Pueblo
Population 110,404 (2025)
25 tornadoes have tracked within 25 miles of Pueblo since 1950, 0 of them rated EF3 or F3 or stronger; the most recent was on March 26, 2024.
Hazard fingerprint Each spoke is this county’s percentile among U.S. counties where that hazard occurs. How it is computed
- Tornado damage paths within 25 miles since 195025
- Wildfire burn scars within 25 miles since 198423
At a glance
Tornado paths within 25 miles, tropical cyclone tracks within 100 miles and wildfire perimeters within 25 miles of the city centre. Storm events, flood insurance claims and disaster declarations are for Pueblo County. Earthquakes within 50 miles, volcanoes within 100 miles and smoke days are measured from the city centre; river and tide gauges, tsunami and landslide records and the drought index are for Pueblo County.
Strongest tornado
F2
August 21, 1984, 1.0 mile path
Snowiest season
69.6in
Winter of 1989-90
Tornadoes
About one every 3 years since 1950, none rated F3/EF3 or stronger.
Strongest
August 21, 1984
F2, 1.0 mile path
50 yards wide.
Most recent
Tuesday, March 26, 2024
EFU, 0.2 mile path
2 years ago.
Every recorded tornado
| Mar 26, 2024 | EFU | 0.2 | 0 | 0 |
| Jul 12, 2018 | EF0 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jul 12, 2014 | EF0 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 |
| Aug 24, 2011 | EF0 | 0.3 | 0 | 0 |
| Jul 10, 2011 | EF0 | 0.2 | 0 | 0 |
| May 2, 2011 | EF0 | 0.3 | 0 | 0 |
| Jul 9, 2006 | F1 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jun 15, 2004 | F0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 5, 2003 | F0 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aug 19, 1999 | F0 | 0.2 | 0 | 0 |
| Jul 1, 1998 | F0 | 7.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jun 5, 1997 | F0 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 |
| Aug 29, 1996 | F0 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jul 14, 1993 | F0 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jul 13, 1989 | F1 | 0.3 | 0 | 0 |
| Apr 21, 1988 | F1 | 0.3 | 0 | 0 |
| Jul 19, 1985 | F1 | 0.2 | 0 | 0 |
| Aug 21, 1984 | F2 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 13, 1982 | F1 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aug 6, 1981 | F1 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 |
| May 5, 1980 | F1 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 |
| Jul 17, 1979 | F0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aug 8, 1977 | F1 | 0.2 | 0 | 0 |
| Aug 15, 1974 | F1 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jun 17, 1965 | F1 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 |
- Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond this area.
- Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.
Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.
Hurricanes and tropical storms
No tropical storm or hurricane has tracked within 100 miles since records began in 1851.
Wildfire and smoke
23 large fires burned within 25 miles since 1984.
Largest
March 26, 1986
Unnamed Fire, 25,753 acres
15.1 miles from the city centre.
Most recent
April 15, 2024
Range 127 Fire
1,176 acres in total.
Every large fire
| Range 127 | 2024 | 23.2 | 1,176 |
| Range 135 | 2024 | 20.3 | 7,756 |
| Range 153 | 2024 | 19.7 | 1,617 |
| Ta-43 | 2022 | 19.9 | 1,089 |
| Test Center | 2018 | 20.7 | 2,286 |
| Carson Midway | 2018 | 16.9 | 4,771 |
| Apache Complex | 2018 | 16.5 | 5,179 |
| Junkins | 2016 | 24.2 | 19,008 |
| Beulah Hill | 2016 | 20.5 | 5,767 |
| Sullivan Park | 2016 | 23.2 | 1,871 |
| Impact Area | 2016 | 19.6 | 19,902 |
| Wetmore | 2012 | 22.9 | 2,292 |
| Young Hollow | 2011 | 19.6 | 2,423 |
| Haynes Creek | 2008 | 22.4 | 1,971 |
| Ta-25 | 2008 | 23.2 | 8,252 |
| Mason | 2005 | 21.9 | 11,623 |
| Unnamed | 2002 | 20.2 | 2,198 |
| Unnamed | 2002 | 25.0 | 2,388 |
| Hanover | 2002 | 18.8 | 4,901 |
| Unnamed | 2000 | 25.0 | 1,357 |
| Unnamed | 1998 | 19.5 | 18,203 |
| Unnamed | 1997 | 20.3 | 3,726 |
| Unnamed | 1986 | 15.1 | 25,753 |
- Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.
Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.
Smoke overhead
Smokiest year
2021: 38 days
Heavy smoke on 14 days in 2021, the most of any year.
Last 10 years
14.7 days a year
Medium or heavy smoke, 2016 to 2025.
2025
18 days
Medium or heavy smoke. 25 so far in 2026.
- A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.
NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.
Floods and flood insurance
100 federal flood insurance claims since 1979, with $332,000 paid.
Flood insurance figures are for Pueblo County, the county that contains Pueblo.
Most claims in one year
1980: 13 claims
$34,000 paid.
2nd most
1982: 8 claims
$5,547 paid.
3rd most
1979: 7 claims
$17,000 paid.
Claims by ZIP code
| 81001 | 27 | $21,000 |
| 81006 | 20 | $65,000 |
| 81003 | 12 | $17,000 |
| 81008 | 9 | $143,000 |
| 81004 | 6 | $2,976 |
| 81007 | 6 | $2,362 |
| 81023 | 6 | $48,000 |
Flood events since 1996
- Flash Flood105
- Heavy Rain81
- Flood14
1 death recorded in flood events since 1996.
This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, 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).
OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.
River crests
River gauges in Pueblo County, the county that contains Pueblo.
Most severe crest
April 30, 1999
Arkansas River near Avondale, 10.60 ft
3.60 feet above the 7.0 ft flood stage; moderate flooding by today’s categories.
Most recent moderate or major crest
June 22, 2023
Arkansas River near Avondale, 10.53 ft
Moderate flooding.
River gauges
| Arkansas River above Pueblo | 8.0 | 8.29 ft | 0 |
| Arkansas River near Avondale | 7.0 | 10.60 ft | 0 |
| Arkansas River near Nepesta | 16.5 | 16.66 ft | 0 |
| Fountain Creek at Pueblo | 10.0 | 10.82 ft | 0 |
| Fountain Creek near Piñon | 12.0 | 11.74 ft | 0 |
| St Charles River at Burnt Mill | 16.0 | — | 0 |
| St Charles River at Vineland | 12.0 | 13.93 ft | 0 |
- Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.
NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.
Drought
In severe drought or worse for 161 of 1,581 months since 1895 (10%); the longest spell lasted 17 months.
The drought index is for Pueblo County, the county that contains Pueblo.
161
Months in severe drought or worse since 1895
63
Months in extreme drought
10%
Share of all months, severe or worse
Lowest reading
August 2002
−6.52, extreme drought
Longest severe spell
17 months
April 2012 to August 2013.
Latest month
September 2026
−4.31, extreme drought
- The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.
NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.
Earthquakes and landslides
13 earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more within 50 miles since 1995; none reached magnitude 4.
1
Magnitude 3+ within 50 miles since 1973
0
Magnitude 4+ within 50 miles since 1900
0
Magnitude 5+ within 50 miles since 1900
Largest within 50 miles
December 22, 1995
Magnitude 3.5
7 km WNW of Rock Creek Park, Colorado; 36.0 miles away, 3.1 miles deep.
Most recent, magnitude 3 or more
December 22, 1995
Magnitude 3.5
7 km WNW of Rock Creek Park, Colorado; 36.0 miles away.
- Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the city centre.
- Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).
USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.
Mapped landslides
Landslides mapped in Pueblo County.
14
Landslides mapped, probable or better
1
With a recorded date
2
Source inventories
Mapped by CO GS (13), NASA (1).
- Landslides mapped in the USGS compilation of landslide inventories across the United States (version 3.0, 2025), rated probable or better. The compilation joins inventories made by federal and state agencies for different purposes and areas, so the number mapped in a county reflects how closely it has been surveyed as much as how often its slopes fail. An area with few records may simply not have been mapped. Deaths are as recorded in the inventories; a slide listed in two inventories is counted once.
USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0, retrieved October 27, 2026.
Severe weather and other events
1,117 events in the National Weather Service record for Pueblo County, 954 of them since 1996.
371
Hail reports, 1 inch or larger
38
Hail, 2 inches or larger
152
Damaging gusts, 58 mph+
111
Winter weather events since 1996
0
Heat events since 1996
6
Cold events since 1996
Largest hail
July 13, 2023
3.00 inches
Strongest measured or estimated gust
May 20, 1987
144 mph
More event types since 1996
| Lightning | 10 | 0 |
| Dust storms and dust devils | 2 | 0 |
Costliest events since 1996
- Jul 29, 2009Hail$90.0 million
National Weather Service narrative
The city of Pueblo was particularly hard hit with golf ball to tennis ball size hail. Damage estimates were around $110 million to vehicles, structures, and crops.
- Aug 11, 1997Flood$25.0 million
National Weather Service narrative
Thunderstorms moved through the city of Pueblo, producing rainfall amounts of 1 to 2 inches. Streets and intersections throughout the city were flooded, with some areas reporting up to 3 feet of standing water. This flooded prompted an estimated 9000 damage claims totalling $25 million dollars; $17 million in damage to homes and personal property and $8 million in damage to vehicles.
- Jul 20, 2000Hail$5.0 million
National Weather Service narrative
Hailstorm caused an estimated 20 million dollars in damage. Approximately 15,000 acres of crops were affected, and vehicles, airplanes, and houses were damaged.
- Jun 20, 2003Hail$4.0 million
National Weather Service narrative
A couple of slow moving thunderstorms dropped large hail on parts of Pueblo from the southwest to northeast. There was damage primarily to the roofs of structures and vehicles.
- May 20, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$2.5 million
- Jul 9, 1996Flash Flood$2.0 million
National Weather Service narrative
Severe storms brought flooding rain, damaging winds, and large hail the evening of the 9th. From 2 to 4.5 inches of rain fell in a short period of time on the east side of Pueblo, causing widespread flooding of low spots and roof collapses of three businesses. Forty to 50 power poles were blown down, affecting 15,000 homes in east and north Pueblo. 1,000 telephone customers were also affected. Numerous large trees in residential areas and at the Pueblo Country Club were uprooted, and the rain washed out several gravel roads in Pueblo West north of US 50. In south Pueblo between 1000 to 2000 acres of crops were destroyed, and an electrical fire attributed to the storm razed a…
- May 26, 2010Hail$2.0 million
National Weather Service narrative
A long-lasting hailstorm struck the Pueblo area. In areas to the east of Pueblo, hail persisted for around 30 minutes and reached the size of baseballs.
- Jun 20, 2001Hail$2.0 million
National Weather Service narrative
A severe thunderstorm produced very large hail from the Beulah area to the Colorado City area. Damage was done to vehicles and buildings, including a bank in Colorado City. Its roof collapsed from the weight of hail and rain which collected on the flat roof.
- Aug 26, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
National Weather Service narrative
Severe winds ripped through Pueblo West and mainly the north half of Pueblo causing some flooding and widespread minor damage. Three people suffered minor injuries at the Colorado State Fair when a large tent was upset. There were power outages which affected around 10,000 Pueblo West and Pueblo residents and visitors, some lasting up to two days.
- Jun 20, 2001Hail$1.0 million
- Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.
NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.
Weather records
From Pueblo Mem Airport, 5.9 miles from the city centre, with records from 1954.
- All-time high
- 109°FJul 13, 2003
- All-time low
- −28°F2 times, most recently Dec 12, 1961
- Warmest night
- 76°FAug 7, 1969
- Coldest day
- −2°FDec 21, 1990
- Wettest day
- 2.95 inAug 29, 1955
- Snowiest day
- 16.0 inNov 14, 1985
- Hottest year
- 1981mean 56.6°F
- Coldest year
- 1993mean 49.8°F
- Wettest year
- 195723.09 in
- Driest year
- 20023.94 in
- Snowiest season
- 69.6 in1989-90
Median first snow
November 7
Earliest: September 9, 2020
Median last snow
April 18
Latest: May 21, 2001
0 of 71 winters had no measurable snow.
Station Pueblo Mem Airport (USW00093058), 4,674 ft elevation, 5.9 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1954 to October 27, 2026; 99.9% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.
NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.
Federal disaster declarations
20 since 1953. The most recent: Wildfires, Flooding, and Mudslides, September 1, 2026.
Declarations for Pueblo County.
| Sep 1, 2026 | Fire | DR-4944-CO |
| Jun 29, 2026 | Fire | FM-5642-CO |
| Mar 28, 2020 | Biological | DR-4498-CO |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | EM-3436-CO |
| Oct 17, 2016 | Fire | FM-5157-CO |
| Oct 4, 2016 | Fire | FM-5155-CO |
| Jul 16, 2015 | Flood | DR-4229-CO |
| Sep 12, 2013 | Flood | EM-3365-CO |
| Oct 23, 2012 | Fire | FM-5022-CO |
| Jan 7, 2007 | Snowstorm | EM-3270-CO |
| Jan 7, 2007 | Snowstorm | EM-3271-CO |
| Sep 5, 2005 | Coastal Storm | EM-3224-CO |
| Jul 10, 2005 | Fire | FM-2566-CO |
| Apr 9, 2003 | Snowstorm | EM-3185-CO |
| Jun 19, 2002 | Fire | DR-1421-CO |
| May 17, 1999 | Severe Storm | DR-1276-CO |
| Jan 29, 1977 | Drought | EM-3025-CO |
| Aug 2, 1976 | Flood | DR-517-CO |
| May 23, 1973 | Flood | DR-385-CO |
| Jun 19, 1965 | Tornado | DR-200-CO |
This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, 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).
OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.
Sources and vintage
Every number on this page comes from these public records.
- Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
- Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
- Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
- Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
- Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
- Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
- Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USW00093058.
- River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
- Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
- Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
- Landslides USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0 (2025).
- Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.
Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.