NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Colorado Springs, CO
Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.
Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated
No tropical storm or hurricane has passed within 75 miles of Colorado Springs, Colorado since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 83 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 2 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 83
- EF3 or stronger
- 2
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for Colorado Springs
The highest rating among the 83 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 2 times; the most recent, on June 24, 1979, came within 4 miles. Of the 83, 6 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 33 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 38. The most recent tornado was on July 30, 2025. Colorado Springs has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 53% of the 157 Colorado cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 882 times since 1956, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Colorado Springs has more hail reports within 10 miles than any other of the 157 Colorado cities.
Compare Colorado Springs's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Colorado Springs
By decade
- 2020s6
- 2010s11
- 2000s16
- 1990s24
- 1980s6
- 1970s12(2 EF3+)
- 1960s7
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 24, 1979 | F3 | 4 mi | 4.3 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jun 13, 1977 | F3 | 7 mi | 4.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 15, 2009 | EF2 | 23 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 28, 2001 | F2 | 22 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 5 |
| May 28, 2001 | F2 | 23 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 4 |
| Jun 13, 1977 | F2 | 13 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 13, 1977 | F2 | 13 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Apr 11, 1977 | F2 | 15 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 30, 2025 | EF1 | 20 mi | 0.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 17, 2025 | EF1 | 18 mi | 0.43 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 9, 2024 | EF1 | 19 mi | 0.92 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 20, 2023 | EF1 | 12 mi | 1.45 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 83, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Colorado Springs
The Storm Prediction Center has 882 hail reports within 10 miles of Colorado Springs since 1956, made on 316 separate days. Of these, 669 were 1 inch across or larger, and 56 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 3 inches (tea cup size), was reported on 3 days, most recently June 13, 2018. The most recent report is from August 24, 2025. June has the most reports, 306.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Colorado Springs
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Colorado Springs Municipal Airport, CO, 9 miles southeast of Colorado Springs at 6,181 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 87°F and low of 58°F; December is the coolest, at 45°F and 19°F. July is the wettest at 3.1 inches of precipitation on average and December the driest at 0.2 inches; the year adds up to 16.1 inches over 37 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 23 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 160 nights a year. Snowfall averages 32.5 inches a year, most of it in March. That 16.1 inches is more than at 51 of the 91 Colorado stations used on this site (56%). Manitou Springs, 7 miles west, has its own station (Ruxton Park, CO): 24.0 inches a year, 7.9 more than here, and a July average high of 74°F against 87°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 45 | 19 | 0.3 | 1 | 4.9 |
| Feb | 47 | 20 | 0.3 | 1 | 4.6 |
| Mar | 55 | 27 | 0.8 | 2 | 5.7 |
| Apr | 61 | 34 | 1.5 | 4 | 5.5 |
| May | 71 | 44 | 2.0 | 5 | 0.6 |
| Jun | 82 | 53 | 2.3 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 87 | 58 | 3.1 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 84 | 57 | 3.0 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 77 | 49 | 1.4 | 3 | 0.2 |
| Oct | 65 | 37 | 0.8 | 2 | 2.5 |
| Nov | 53 | 26 | 0.4 | 1 | 4.4 |
| Dec | 45 | 19 | 0.2 | 1 | 4.1 |
| Year | 64 | 37 | 16.1 | 37 | 32.5 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Colorado Springs Municipal Airport, CO (6,181 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Colorado Springs
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 320 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Colorado Springs: 161 heavy rain events, 99 flash floods, 43 thunderstorm wind reports, 10 lightning strikes and 7 floods. They killed 6 people and injured 16, and the NWS estimated $3.8 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 84 mph, on July 20, 2010. July has had the most flash floods, 43 of 99. Of the 144 Colorado cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 143 have had fewer than Colorado Springs.
June 21, 2005: flash flood 5 miles from the centre of Colorado Springs — 2 killed, $100,000 damage.
NWS: “A severe thunderstorm moved south across the eastern side of Colorado Springs, causing copious amounts of hail and heavy rain. Two teenage boys were in a drainage culvert on Cottonwood Creek near Woodmen Road and Austin Bluffs Parkway, when the wave of water hit, and both drowned.”
August 9, 2013: flash flood 9 miles from the centre of Colorado Springs — 1 killed, 3 injured, $2.0 million damage.
May 30, 2001: lightning strike 8 miles from the centre of Colorado Springs — 1 killed, 3 injured.
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, events whose starting point is on record, 1996 to June 30, 2026. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses, and NWS notes that some reports are unverified.
Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings
Flood insurance policyholders in Colorado Springs's 23 ZIP codes have filed 632 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $2.6 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Late summer storms in 2013: 114 claims (18% of all) and $822,000. 18% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 56 Colorado cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 54 have fewer than Colorado Springs.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Late summer storms2013 | 114 | $822,000 |
El Paso County, which includes Colorado Springs, has been named in 20 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 12 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 floods, 5 fires, 2 biological emergencies, 2 snowstorms). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes, on August 25, 2023. FEMA's National Risk Index gives El Paso County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for lightning; Relatively High for tornadoes, hail, inland flooding and strong wind; Relatively Low for heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $212.6 million a year, the 3rd highest of 64 Colorado counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $105.2 million (49%), is from inland flooding.
Claims: FEMA, OpenFEMA Dataset FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3, summed over ZIP codes; payments in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Declarations: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, by county. Retrieved October 25, 2026. 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).
Risk ratings: FEMA, National Risk Index county table, December 2025 (v1.20), retrieved October 26, 2026; ratings compare counties nationwide, are meant for planning and are no substitute for a local risk assessment. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets 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).
What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.
Cities near Colorado Springs
- Manitou Springs, CO7 mi
- Usaf Academy, CO8 mi
- Fort Carson, CO10 mi
- Monument, CO15 mi
- Peyton, CO15 mi
- Woodland Park, CO16 mi
- Fountain, CO16 mi
- Palmer Lake, CO16 mi
- Divide, CO21 mi
- Elbert, CO22 mi
- Larkspur, CO22 mi
- Calhan, CO27 mi
All Colorado cities →All hurricanes since 1851 →Compare Colorado Springs with another place →