Costilla County, Colorado

What hazards hit Costilla County most?

The most frequent records are winter storm records: 711 since 1996. 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 Costilla County had?

NOAA records 7 tornadoes in Costilla County from 1955 to 2021, the strongest rated F3, with 0 deaths and 0 injuries recorded in the county. That is 32nd 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 7 tornadoes whose track touched Costilla County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 7, 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 Costilla County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the June 27, 2018 wildfire ($37.6 million in damage in 2025 dollars).

The Spring Creek wildfire began on June 27 around 3:57 PM 5 miles northeast of Ft Garland, CO in Costilla County, and would eventually spread into Huerfano County as well. The fire was ignited and spread through dry fuels in dry and windy weather. The fire was human caused, and the suspect was arrested. By the end of July, the fire had burned 108,045 acres, the third largest wildfire in Colorado recorded history. The fire was 91% contained, but was no longer growing and had been removed from InciWeb. The Spring Creek Wildfire destroyed at least 225 structures, 145 of which were homes, and cost an estimated $32M. The fire forced the evacuation of multiple communities and caused multiple highway closures. No causalities were reported. At it's peak, over 1,000 people were working on the fire.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 765960)

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 Costilla 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?

Records by month in Costilla County. The two busiest months are in violet.

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

Federal disaster declarations for Costilla County

FEMA's register lists 10 declarations that include Costilla County: 4 major disasters, 4 emergencies and 2 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for fire (3) and biological (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 Costilla County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 20 flood or flash flood records for Costilla County from 1999 to 2022, on 12 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Costilla County ranks 2685th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $10,000 on 3 claims filed in Costilla County; the most in one year was 1 in 1979. 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 Costilla County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Costilla County Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $1.9 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 Costilla County

1. Colfax County, NM 1,904
2. Huerfano County 1,767
3. Taos County, NM 1,243
4. Las Animas County 1,226
5. Costilla County 1,151
6. Conejos County 628
7. Alamosa County 450

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
• Winter storms in ColoradoThe state's winter storm records, 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 Costilla CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Costilla County's FEMA declarations (CSV)10 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis