Douglas County, Colorado

What hazards hit Douglas County most?

The most frequent records are winter storm records: 630 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 Douglas County had?

NOAA records 64 tornadoes in Douglas County from 1953 to 2025, the strongest rated F2, with 0 deaths and 7 injuries recorded in the county. That is 4th of 63 Colorado counties and 227th of 3,080 U.S. 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 65 tornadoes whose track touched Douglas County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 64: 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 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 Douglas County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the December 21, 2022 cold/wind chill (1 death).

Wind chill temperatures ranged from -25F to -40F. According to the city of Denver, at least one person died from exposure to the dangerously cold temperatures.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1069961)

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 Douglas 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 Douglas County. The two busiest months are in violet.

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

Federal disaster declarations for Douglas County

FEMA's register lists 13 declarations that include Douglas County: 6 major disasters, 5 emergencies and 2 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for flood (3) and fire (3).

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 Douglas County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 46 flood or flash flood records for Douglas County from 1998 to 2024, on 39 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Douglas County ranks 1488th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $661,000 on 70 claims filed in Douglas County; the most in one year was 11 in 2015. 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 Douglas County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Douglas County Relatively Moderate overall, with an expected annual loss of $114 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 Douglas County

1. El Paso County 3,660
2. Douglas County 1,563
3. Jefferson County 1,455
4. Arapahoe County 1,390
5. Elbert County 1,270
6. Teller County 570

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 Douglas CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Douglas County's FEMA declarations (CSV)13 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis