San Miguel County

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.

Mapped landslides

Mapped by CO GS (772), NASA (19), UT GRC (13), USGS Conterminous (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 20, 2021Debris Flow$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   San Miguel Sheriff reported several mudslides in the east end of San Miguel County along Colorado Highway 145 Spur towards East Colorado Avenue. The road was closed for several hours due to cleanup operations.

2. Aug 8, 2001Flash Flood$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Slow moving thunderstorms over eastern San Miguel County dropped up to 5 inches of rain in a 2 hour period between Telluride and Placerville. The heavy rains triggered numerous mud and rock slides throughout the eastern portion of the county. Several vehicles were swept from highway 145/62 as up to 6 feet of mud and rock slid over the road. Most of the vehicles were damaged and one vehicle was pushed down to the river bed, where 9 people had to be rescued. Two homes sustained major damage from the floods with several others receiving minor damage. No injuries were reported, although rescue workers had to use off-road motorcycles and medical evacuation buggies to rescue and…

3. Jun 17, 1998High Wind, Four Corners/Upper Dolores River/Cortez And Vicinity / X Sw San Miguel / W Dolores / Monteauma Except Ne$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong post-frontal winds blew over a tandem tractor-trailer rig hauling a load of computers on U.S. highway 666 about 21 miles south-southwest of Cortez.

4. Jan 6, 2005Avalanche, Northwestern San Juan Mountains$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A prolonged period of moderate to heavy snow and strong winds resulted in one of the most widespread natural avalanche cycles in decades. The snow started Friday night 1/7, and effectively cleared out Wednesday morning, 1/12. Many avalanche paths ran full track, taking out mature timber, and several slides came out that haven't affected area roads in years. Avalanches caused closures of Red Mountain, Molas and Coal Bank Passes among other road closures. The spree of avalanches closed Red Mountain Pass for nearly a week before plow drivers broke through the last 30 feet to 40 feet of snow covering the road. One slide struck a Front Range Wireless/Verizon Cell building that had been…

5. Aug 3, 2003Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This flash flood impacted Placerville and nearby locations. A wall of water 4 to 5 feet deep crashed into the Surprise Avenue area of Placerville, where several houses were damaged. The wall of a garage was blown out and the car inside was washed out through the garage door opening where the garage door was also blown out. The opening in the back of the garage was big enough for a truck to pass through it. Water and debris also flowed into other garages and houses in the area. Some road damage was also reported. mud and rock also flowed onto Highway 145 near mile marker 83.

6. Jul 31, 1999Flash Flood$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rains resulted in widespread flash flooding, mudslides, and turned Leopard Creek into a raging torrent which overflowed its banks and washed across State Highway 62, undercutting the roadbed. Eyewitnesses reported trash cans, canoes, trees, and other debris floating down the swollen San Miguel River which parallels State Highway 145. The flash floods and mudslides filled up the lower floors of some houses up to 4 feet deep, tore down fences, washed out driveways, washed away elevated gasoline and propane tanks, and floated some vehicles. In addition to the mudslides and rockslides on State Highways 62 and 145, eight county roads were damaged; ten mudslides occurred on Fall…

7. Sep 29, 2019High Wind, Northwestern San Juan Mountains$30,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A trained weather spotter in Telluride had estimated wind gusts up to 60 MPH. These high winds led to a mature tree becoming uprooted. The tree fell on a nearby truck and broke the windshield and smashed the front of the vehicle.

8. Apr 23, 2003Strong Wind, Four Corners / Upper Dolores River Basin$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong northwest winds howled behind a cold front in the southwest corner of Colorado. A large sprinkler irrigation system on a farm just east of Cahone was destroyed when it was slammed against utility poles, a fence, and into a barrow pit.

9. Jun 22, 2012Wildfire, Four Corners / Upper Dolores River Basin$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Weber fire was deemed to be human caused and burned a total of 10,133 acres from late June to early July. A national Type 2 fire team was brought in to fight the fire on June 24th as the fire moved toward Highway 160. Several subdivisions near Mancos were evacuated and nearby roads closed during the height of this fire. Several miles of fence posts and one outbuilding were burned. A communications tower was temporarily off line as power to the facility was interrupted by the fire.

10. Jul 1, 2012Wildfire, Four Corners / Upper Dolores River Basin$25,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    The Weber fire was deemed to be human caused and burned a total of 10,133 acres from late June to early July. Several subdivisions near Mancos were evacuated and nearby roads closed during the height of this fire. Several miles of fence posts and one outbuilding were burned. A communications tower was temporarily off line as power to the facility was interrupted by the fire.

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

96°FJun 26, 1929

All-time low

−39°FFeb 1, 1985

Warmest night

58°FJul 26, 1920

Coldest day

−14°FDec 15, 1906

Wettest day

4.05 inOct 5, 1911

Snowiest day

27.8 inJan 28, 2008

Hottest year

1934mean 38.1°F

Coldest year

1912mean 31.8°F

Wettest year

191144.78 in

Driest year

195611.33 in

Snowiest season

299.9 in1951-52

Station Silverton (USC00057656), 9,285 ft elevation, 19.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1904 to April 30, 2026; 89.1% 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.

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 USC00057656.
• 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.