NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Las Animas, 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 Las Animas, Colorado since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 74 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 1 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 74
- EF3 or stronger
- 1
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for Las Animas
The strongest of the 74 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F3 on October 17, 1971; its path came within 24 miles. Of the 74, 13 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 38 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 26. The most recent tornado was on May 30, 2023. Las Animas has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 50% of the 157 Colorado cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 84 times since 1958, with stones up to 4.5 inches (grapefruit size). Of the 157 Colorado cities, 55% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Las Animas.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Las Animas
By decade
- 2020s9
- 2010s13
- 2000s16
- 1990s12
- 1980s5
- 1970s7(1 EF3+)
- 1960s5
- 1950s7
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 17, 1971 | F3 | 24 mi | 5.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 27, 2012 | EF2 | 23 mi | 6.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 16, 2004 | F2 | 24 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 1 |
| May 22, 1975 | F2 | 5 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 29, 1962 | F2 | 15 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 12, 1956 | F2 | 3 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 18, 1951 | F2 | 16 mi | 29.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 20, 2004 | F1 | 3 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Oct 11, 1997 | F1 | 5 mi | 8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 11, 1997 | F1 | 17 mi | 8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 11, 1997 | F1 | 9 mi | 15 mi | 0 / 6 |
| Jun 25, 1989 | F1 | 15 mi | 0.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 74, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Las Animas
The Storm Prediction Center has 84 hail reports within 10 miles of Las Animas since 1958, made on 62 separate days. Of these, 61 were 1 inch across or larger, and 12 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4.5 inches (grapefruit size), fell on October 11, 1997. The most recent report is from August 4, 2025. June has the most reports, 29.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Las Animas
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Las Animas, CO, 2 miles northwest of Las Animas at 3,890 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 95°F and low of 63°F; January is the coolest, at 48°F and 16°F. July is the wettest at 2.6 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 0.3 inches; the year adds up to 13.6 inches over 32 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 83 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 151 nights a year. Snowfall averages 16.2 inches a year, most of it in January. That 13.6 inches is more than at 21 of the 91 Colorado stations used on this site (23%). La Junta, 19 miles west, has its own station (La Junta, CO): 13.7 inches a year, the same as here, and a July average high of 93°F against 95°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 48 | 16 | 0.4 | 1 | 3.9 |
| Feb | 52 | 19 | 0.3 | 1 | 2.3 |
| Mar | 62 | 28 | 0.8 | 3 | 3.3 |
| Apr | 70 | 37 | 1.4 | 4 | 0.4 |
| May | 79 | 48 | 1.7 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 90 | 58 | 1.8 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 95 | 63 | 2.6 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 92 | 61 | 1.8 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 85 | 52 | 0.9 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 71 | 37 | 1.1 | 2 | 1.5 |
| Nov | 58 | 25 | 0.4 | 1 | 1.9 |
| Dec | 48 | 16 | 0.4 | 1 | 2.9 |
| Year | 71 | 38 | 13.6 | 32 | 16.2 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Las Animas, CO (3,890 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 Las Animas
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 29 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Las Animas: 20 thunderstorm wind reports, 5 floods, 3 flash floods and 1 heavy rain event. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $199,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 99 mph, on July 23, 2001.
July 23, 2001: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Las Animas — $100,000 damage.
NWS: “Damaging thunderstorm winds downed 1 1/2 miles of power poles along Highway 101 around 7 miles south of Las Animas in Bent county. It took around 2 to 3 weeks to replace the poles.”
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
Bent County, which includes Las Animas, has been named in 9 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 5 of them major disasters (by incident: 2 biological emergencies, 2 severe storms, 1 coastal storm, 1 drought). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 28, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Bent County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Low for hail, strong wind and lightning; Very Low for tornadoes, inland flooding and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $4.1 million a year, the 57th highest of 64 Colorado counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $1.3 million (32%), 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 Las Animas
- La Junta, CO19 mi
- Rocky Ford, CO29 mi
- Lamar, CO31 mi
- Ordway, CO35 mi
- Syracuse, KS75 mi
- Pueblo, CO79 mi
- Pueblo West, CO87 mi
- Calhan, CO89 mi
- Limon, CO90 mi
- Trinidad, CO92 mi
- Walsenburg, CO93 mi
- Fountain, CO93 mi
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