NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Durango, 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 Durango, Colorado since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 5 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 5
- EF3 or stronger
- 0
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for Durango
The highest rating among the 5 tornadoes within 25 miles is F1, reached 3 times; the most recent, on October 5, 2004, came within 6 miles. Of the 5, none had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 2 have come since 2000. Of the 157 Colorado cities on this site, 75% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Durango. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 15 times since 1967, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Of the 157 Colorado cities, 70% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Durango.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Durango
By decade
- 2000s2
- 1990s3
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 5, 2004 | F1 | 6 mi | 2.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 5, 1999 | F1 | 23 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 7, 1997 | F1 | 14 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 29, 2002 | F0 | 8 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 30, 1992 | F0 | 13 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 5 of 5, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Durango
The Storm Prediction Center has 15 hail reports within 10 miles of Durango since 1967, made on 11 separate days. Of these, 11 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest size, 1.75 inches (golf ball size), was reported on 3 days, most recently June 19, 2022. The most recent report is from September 11, 2025. September has the most reports, 8.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Durango
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Durango, CO, 3 miles west of Durango at 6,761 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 85°F and low of 53°F; January is the coolest, at 39°F and 13°F. August is the wettest at 2.3 inches of precipitation on average and June the driest at 0.5 inches; the year adds up to 19.7 inches over 51 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 13 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 180 nights a year. Snowfall averages 63.7 inches a year, most of it in January. That 19.7 inches is more than at 77 of the 91 Colorado stations used on this site (85%). Bayfield, 12 miles east, has its own station (Vallecito Dam, CO): 25.8 inches a year, 6.1 more than here, and a July average high of 81°F against 85°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 39 | 13 | 2.2 | 5 | 19.4 |
| Feb | 45 | 19 | 1.7 | 5 | 15.4 |
| Mar | 54 | 25 | 1.3 | 4 | 5.3 |
| Apr | 63 | 30 | 1.3 | 4 | 3.8 |
| May | 71 | 37 | 1.2 | 3 | 0.2 |
| Jun | 81 | 46 | 0.5 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 85 | 53 | 1.9 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 82 | 52 | 2.3 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 76 | 45 | 2.2 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 64 | 33 | 1.9 | 5 | 1.1 |
| Nov | 50 | 23 | 1.5 | 4 | 5.5 |
| Dec | 40 | 13 | 1.7 | 4 | 13.0 |
| Year | 63 | 32 | 19.7 | 51 | 63.7 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Durango, CO (6,761 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 Durango
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 59 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Durango: 24 heavy rain events, 18 thunderstorm wind reports, 13 flash floods, 2 floods and 2 lightning strikes. They killed 1 person and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $2.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on April 29, 1999. September has had the most flash floods, 7 of 13. Of the 144 Colorado cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 105 have had fewer than Durango.
June 6, 2020: lightning strike 2 miles from the centre of Durango — 1 killed, 1 injured.
NWS: “A 65-year-old woman was killed and her friend was injured when struck by lightning while walking in the 200 block of Silver Queen South in the Edgemont subdivision. The lightning bolt first struck a tree and moved laterally to strike the woman.”
April 29, 1999: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Durango — $1.0 million damage.
October 6, 2006: flash flood 6 miles from the centre of Durango — $1.0 million damage.
NWS: “A persistent fetch of subtropical moisture brought heavy rainfall to La Plata County in southwest Colorado for two consecutive days, October 5th and 6th. 51 inches.”
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 Durango's ZIP code 81301 have filed 41 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $813,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 2002, with 10. 10% 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, 32 have fewer than Durango.
La Plata County, which includes Durango, has been named in 10 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1970, 4 of them major disasters (by incident: 4 fires, 2 biological emergencies, 2 floods, 1 coastal storm). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 28, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives La Plata County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for lightning; Relatively Moderate for inland flooding; Very Low for tornadoes, hail, strong wind and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $39.5 million a year, the 12th highest of 64 Colorado counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $24.3 million (62%), 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 Durango
- Bayfield, CO12 mi
- Ignacio, CO15 mi
- Hesperus, CO22 mi
- Mancos, CO28 mi
- Aztec, NM32 mi
- Flora Vista, NM36 mi
- Pagosa Springs, CO38 mi
- Dolores, CO39 mi
- Cortez, CO44 mi
- Kirtland, NM47 mi
- Farmington, NM48 mi
- Bloomfield, NM48 mi
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