Routt County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

Volcanoes within 100 miles

1. 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

Mapped by CO GS (1,105), USGS Conterminous (6), NASA (4).

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. Jul 16, 2023Wildfire, Central Yampa River Basin$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Howard Fire started in mid July from a lightning strike near Meeker, and grew to 255 acres before it was contained at the end of the month.

2. Oct 1, 2023Wildfire, Central Yampa River Basin$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Iron Fire started in late September from unknown causes 18 miles northwest of Craig. The fire grew to 7,392 acres before it was contained in early October.

3. Aug 1, 2021Wildfire, Elkhead And Park Mountains$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Muddy Slide Fire was started by lightning 20 miles south of Steamboat Springs in mid June. The fire quickly spread and grew to 4,093 acres before finally being contained in mid September.

4. Sep 29, 2023Wildfire, Central Yampa River Basin$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Iron Fire started in late September from unknown causes 18 miles northwest of Craig. The fire grew to 7,392 acres before it was contained in early October.

5. Apr 8, 2005Strong Wind, Central Yampa River Basin$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong gradient winds produced widespread damage in eastern Moffat County. A 60 foot communications tower was blown down and microwave dishes and antennas were blown off other communications towers. Utility poles and trees were blown down, and large tree limbs were snapped off. Electric power was knocked out for a few hours in many areas, and even longer in a some isolated locations. Several campers and trailers were rolled over, and several sheds were blown over. Shingles were blown off roofs. Many unsecured items blew away and were not found.

6. Jun 1, 1997Flood, Upper Yampa River Basin/Steamboat Springs And Vicinity$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding was reported from Steamboat Springs to Craig along the upper and central portions of the Yampa River for the first eleven days of June. The Elk River and other tributaries were also above flood stage for much of the same time period. Many roads, campgrounds, and ranch lands were inundated. Water was several feet deep in these lower lying areas. Roads were undermined and a few small bridges collapsed. Many houses and trailers were damaged from the flood waters.

7. Apr 8, 2020Wildfire, Central Yampa River Basin$80,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Lion Fire began on April 7th from unknown causes in Lion's Canyon, or approximately 3 miles west of Meeker. It grew to 229 acres before it was contained at the end of the following day. An unoccupied mobile home was destroyed in the fire, along with several outbuildings and multiple vehicles.

8. Mar 25, 1998Flood, Central Yampa River Basin/Craig-Hayden And Vicinity$60,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Unseasonably warm temperatures rapidly melted a large amount of snow at the headwaters of Fortification Creek, resulting in flooding along the Creek. Nearly 80 residences were impacted by the flood, with some basements and garages flooded. Sections of County Road 17 and County Road 7 were washed out. A bridge was also washed out.

9. Aug 16, 2011Hail$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail up to the size of golf balls was reported in Oak Creek.

10. Sep 20, 1997Hail$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Wind driven hail up to three-quarters of an inch in diameter decimated fields of ripening wheat as well as gardens. The siding on the west exposure of some buildings in the area were dented and had paint chipped 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

100°FJun 29, 1990

All-time low

−54°FJan 7, 1913

Warmest night

71°FAug 12, 1913

Coldest day

−11°F3 times, most recently Dec 22, 1990

Wettest day

2.57 inJun 14, 1921

Snowiest day

30.0 in2 times, most recently Jan 28, 2023

Hottest year

2025mean 43.5°F

Coldest year

1924mean 34.8°F

Wettest year

195735.14 in

Driest year

193415.84 in

Snowiest season

266.8 in1973-74

Station Steamboat Springs (USC00057936), 6,866 ft elevation, 4.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 18, 2026; 96.8% 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 USC00057936.
• 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.