPs, the share is the part of each area’s land that lies in this county. 12 such areas have more than half their land here.

CityZIP areas (share of land in the county)Pages
Kearney 68847 (80%), 68850 (0%), 68836 (53%), 69127 (0%) Roofers

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Questions

How high is storm risk in Buffalo County?

FEMA's National Risk Index gives Buffalo County an overall score of 66.00 (Relatively Low), 1,070th of 3,144. Hail scores 98.57 (Relatively High), strong wind 96.91 (Relatively High) and tornado 71.98 (Relatively Moderate).

In Buffalo County, how many hail reports has NOAA logged?

A report is one entry for one storm in one county, so counts follow where people live as well as where hail fell. NOAA has 136 for Buffalo County between 2014 and June 2026, on 59 days with hail of 1 inch or more; the largest stone was 4 inches.

What do hail and wind cost a home in Buffalo County each year, on average?

Applying FEMA's county rates to its median home value of $236,800: FEMA's estimate is about $118 a year for hail and $43 for wind, before any deductible, against $5.29 and $4.82 at the U.S. median county rates. This is an average over many years and all buildings, not a prediction for one roof; one bad storm costs far more than the average year.

How does Buffalo County compare with the rest of Nebraska?

Per $1 million of buildings Buffalo County loses $498 to hail a year, against $175 in the median county of the state. Among 93 rated counties it is 6th for hail, 4th for strong wind and 12th for tornado.

How old are the roofs in Buffalo County?

The median home was built in 1979, 47 years ago, and 75.8% of the 21,181 housing units in Buffalo County date from before 2000. Asphalt shingles are rated 15 to 20 years (3-tab) or 25 to 30 years (architectural), so an original roof of either kind is past its rated life. The Census does not record when a roof was replaced.

What does expected annual loss mean?

It is FEMA's estimate of the average yearly loss from a hazard, in dollars, summed over the county. It is built for comparing counties at planning level, not for pricing one house.

Does a high rating mean my roof will be damaged?

No. The index compares counties and cannot say what will happen on your street. After a storm, a roof inspection is the only way to know.

Sources for Buffalo County: FEMA National Risk Index, version December 2025, retrieved October 8, 2026; NOAA Storm Events Database hail reports for Buffalo County; Census Bureau ZCTA-to-county relationship file (2020); Census ACS and Building Permits Survey, homes in Buffalo County; Census County Business Patterns, roofing firms in Buffalo County; OpenFEMA, declarations naming Buffalo County. Planning-level information about Buffalo County, not an inspection and not insurance advice.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index dataset 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).