Denver County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Denver 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.

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.

Claims by ZIP code

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

1. 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.

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.

Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles

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.

Mapped landslides

Mapped by USGS Conterminous (1).

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jun 9, 2004Hail$147 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorms producing very large hail caused extensive damage across southern sections of the Denver metropolitan area. Parts of Aurora, Lakewood, Littleton and South Denver incurred much of the damage. The combined damage to homes and automobiles, not including commercial buildings, was estimated at $146.5 million, making it the 4th costliest insurance disaster in the state's history.

2. Jun 20, 2001Hail$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large hail punched at least 14,000 holes and cracks in the flat roofs of several buildings at Denver International Airport. In addition, 93 planes and hundreds of cars were damaged. Approximately 100 flights were canceled, stranding 1500 travelers. The airport was completely shut down for appoximately 20 minutes. The storm also damaged a radar used to monitor planes on the ground to avoid runway collisions. No estimate for the damage done to the 93 airliners was released.

3. Aug 10, 1999Flood$1.0 million
4. Jun 23, 1997Lightning$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck the tower of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. The bolt knocked chunks of rock from the top of the tower and blew a 4-ft wide hole about half way down the side. It also punched at least two holes in the tile roof and shattered part of the stone railing.

5. Jul 7, 2011Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain flooded underpasses and basements with several feet of water.

6. Aug 21, 2019Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flash flooding on streets causing vehicles to be stranded. Several vehicles were stranded at Martin Luther King Blvd and Dahlia Street. Highway 6 near Federal Blvd was flooded. Standing water up to 3 feet deep occurred in Park Hill. Water flooded some buildings near I-70.

7. Aug 7, 2022Flash Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rainfall produced flash flooding as 1.5 to 2.5 inches of rainfall fell in 20 minutes. Intersections were flooded and vehicles stranded. The fire department performed several water rescues. Most of the rescues occurred at the underpass near 38th and Blake St, and along Interstate 70, in a newly renovated section between Brighton Blvd and York St.

8. Jun 30, 2011Lightning$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck the garage of a home in north Denver. The blast ignited several propane tanks that were stored in the garage. The ensuing fire destroyed the garage and a car inside. The home was considered a complete loss.

9. Jun 24, 2015Flash Flood$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Torrential rainfall, from 2 to 2.5 inches, flooded intersections up to 3 feet of standing water at several intersections including: 6th Ave and Lowell, Broadway and Interstate 25, as well as parts of Speer Blvd along Cherry Creek.

10. Jul 20, 2019Flash Flood$25,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    An intense downpour associated with a wet micorburst overwhelmed drainage systems on parts of Interstate 25. The flooding was particularly bad on southbound Interstate 25 near 6th Avenue; submerging the southbound side of the highway in several feet of water just south of the Sixth Avenue Interchange. Traffic in the area was backed up for several miles as drivers tried to cross the flooded section. CDOT reported that flooding also affected traffic along Interstate 70, and on 6th Avenue near Federal Boulevard.

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

104°F4 times, most recently Jun 29, 2018

All-time low

−25°F4 times, most recently Dec 22, 1990

Warmest night

72°FJul 25, 2003

Coldest day

−9°F2 times, most recently Feb 4, 1989

Wettest day

3.88 inSep 12, 2013

Snowiest day

23.6 inDec 24, 1982

Hottest year

1981mean 54.1°F

Coldest year

1951mean 48.4°F

Wettest year

201524.07 in

Driest year

19547.51 in

Snowiest season

99.3 in1958-59

Station Denver-stapleton (USW00023062), 5,286 ft elevation, 5.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 22, 2026; 98.7% 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 USW00023062.
• 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.