NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Fort Lupton, 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 Fort Lupton, Colorado since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 246 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 5 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 246
- EF3 or stronger
- 5
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
1 deaths in all
What the records show for Fort Lupton
The highest rating among the 246 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3 or EF3, reached 5 times; the most recent, on June 4, 2015, came within 19 miles. The deadliest, an EF3 on May 22, 2008, killed 1 person. Of the 246, 16 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 75 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 95. The most recent tornado was on July 14, 2025. Fort Lupton has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 92% of the 157 Colorado cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 190 times since 1957, with stones up to 4 inches (softball size). Fort Lupton has more hail reports within 10 miles than 65% of the 157 Colorado cities.
Compare Fort Lupton's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Fort Lupton
By decade
- 2020s14
- 2010s28(1 EF3+)
- 2000s33(1 EF3+)
- 1990s69
- 1980s62(1 EF3+)
- 1970s21(1 EF3+)
- 1960s9
- 1950s10(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 22, 2008 | EF3 | 10 mi | 38.69 mi | 1 / 78 |
| Jun 4, 2015 | EF3 | 19 mi | 6.71 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 12, 1982 | F3 | 20 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 18, 1975 | F3 | 18 mi | 4.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 15, 1952 | F3 | 20 mi | 7.4 mi | 0 / 5 |
| Jun 7, 2021 | EF2 | 7 mi | 7.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 5, 1988 | F2 | 17 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 5, 1988 | F2 | 10 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 2, 1987 | F2 | 15 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 20, 1987 | F2 | 24 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 8, 1986 | F2 | 21 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 18, 1984 | F2 | 14 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 246, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Fort Lupton
The Storm Prediction Center has 190 hail reports within 10 miles of Fort Lupton since 1957, made on 101 separate days. Of these, 141 were 1 inch across or larger, and 19 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4 inches (softball size), fell on May 18, 1958. The most recent report is from August 1, 2025. June has the most reports, 65.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Fort Lupton
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Brighton 3 SE, CO, 10 miles south of Fort Lupton at 5,016 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 90°F and low of 58°F; December is the coolest, at 44°F and 16°F. Highs reach 90°F on about 49 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 163 nights a year. Snowfall averages 34.5 inches a year, most of it in March. That 14.2 inches is more than at 28 of the 91 Colorado stations used on this site (31%). Dacono, 7 miles west, has its own station (Longmont 2 ESE, CO): 15.5 inches a year, 1.3 more than here, and a July average high of 91°F against 90°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 44 | 16 | 0.4 | 2 | 5.2 |
| Feb | 46 | 19 | 0.4 | 2 | 5.3 |
| Mar | 56 | 27 | 1.0 | 3 | 6.0 |
| Apr | 63 | 34 | 1.8 | 4 | 3.1 |
| May | 72 | 43 | 2.4 | 5 | 0.5 |
| Jun | 84 | 52 | 1.4 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 90 | 58 | 1.7 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 88 | 56 | 1.8 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 80 | 47 | 1.2 | 3 | 0.2 |
| Oct | 66 | 35 | 1.0 | 3 | 3.2 |
| Nov | 53 | 25 | 0.7 | 2 | 5.8 |
| Dec | 44 | 16 | 0.4 | 1 | 5.2 |
| Year | 65 | 36 | 14.2 | 34 | 34.5 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Brighton 3 SE, CO (5,016 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 Fort Lupton
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 36 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Fort Lupton: 28 thunderstorm wind reports, 4 flash floods, 2 lightning strikes, 1 flood and 1 heavy rain event. They killed 1 person and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $121,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on August 10, 1999.
June 25, 1999: thunderstorm wind in Fort Lupton — 1 killed.
NWS: “Strong thunderstorm winds toppled an oil rig. A 37-yr old man was killed when he fell 55 feet from the derrick of the rig.”
September 9, 2011: lightning strike 8 miles from the centre of Fort Lupton — 1 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 Fort Lupton's ZIP code 80621 have filed 13 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1980, and were paid $1.1 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Late summer storms in 2013: 10 claims (77% of all) and $985,000. 77% 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, 9 have fewer than Fort Lupton.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Late summer storms2013 | 10 | $985,000 |
Weld County, which includes Fort Lupton, has been named in 16 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 12 of them major disasters (by incident: 6 floods, 3 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 1 coastal storm). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 28, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Weld County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes, hail, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Moderate for inland flooding; Relatively Low for heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $104.7 million a year, the 9th highest of 64 Colorado counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $44.5 million (42%), 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.