NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Wheat Ridge, 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 Wheat Ridge, Colorado since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 157 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 2 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 157
- 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 Wheat Ridge
The highest rating among the 157 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 2 times; the most recent, on June 15, 1988, came within 10 miles. Of the 157, 9 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 34 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 76. The most recent tornado was on June 13, 2025. Wheat Ridge has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 71% of the 157 Colorado cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 586 times since 1956, with stones up to 4.5 inches (grapefruit size). Wheat Ridge has more hail reports within 10 miles than 94% of the 157 Colorado cities.
Compare Wheat Ridge's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Wheat Ridge
By decade
- 2020s8
- 2010s12
- 2000s14
- 1990s38
- 1980s47(1 EF3+)
- 1970s18(1 EF3+)
- 1960s17
- 1950s3
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 15, 1988 | F3 | 10 mi | 2.5 mi | 0 / 7 |
| May 18, 1975 | F3 | 20 mi | 4.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 15, 1988 | F2 | 10 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 5, 1988 | F2 | 12 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 5, 1988 | F2 | 17 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 2, 1987 | F2 | 21 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 8, 1986 | F2 | 11 mi | 1.1 mi | 0 / 6 |
| Jul 19, 1985 | F2 | 21 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 3, 1981 | F2 | 9 mi | 2.3 mi | 0 / 42 |
| Jun 3, 1981 | F2 | 5 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 15, 1980 | F2 | 18 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 17, 1978 | F2 | 21 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 157, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Wheat Ridge
The Storm Prediction Center has 586 hail reports within 10 miles of Wheat Ridge since 1956, made on 207 separate days. Of these, 422 were 1 inch across or larger, and 28 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4.5 inches (grapefruit size), fell on August 5, 1983. The most recent report is from August 10, 2025. June has the most reports, 233.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Wheat Ridge
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Wheat Ridge 2, CO, in Wheat Ridge at 5,398 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 88°F and low of 57°F; December is the coolest, at 47°F and 17°F. May is the wettest at 2.7 inches of precipitation on average and January and December the driest at 0.6 inches; the year adds up to 17.1 inches over 43 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 39 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 168 nights a year. Snowfall averages 75.5 inches a year, most of it in March. That 17.1 inches is more than at 58 of the 91 Colorado stations used on this site (64%). Lakewood, 5 miles south, has its own station (Lakewood, CO): 17.5 inches a year, 0.4 more than here, and a July average high of 86°F against 88°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 47 | 17 | 0.6 | 2 | 9.6 |
| Feb | 48 | 18 | 0.8 | 3 | 11.9 |
| Mar | 57 | 26 | 1.5 | 4 | 12.9 |
| Apr | 62 | 33 | 2.3 | 6 | 12.1 |
| May | 71 | 43 | 2.7 | 6 | 2.2 |
| Jun | 83 | 51 | 1.7 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 88 | 57 | 1.9 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 86 | 55 | 1.6 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 79 | 45 | 1.3 | 4 | 1.0 |
| Oct | 66 | 34 | 1.2 | 3 | 5.9 |
| Nov | 55 | 24 | 0.9 | 3 | 10.0 |
| Dec | 47 | 17 | 0.6 | 2 | 9.9 |
| Year | 66 | 35 | 17.1 | 43 | 75.5 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Wheat Ridge 2, CO (5,398 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 Wheat Ridge
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 113 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Wheat Ridge: 69 thunderstorm wind reports, 19 flash floods, 19 lightning strikes, 4 heavy rain events and 2 floods. They killed 5 people and injured 16, and the NWS estimated $10.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on June 6, 2020. June has had the most flash floods, 6 of 19. Of the 144 Colorado cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 124 have had fewer than Wheat Ridge.
May 14, 2007: heavy rain event 10 miles from the centre of Wheat Ridge — 1 killed, 1 injured.
July 19, 2016: lightning strike 2 miles from the centre of Wheat Ridge — 1 killed, 1 injured.
NWS: “Two men at the Indian Tree Golf Course were struck by lightning when they sought shelter from a rapidly developing thunderstorm under a tree. One man suffered minor injuries, while the other died from this injuries.”
July 27, 2007: lightning strike 10 miles from the centre of Wheat Ridge — 1 killed, $5,000 damage.
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 Wheat Ridge's ZIP code 80033 have filed 41 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $101,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 1979, with 10. 5% 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 Wheat Ridge.
Jefferson County, which includes Wheat Ridge, has been named in 15 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1969, 6 of them major disasters (by incident: 5 fires, 5 floods, 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 Jefferson County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for hail and lightning; Relatively High for tornadoes, inland flooding and strong wind; Relatively Low for heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $231.4 million a year, the highest of 64 Colorado counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $77.4 million (33%), 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.