Montezuma County, Colorado

What hazards hit Montezuma County most?

The most frequent records are winter storm records: 819 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 Montezuma County had?

NOAA records 3 tornadoes in Montezuma County from 1970 to 2011, the strongest rated F2, with 0 deaths and 0 injuries recorded in the county. 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 3 tornadoes whose track touched Montezuma County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 3, 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 Montezuma County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the February 20, 2025 avalanche (1 death).

The Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC) rated the avalanche danger at this location on the day of the incident as Moderate (2/5), with persistent slab avalanches being the main concern. The likelihood of an avalanche was rated as Possible and the expected size was Small to Large (up to D2), large enough to injure, bury, or kill. The period from late November to early February was generally dry, leading to a weak, low cohesion snowpack onto which 3-4 feet of fresh snow fell from February 14th to the 19th. The incident party was made up of 2 experienced backcountry tourers. Rider 2 was very familiar with the terrain in the area, while this was Skier 1's first time in this area. They had toured together multiple times in other locations prior to this trip. …
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1239173)

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

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

Federal disaster declarations for Montezuma County

FEMA's register lists 8 declarations that include Montezuma County: 4 major disasters, 3 emergencies and one fire management assistance declaration. Most were for biological (2) and fire (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 Montezuma County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 22 flood or flash flood records for Montezuma County from 2000 to 2023, on 17 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Montezuma County ranks 2085th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $20,000 on 20 claims filed in Montezuma County; the most in one year was 10 in 2019. 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 Montezuma County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Montezuma County Relatively Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $12.4 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 Montezuma County

1. La Plata County 1,709
2. Montezuma County 1,537
3. Dolores County 1,461
4. San Juan County, UT 1,389
5. San Juan County, NM 1,001
6. San Juan County 944
7. Apache County, AZ 810

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 Montezuma CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Montezuma County's FEMA declarations (CSV)8 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis