Clear Creek County
Population 8,994 (2025) 395 sq mi
Property owners in Clear Creek County have filed 29 federal flood insurance claims since 1978, 23rd most of 64 counties in Colorado.
Hazard fingerprint Each spoke is this county’s percentile among U.S. counties where that hazard occurs. How it is computed
- Tornado damage paths since 19502
At a glance
The record for Clear Creek County in eight numbers. Each links to its section below.
Tornadoes since 1950
2
47th of 64 in Colorado
Fewer than the typical Colorado county, which has had 9
DetailsStrongest tornado
EF0
July 28, 2012, 0.1 mile path
Snowiest season
195.9in
Winter of 1913-14
Tornadoes
About one every 38 years since 1950, none rated F3/EF3 or stronger.
Strongest
July 28, 2012
EF0, 0.1 mile path
50 yards wide.
Most recent
Saturday, July 28, 2012
EF0, 0.1 mile path
14 years ago.
Every recorded tornado
| Jul 28, 2012 | EF0 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 |
| Aug 18, 2007 | EF0 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 |
- Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Clear Creek County: 0.
- 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
No large wildfire has been mapped here since satellite mapping began in 1984.
Smoke overhead
Smokiest year
2021: 42 days
Heavy smoke on 21 days in 2020, the most of any year.
Last 10 years
13.8 days a year
Medium or heavy smoke, 2016 to 2025.
2025
13 days
Medium or heavy smoke. 23 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
29 federal flood insurance claims since 1979, with $43,000 paid.
Most claims in one year
2013: 5 claims
$14,000 paid.
Claims by ZIP code
| 80452 | 9 | $16,000 |
| 80439 | 8 | $17,000 |
| 80444 | 7 | $7,401 |
Flood events since 1996
- Flash Flood7
- Heavy Rain3
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
| Jun 17, 1995 | Clear Creek (CO) near Empire | 6.63 | −0.37 |
| Jun 18, 1995 | Clear Creek (CO) near Lawson | 7.11 | −0.39 |
| Jul 8, 2011 | Clear Creek (CO) near Lawson | 7.11 | −0.39 |
| Jun 9, 2015 | Leavenworth Creek (CO) above Georgetown | 5.06 | −0.44 |
| May 31, 2003 | Clear Creek (CO) near Lawson | 7.04 | −0.46 |
| May 31, 2003 | Clear Creek (CO) near Empire | 6.53 | −0.47 |
| Jul 8, 2011 | Clear Creek (CO) near Empire | 6.46 | −0.54 |
| Jun 9, 2016 | Leavenworth Creek (CO) above Georgetown | 4.83 | −0.67 |
| Jun 12, 2015 | Clear Creek (CO) near Empire | 6.31 | −0.69 |
| Jun 7, 1997 | Leavenworth Creek (CO) above Georgetown | 4.81 | −0.69 |
| Jun 3, 2014 | Leavenworth Creek (CO) above Georgetown | 4.81 | −0.69 |
| Jul 12, 1995 | Leavenworth Creek (CO) above Georgetown | 4.79 | −0.71 |
| Jun 22, 1997 | Clear Creek (CO) near Lawson | 6.76 | −0.74 |
| Jun 16, 2007 | Leavenworth Creek (CO) above Georgetown | 4.72 | −0.78 |
| Jun 9, 1996 | Leavenworth Creek (CO) above Georgetown | 4.68 | −0.82 |
| Jul 8, 2001 | Leavenworth Creek (CO) above Georgetown | 4.65 | −0.85 |
| May 30, 2000 | Leavenworth Creek (CO) above Georgetown | 4.63 | −0.87 |
| Jul 1, 2019 | Leavenworth Creek (CO) above Georgetown | 4.63 | −0.87 |
| Jun 18, 1999 | Leavenworth Creek (CO) above Georgetown | 4.62 | −0.88 |
| Jun 3, 2014 | Clear Creek (CO) near Empire | 6.09 | −0.91 |
| Jun 12, 2015 | Clear Creek (CO) near Lawson | 6.59 | −0.91 |
| Jun 11, 2010 | Leavenworth Creek (CO) above Georgetown | 4.58 | −0.92 |
| Jun 19, 1997 | Clear Creek (CO) near Empire | 6.05 | −0.95 |
| Jun 30, 2008 | Leavenworth Creek (CO) above Georgetown | 4.52 | −0.98 |
| Jun 11, 2016 | Clear Creek (CO) near Empire | 6.01 | −0.99 |
River gauges
| Clear Creek (CO) near Empire | 7.0 | 6.63 ft | 0 |
| Clear Creek (CO) near Lawson | 7.5 | 7.11 ft | 0 |
| Leavenworth Creek (CO) above Georgetown | 5.5 | 5.06 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 138 of 1,581 months since 1895 (9%); the longest spell lasted 25 months.
138
Months in severe drought or worse since 1895
64
Months in extreme drought
9%
Share of all months, severe or worse
Lowest reading
April 1981
−6.96, extreme drought
Longest severe spell
25 months
August 1900 to August 1902.
Latest month
September 2026
−5.08, 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, volcanoes and landslides
6 earthquakes of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles since 1900; the largest was magnitude 5.5 in 1967.
1
Magnitude 2.5+ inside the county since 1973
5
Magnitude 3+ within 50 miles since 1973
6
Magnitude 4+ within 50 miles since 1900
2
Magnitude 5+ within 50 miles since 1900
Largest within 50 miles
August 9, 1967
7 km SE of Lochbuie, Colorado; 41.7 miles away, 6.2 miles deep.
Most recent, magnitude 3 or more
July 22, 2001
Magnitude 3.1
6 km WNW of Woodland Park, Colorado; 40.3 miles away.
Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles
| Dec 25, 1994 | 4.0 | 36.7 |
| Apr 2, 1981 | 4.3 | 25.7 |
| Nov 26, 1967 | 5.2 | 28.8 |
| Aug 9, 1967 | 5.5 | 41.7 |
| Apr 27, 1967 | 4.5 | 35.2 |
| Apr 10, 1967 | 4.3 | 36.9 |
- 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).
- 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.
Volcanoes within 100 miles
| Dotsero Volcanic Center | 58.8 | Moderate |
- U.S. volcanoes within 100 miles, from the USGS Volcano Hazards Program. The threat category is the USGS 2018 National Volcanic Threat Assessment, which ranks volcanoes by how hazardous their past eruptions were and how many people and how much infrastructure lie near them. It is not a forecast of eruption.
USGS Volcano Hazards Program, retrieved October 30, 2026.
Mapped landslides
527
Landslides mapped, probable or better
462
With a recorded date
4
Source inventories
Mapped by USGS CO Front Range July 1999 (459), CO GS (63), NASA (3), USGS Conterminous (2).
- 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
36 events in the National Weather Service record, 28 of them since 1996.
14
Hail reports, 1 inch or larger
1
Hail, 2 inches or larger
2
Damaging gusts, 58 mph+
0
Winter weather events since 1996
0
Heat events since 1996
0
Cold events since 1996
Largest hail
June 9, 1991
2.00 inches
Strongest measured or estimated gust
May 22, 2006
72 mph
More event types since 1996
| Lightning | 4 | 0 |
Costliest events since 1996
- Sep 14, 2013Flash Flood$256,000
National Weather Service narrative
The combination of heavy rain, coupled with extremely saturated ground conditions, produced additional flash flooding. According to FEMA, 113 households in the county were impacted by flooding.
- 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 Georgetown, 8.9 miles from the county’s population centre, with records from 1893.
- All-time high
- 92°F3 times, most recently Jul 17, 1971
- All-time low
- −28°FJan 4, 1972
- Warmest night
- 62°F2 times, most recently Aug 14, 1960
- Coldest day
- −5°FJan 12, 1963
- Wettest day
- 3.95 inMay 7, 1969
- Snowiest day
- 63.0 inDec 4, 1913
- Hottest year
- 1954mean 46.6°F
- Coldest year
- 2009mean 39.3°F
- Wettest year
- 199524.54 in
- Driest year
- 19628.29 in
- Snowiest season
- 195.9 in1913-14
Median first snow
October 6
Earliest: September 3, 1961
Median last snow
May 19
Latest: June 26, 1969
0 of 57 winters had no measurable snow.
Station Georgetown (USC00053261), 8,520 ft elevation, 8.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 27, 2026; 98.1% 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
9 since 1953. The most recent: Covid-19 Pandemic, March 28, 2020.
| Mar 28, 2020 | Biological | DR-4498-CO |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | EM-3436-CO |
| Sep 14, 2013 | Flood | DR-4145-CO |
| Sep 12, 2013 | Flood | EM-3365-CO |
| Sep 5, 2005 | Coastal Storm | EM-3224-CO |
| Apr 9, 2003 | Snowstorm | EM-3185-CO |
| Jun 19, 2002 | Fire | DR-1421-CO |
| Aug 1, 1997 | Flood | DR-1186-CO |
| May 19, 1969 | Flood | DR-261-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.
How this compares
Where Clear Creek County stands among 64 counties in Colorado and 3,143 in the United States.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 2 | 47 / 64 |
| Tornadoes rated F3/EF3 or stronger | 0 | — |
| Tropical cyclones within 50 mi | 0 | — |
| Hurricane-strength passes within 50 mi | 0 | — |
| Wildfire acres since 1984 | 0 | — |
| Flood insurance claims | 29 | 23 / 64 |
| Flood insurance paid | $43,000 | 30 / 64 |
| Disaster declarations | 9 | 29 / 64 |
| Flood events since 1996 | 10 | 50 / 64 |
| Hail and wind events since 1996 | 16 | 60 / 64 |
| Winter storm events since 1996 | 0 | — |
| Reported damage since 1996 | $256,000 | 56 / 64 |
| River crests at major flood stage | 0 | — |
| High tide flooding days a year, last 10 years | 0.0 | — |
| Months in severe drought since 1895 | 138 | 56 / 64 |
| Medium or heavy smoke days a year, last 10 years | 13.8 | 33 / 64 |
| Earthquakes M4+ within 50 mi since 1900 | 6 | 13 / 64 |
| Earthquakes M2.5+ in the county since 1973 | 1 | 31 / 64 |
Neighbouring counties
| Gilpin County | 0 | 0 |
| Grand County | 1 | 0 |
| Jefferson County | 13 | 0 |
| Park County | 10 | 0 |
| Summit County | 0 | 0 |
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 USC00053261.
- 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.
- Volcanoes USGS Volcano Hazards Program, U.S. volcanoes and 2018 threat assessment.
- 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.