Colorado severe thunderstorm wind
Every recorded severe thunderstorm wind event since 1955 · 60 counties with a record
NOAA's Storm Events Database records 4,650 severe thunderstorm wind events in Colorado from 1955 through June 30, 2026, about 125 a year since 2000. The deadliest was the June 23, 2009 thunderstorm wind in Logan County: 2 deaths, 4 injuries and $103,000 in damage in 2025 dollars across 2 records. Colorado ranks 32nd of 52 states and territories by count and 40th of 51 per square mile.
Severe thunderstorm wind in Colorado, 1955 to 2026
Thunderstorm wind records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996.
- recorded, no damage figure
- under $1 million
- $1 million or more
- $10 million or more
- $100 million or more, or 10 deaths
- $1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
- a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
- a year with a death
- 1996: all 48 event types recorded from 1996
- Records
- 4,6501955 to June 30, 2026
- A year since 2000
- 125average
- Deaths
- 15108 injuries
- Damage, 2025 dollars
- $61Mas filed
- Busiest year
- 2020311 records
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; deaths and damage as filed, damage in 2025 dollars. Search the record at NCEI.
Are severe thunderstorm wind events common in Colorado?
Colorado averages about 125 severe thunderstorm wind events a year since 2000, 32nd of 52 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2020 (311). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Colorado records 449 severe thunderstorm wind events since 1955, 40th of 51 states and territories by that measure.
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1955, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.
Which counties in Colorado have the most severe thunderstorm wind events?
Per square mile, Denver County leads Colorado: 97 days with a severe thunderstorm wind event since 1955, 633.7 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Yuma County has the most thunderstorm wind records (369 since 1955); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1955 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.
When is the severe thunderstorm season in Colorado?
59% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1955 fell in June and July. The busiest month is June (1,443 records).
The values, month by month
Jan 1 · Feb 6 · Mar 30 · Apr 159 · May 657 · Jun 1,443 · Jul 1,290 · Aug 758 · Sep 242 · Oct 59 · Nov 3 · Dec 2 (records).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1955.
What were the deadliest severe thunderstorm wind events in Colorado?
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-06-23 | Thunderstorm WindMarcott, Logan County One storm episode: 2 records; the totals are the episode's. Severe thunderstorms produced quarter size hail across Adams, Denver, Douglas and Elbert Counties. In addition, wet microbursts produced thunderstorm outflow winds up to 80 mph across Logan, Morgan, Phillips and Sedgwick Counties. Two weak tornadoes were reported in Elbert and Logan Counties. The severe weather caused ... | 70 kt wind | 2 | 4 | $103K |
| 2005-07-02 | Thunderstorm WindLoveland, Larimer County Strong thunderstorm winds occurred at Boyd Lake. Two women drowned when the boat they were in capsized. Four others that were in the boat had to be hospitalized, one was in intensive care. | 50 kt wind | 2 | 4 | – |
| 1997-07-08 | Thunderstorm WindParker, Douglas County One construction worker was killed, two others injured, when a strong wind gust caused the scaffolding they were standing on to collapse. | 1 | 2 | – | |
| 1997-08-31 | Thunderstorm WindMc Clave, Bent County One storm episode: 2 records; the totals are the episode's. A damaging microburst wind, estimated to be at least 115 mph in strength struck a mobile home, rolling it a few hundred yards. The intense damage was 50 to 75 yards across. Twin brothers, Dan and Denton Cochell were in the mobile home. Dan was thrown from the mobile home and sustained a broken eye socket. Denton was ... | 1 | 1 | $147K | |
| 1997-04-28 | Thunderstorm WindPagosa Spgs, Archuleta County Strong thunderstorm outflow winds entered the west side of Pagosa Springs and blew down two large billboards as well as six pine trees which were about 80 feet tall and over two feet in diameter. As the winds advanced, construction scaffolding near downtown Pagosa Springs was toppled, fatally crushing one worker and ... | 1 | 1 | $9K | |
| 2014-07-30 | Thunderstorm WindVilas, Baca County High end EF1 damage occurred with a very compact microburst. A manufactured home was completely destroyed, along with three power poles. | 95 kt wind | 1 | 0 | $37K |
| 1999-06-25 | Thunderstorm WindFt Lupton, Weld County Strong thunderstorm winds toppled an oil rig. A 37-yr old man was killed when he fell 55 feet from the derrick of the rig. | 1 | 0 | – | |
| 1996-10-16 | Thunderstorm WindSapinero, Gunnison County A combination of thunderstorm outflow winds and gradient winds associated with a cold front in the area blew over a large Aspen tree crushing a 12 year old boy on a hunting trip just above Silver Jack Reservoir. Emergency personnel in the area reported "gale force winds", causing them difficulty in keeping their ... | 1 | 0 | – | |
| 2008-08-02 | Thunderstorm WindDenver County Five children and one adult were injured when winds, from a dry microburst, picked up an inflateable play house at Larimer County Reservoir. The wind swept up the house from its location on the beach, and knocked it into a steel pole before it came to a stop. One child was airlifted to Loveland with serious injuries, ... | 52 kt wind | 1 | 0 | – |
| 1996-06-26 | Thunderstorm WindNew Castle, Garfield County A strong wind gust toppled the trusses of a building under construction. The trusses crushed a construction worker. | 1 | 0 | – |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed by the National Weather Service, summed over each storm (one episode, or one named storm filed by several offices). Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.
The costliest severe thunderstorm wind events in Colorado
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011-06-19 | Thunderstorm WindClarkville, Yuma County One storm episode: 4 records; the totals are the episode's. | 78 kt wind | 0 | 0 | $28M |
| 2001-05-20 | Thunderstorm WindPueblo West, Pueblo County | 75 kt wind | 0 | 0 | $4.2M |
| 2010-08-19 | Thunderstorm WindLazear, Delta County | 78 kt wind | 0 | 0 | $2.7M |
| 2017-06-25 | Thunderstorm WindWalsh, Baca County One storm episode: 3 records; the totals are the episode's. | 70 kt wind | 0 | 2 | $2.5M |
| 2006-05-22 | Thunderstorm WindEllicott, El Paso County | 87 kt wind | 0 | 0 | $1.8M |
| 1999-04-29 | Thunderstorm WindBayfield, La Plata County | 0 | 0 | $1.8M | |
| 2006-08-26 | Thunderstorm WindPueblo County | 51 kt wind | 0 | 3 | $1.5M |
| 2006-07-04 | Thunderstorm WindHolyoke, Phillips County | 65 kt wind | 0 | 0 | $1.5M |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.
Are severe thunderstorm wind events becoming more frequent in Colorado?
Colorado's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.
| Decade | Colorado | United States | Colorado's share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1955-59 | 41 | 3,482 | 1.2% |
| 1960s | 100 | 10,124 | 1.0% |
| 1970s | 188 | 18,714 | 1.0% |
| 1980s | 317 | 39,604 | 0.8% |
| 1990s | 636 | 85,554 | 0.7% |
| 2000s | 973 | 129,990 | 0.7% |
| 2010s | 1,018 | 161,286 | 0.6% |
| 2020-26 | 1,377 | 126,815 | 1.1% |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.
The most recent severe thunderstorm wind events in Colorado
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-30 | Thunderstorm WindBonny Lake, Yuma County | 52 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-30 | Thunderstorm WindFleming, Logan County | 58 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-30 | Thunderstorm WindJulesburg Municipal Airport, Sedgwick County | 63 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-30 | Thunderstorm WindPadroni, Logan County | 58 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-30 | Thunderstorm WindIliff, Logan County | 64 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-26 | Thunderstorm WindFirstview, Cheyenne County | 59 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-26 | Thunderstorm WindBurlington Airport, Kit Carson County | 52 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-26 | Thunderstorm WindGranby, Grand County | 59 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-26 | Thunderstorm WindKremmling Airport, Grand County | 52 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-26 | Thunderstorm WindLimon Airport, Lincoln County | 51 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-25 | Thunderstorm WindRockport, Weld County | 52 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-24 | Thunderstorm WindVernon, Yuma County | 54 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.
Federal disaster declarations for severe thunderstorm wind events in Colorado
FEMA files hail and wind disasters under the incident type Severe Storm: 3 declarations in Colorado, 3 of them major disasters; the latest on May 26, 2008.
| Declared | Number | Title | Areas named |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-05-26 | DR-1762 | Severe Storms and Tornadoes | 2 |
| 2001-05-17 | DR-1374 | Severe Winter Storms | 14 |
| 1999-05-17 | DR-1276 | Co-Flooding 4/30/99 | 12 |
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.
Next
- Denver County: the county's whole recordThe Colorado county with the most severe thunderstorm wind events per square mile
- Severe thunderstorm wind across the United StatesEvery state ranked, by year and month
- Every natural hazard in ColoradoTornadoes, floods, storms, heat and the federal declarations
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- Winter storms in Colorado15,010 records
- High wind and dust storms in Colorado4,370 records