Baca County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Baca County: 0.
2. 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.

Every large fire

1. 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

1. 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.

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

1. 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.

1. 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 county boundary (or inside the county).
2. 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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jun 25, 2017Thunderstorm Wind$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Trees and tree limbs down, causing damage to power lines, structures and vehicles. Two people sustained very minor injuries.

2. May 23, 2010Hail$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Damaging large hail occurred in Springfield and north-northwest of town over a half hour time frame.

3. May 15, 2003Tornado$125,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado moved northeast across a rural area, but did strike the county gravel pit and a few ranches. Approximately 1 1/2 miles of utility poles were brought down by the tornado and rear flank downdraft along U.S. Highway 160. At the gravel pit north of the highway, gravel screening machinery sustained heavy damage. Farther to the northeast a sheet metal building with a steel girder frame was a total loss.

4. Sep 24, 2004Hail$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail occurred for nearly an hour, ranging from one inch to 1.75 inches in diameter.

5. Aug 12, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several airport hangars were destroyed and a few planes were damaged at the Springfield Airport due to a powerful microburst.

6. Jun 16, 2006Hail$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A few damaging supercells moved through Las Animas, Bent, Prowers, and Baca Counties. One broke out 75 windows with 2-inch diameter, wind-driven hail at the Colorado Interstate Gas Facility in southeast Bent County. Large hail damaged a house in southwest Prowers County. Another passed through Campo, in southern Baca County, producing damaging, wind driven 2-inch diameter hail. Windows were broken out, roofs were partially ripped off modular homes, and outbuildings and vehicles were damaged or destroyed.

7. May 31, 2010Tornado$30,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado moved southeast, crossing US Highway 287 south of Campo. Eight power poles were snapped off west of the highway and on County Road C. Two windmills were also hit, and a storage shed was tipped over and moved 20 feet. The tornado ended shortly before the Oklahoma state line.

8. Jun 13, 2009Thunderstorm Wind$30,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Five power poles were snapped off at the bases along highway 287...and around 20 powerpoles were taken down on County Road 35.

9. Jul 30, 2014Thunderstorm Wind$30,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   High end EF1 damage occurred with a very compact microburst. A manufactured home was completely destroyed, along with three power poles.

10. Jun 25, 2017Thunderstorm Wind$30,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Three quarters of a mile of power poles were snapped off.

1. 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.

All-time high

110°FJul 28, 2026

All-time low

−25°FJan 18, 1984

Warmest night

80°FAug 10, 2006

Coldest day

−5°FDec 22, 1990

Wettest day

5.02 inAug 30, 2025

Snowiest day

20.0 inApr 4, 1983

Hottest year

2024mean 56.6°F

Coldest year

1978mean 51.2°F

Wettest year

201729.22 in

Driest year

197510.09 in

Snowiest season

50.1 in1972-73

Station Walsh 1 W (USC00058793), 3,978 ft elevation, 12.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1967 to October 26, 2026; 99.4% 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.

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.

Neighbouring counties

• 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 USC00058793.
• 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.
• 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.