Washington County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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. Sep 15, 2013Flood$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The flood crest moving down the South Platte River completely submerged the community of Messex and forced the evacuation of the small community for several days. The railroad tracks, owned by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway on the west side of the river, suffered extensive damage. In addition, a section of CO63 was also damaged. Several small bridges and county roads were washed out by flooding around Messex including Washington County Roads 59, N and WW. The entrance and exit ramps of Interstate 76 to Barlow Road were closed due to flooding. Fiber optic cables were also damaged during the flood.

2. Jun 15, 2015Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A levee breach, about 100 yards wide along the South Platte River, produced farmland flooding over northwest Washington County. Floodwaters, 3 to 4 feet deep, washed out the Union Pacific railroad tracks southwest of Messex. Up to 10 inches of water covered several miles of track. Approximately 30 trains per day had to be diverted until the tracks could be repaired and inspected. Washington County Road 58.3 was also washed out.

3. May 30, 1996Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A large tornado estimated to be 1/2 mile wide in diameter caused approximately $300,000 damage to a farmstead near Elba as it destroyed several grain silos, storage sheds and vehicles. Only the home on the farm was spared.

4. Sep 19, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Damaging thunderstorm winds toppled the leg of a grain elevator in Anton. Some trees in the immediate area were also split. The peak wind gust was estimated.

5. Sep 29, 2014Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong thunderstorms producing up to 4 inches of rainfall, caused flash flooding. State Highway 61 was closed following an accident involving a semi-truck. Several sections of the highway experienced flooding. Extensive flooding was also observed in fields and ditches north and west along the highway towards Sterling. Several county roads were reportedly washed out.

6. Aug 3, 2013Flash Flood$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain producing thunderstorms caused extensive flooding of creeks and fields. Numerous dirt roads were damaged or washed out completely.

7. Aug 24, 2002Flash Flood$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorms producing large hail and heavy rain caused flash flooding over sections of southeast Washington County. Flooding occurred on State Highway 63, north of Akron, and along County Road 57. Floodwaters along the highway caused several cars, including a sheriff's vehicle, to slide into the ditch. There was also 2 feet of water reportedly covering highway 61, approximately 13 miles north of Otis.

8. Aug 28, 2002Flash Flood$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain triggered flash flooding over southeastern Washington. Five county roads were washed out during the storm.

9. Jun 21, 2023Flood$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Law enforcement reported that flooding forced the closure of CO-63 between Akron and Anton. Rainfall totals ranged from 3 to 5 inches in the area.

10. Sep 22, 2014Flash Flood$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Heavy rain, up to 3 inches in one hour, washed out numerous county roads along a 10-mile swath stretching from southwest of Akron to southeast of Otis. Water reportedly ran across CO 36 east of Anton at Washington County Road HH. A reverse 911 notification was sent to residents in a 10 by 13 mile area.

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

109°F2 times, most recently Aug 2, 1938

All-time low

−29°FFeb 1, 1951

Warmest night

76°FAug 22, 2023

Coldest day

−12°FFeb 4, 1989

Wettest day

5.50 inJul 26, 1957

Snowiest day

18.0 inDec 25, 1982

Hottest year

2012mean 53.3°F

Coldest year

1951mean 46.0°F

Wettest year

198724.20 in

Driest year

20027.81 in

Station Akron Washington County Airport (USW00024015), 4,685 ft elevation, 6.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1937 to October 26, 2026; 98.9% 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 USW00024015.
• 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.