Lincoln County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. May 31, 1999Tornado$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two tornadoes touched down causing extensive damage north of Genoa. The first tornado, an F2, caused minor damage to a home, but substantial damage to trees in the area. The second tornado, an F3, destroyed 2 mobile homes and several grain bins. It also caused moderate damage to 2 framed houses. At one farm, several dogs that were boarded in kennels were killed. Several trees and dozens of power poles were also snapped, and a pickup truck was tossed over a quonset hut. Damage was estimated to be $3-4 million.

2. Jul 16, 2014Flash Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous country roads were washed out by heavy rainfall over southern Lincoln County; an estimated 25 roads were damaged or destroyed. The floodwaters washed out several culverts. Some of roads included: Lincoln County Road M, east of CO 71 and LCR K; LCR X just east of LCR 2; LCR J; LCR 17 from LCR M to LCR F. Numerous other county roads were scoured and damaged. Two bridges are heavily scoured on each approach, but the structures remained intact. Doppler radar rainfall estimates and trained spotters indicated that 2 to 4.8 inches of rain had fallen, heaviest in and around Punkin Center. Two residences were reportedly suffered flood damage.

3. Aug 17, 2015Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Another tornado touched down briefly. Two two grain silos were destroyed and nearby power lines.

4. Jul 29, 2009Flash Flood$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flash Flooding occurred when torrential rain and hail caused a nearby creek to jump its banks. The creek inundated State Highway 71 with 3 feet of water. Several county roads in the immediate vicinity were also washed out and closed until they could be repaired.

5. Aug 17, 2015Tornado$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down briefly. It destroyed an outbuilding and caused minor damage to a nearby home.

6. Jun 11, 2023Flash Flood$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Local law enforcement reported thunderstorms with torrential rain and hail. Storm totals around Limon and Hugo ranged from 2.4 to 3.7 inches. The hail piled up several inches deep along highways 24 and 71, stranding vehicles. Floodwaters up to 2 feet deep were observe running across a roadway 3 miles south of Limon.

7. Jul 13, 2013Flash Flood$30,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorms produced very heavy rain in Lincoln County. Six inches of running water was reported across County Road 2W. The area of water covered approximately 30 to 45 feet of the roadway. In addition, 12 inches of water, approximately 100 to 150 feet in width, was observed running across County Roads 33 and 109.

8. Jul 29, 2009Thunderstorm Wind$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Intense outflow winds associated with a severe thunderstorm damaged a barn.

9. Jul 4, 2010Tornado$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down and destroyed a garage and uprooted several trees.

10. Aug 1, 2019Flash Flood$25,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Flash flooding occurred in west central Lincoln County. Numerous county roads were either flooded or washed out. State Highway 71 was flooded along Middle Rush Creek.

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°FJul 20, 2005

All-time low

−30°FJan 16, 2024

Warmest night

70°FJul 27, 2026

Coldest day

−10°FDec 22, 2022

Wettest day

2.82 inMay 26, 1967

Snowiest day

14.2 inNov 26, 1983

Hottest year

1954mean 50.3°F

Coldest year

1997mean 45.2°F

Wettest year

196723.82 in

Driest year

19547.77 in

Station Limon (USW00093010), 5,358 ft elevation, 7.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 26, 2026; 99.0% 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 USW00093010.
• 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.