Routt County, CO: risk-assessment baseline packet, release 2026-10

Summary

Plan status as of 2026-09-30: Expired on 2025-12-14. Plan: Routt County, CO Hazard Mitigation Plan 2020 (FEMA plan 106870), approved 2020-12-15.

Update: FEMA tracker shows a plan in review.

Since the plan was approved on 2020-12-15: no new federal declaration.

NOAA Storm Events records since that date: 354 records (data through 2026-06-30).

Highest expected annual loss (FEMA National Risk Index, modeled total; see B1-a): Inland Flooding ($12,617,189 a year), Avalanche ($1,410,780) and Wildfire ($645,207).

Repetitive-loss flood properties now: FMA RL 0, SRL 0 (44 CFR 77.2); any definition: 1.

The tables that follow are organized by the items of FEMA's Local Mitigation Plan Review Tool, Element B (B1-a to B2-c); each heading says which item its tables support.

Terms used

EAL:: expected annual loss: FEMA's modeled average yearly loss from a hazard.
NRI:: FEMA's National Risk Index (version 1.20, December 2025).
NFIP:: National Flood Insurance Program.
RL, SRL:: repetitive loss and severe repetitive loss: flood-insured properties with repeated claims (definitions in B2-c).
FMA, HMGP:: Flood Mitigation Assistance and Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, FEMA mitigation grants.
PA:: FEMA Public Assistance: disaster aid to governments and some nonprofits.
Zone-level:: NOAA logged the event for a National Weather Service forecast zone, which may include parts of neighboring counties.
County-coded:: NOAA logged the event to this county.
FIPS:: the federal code for a place; 08107 is this area.
D0 to D4:: U.S. Drought Monitor categories, from abnormally dry (D0) to exceptional drought (D4).
F/EF, EFU:: Fujita and Enhanced Fujita tornado ratings; EFU is an unrated tornado.
kt, CONUS:: knots (1 kt is about 1.15 mph); the contiguous United States.
CFR:: Code of Federal Regulations.
A4-a, E1-a:: other items of FEMA's Local Mitigation Plan Review Tool (sources, and changes since the last plan).
Dollars:: nominal (as reported, labeled with the year), not adjusted for inflation.

Plan clock

Status:: Expired on 2025-12-14
Plan:: Routt County, CO Hazard Mitigation Plan 2020 (FEMA plan 106870)
Approved:: 2020-12-15
Days since expiry:: 290
Update underway:: FEMA tracker shows a plan in review

Until a new plan is approved, FEMA mitigation project grants (HMGP, FMA) need a FEMA exception (44 CFR 201.6(a)(3)).

What changed since your last plan (approved 2020-12-15)

New federal declarations:: none
Storm Events records since approval:: 354 records (data through 2026-06-30)
Repetitive loss now:: FMA RL 0, SRL 0 (44 CFR 77.2); any definition: 1
Repeat-flood change:: this release sets the baseline count.

Sources: 1, 2, 4, 6 (numbered list at the end)

Plan status for every jurisdiction listed in this county

Source: 1

Jurisdiction	Type	Status	Plan	Approved	Expires	Days to expirynegative = days since expiry	Update underway
Routt County	County	Expired on 2025-12-14	Routt County, CO Hazard Mitigation Plan 2020 (FEMA plan 106870)	2020-12-15	2025-12-14	-290	FEMA tracker shows a plan in review
Hayden town	Town	Expired on 2025-12-14	Routt County, CO Hazard Mitigation Plan 2020 (FEMA plan 106870)	2020-12-15	2025-12-14	-290	FEMA tracker shows a plan in review
Oak Creek town	Town	Expired on 2025-12-14	Routt County, CO Hazard Mitigation Plan 2020 (FEMA plan 106870)	2020-12-15	2025-12-14	-290	FEMA tracker shows a plan in review
Steamboat Springs city	City	Expired on 2025-12-14	Routt County, CO Hazard Mitigation Plan 2020 (FEMA plan 106870)	2020-12-15	2025-12-14	-290	FEMA tracker shows a plan in review
Yampa town	Town	Expired on 2025-12-14	Routt County, CO Hazard Mitigation Plan 2020 (FEMA plan 106870)	2020-12-15	2025-12-14	-290	FEMA tracker shows a plan in review
Mount Werner Water and Sanitation District	Water/Sewer Authority	Expired on 2025-12-14	Routt County, CO Hazard Mitigation Plan 2020 (FEMA plan 106870)	2020-12-15	2025-12-14	-290	FEMA tracker shows a plan in review
Other (North Routt Fire Protection District)	Fire/EMS District	Expired on 2025-12-14	Routt County, CO Hazard Mitigation Plan 2020 (FEMA plan 106870)	2020-12-15	2025-12-14	-290	FEMA tracker shows a plan in review
Other (Oak Creek Fire Protection District)	Fire/EMS District	Expired on 2025-12-14	Routt County, CO Hazard Mitigation Plan 2020 (FEMA plan 106870)	2020-12-15	2025-12-14	-290	FEMA tracker shows a plan in review
Other (Steamboat Springs Fire Protection District)	Fire/EMS District	No approved plan on record	none	none	none		FEMA tracker shows a plan in review
Other (West Routt Fire Protection District)	Fire/EMS District	Expired on 2025-12-14	Routt County, CO Hazard Mitigation Plan 2020 (FEMA plan 106870)	2020-12-15	2025-12-14	-290	FEMA tracker shows a plan in review
Other (Yampa Fire Protection District)	Fire/EMS District	Expired on 2025-12-14	Routt County, CO Hazard Mitigation Plan 2020 (FEMA plan 106870)	2020-12-15	2025-12-14	-290	FEMA tracker shows a plan in review
Upper Yampa Water Conservancy District	Conservation District	Expired on 2025-12-14	Routt County, CO Hazard Mitigation Plan 2020 (FEMA plan 106870)	2020-12-15	2025-12-14	-290	FEMA tracker shows a plan in review

State plan status and tribal plans in this state: see the state page.

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-a: hazard identification

Hazards NRI does not cover (local data needed)

dam failure (incl. upstream dams)
levee failure
flash flood as its own subtype
ice jams
debris flows
erosion (riverine and coastal)
land subsidence and sinkholes
expansive soils

The 18 National Risk Index hazards, ranked by expected annual loss (EAL)

Sources: 5, 6

Rank by EAL	Hazard	NRI risk rating	EAL rating	EAL buildingsmodeled dollars per year	EAL agriculturemodeled dollars per year	Cost of expected deaths and injuriesFEMA's dollar value per year, not property damage	EAL total (see note)modeled dollars per year	Storm Events records, 1996 to 2026-06-30count	Why this hazard can be left outNRI Not Applicable, no declaration and no Storm Events record since 1996	Storm Events coverage note
1	Inland Flooding	Relatively Low	Relatively Low	$12,548,979	$242	$67,968	$12,617,189	25
2	Avalanche	Relatively Moderate	Relatively Moderate	$26	n/a	$1,410,753	$1,410,780	14
3	Wildfire	Relatively Low	Relatively Low	$616,182	$81	$28,945	$645,207	101
4	Lightning	Relatively Moderate	Relatively Moderate	$4,094	n/a	$630,101	$634,196	2
5	Earthquake	Very Low	Relatively Low	$311,295	n/a	$44,974	$356,270			Storm Events does not record earthquakes.
6	Winter Weather	Relatively Moderate	Relatively Moderate	$8,621	$3	$171,087	$179,711	1,307
7	Cold Wave	Very Low	Very Low	$48	$10,186	$96,418	$106,653	84		Includes 73 Frost/Freeze records (outside NRI's Cold Wave definition; counted in this table and in B1-d, not in the B1-e descriptor).
8	Landslide	Relatively Moderate	Relatively Low	$36,596	n/a	$48,929	$85,524	5
9	Strong Wind	Very Low	Very Low	$14,620	$176	$38,402	$53,198	90		Includes 64 High Wind and 4 Strong Wind records (NOAA non-thunderstorm wind types, outside NRI's Strong Wind definition).
10	Drought	Relatively Low	Relatively Low	n/a	$49,055	n/a	$49,055	139
11	Tornado	Very Low	Very Low	$10,862	$111	$10,483	$21,456	1
12	Ice Storm	Very Low	Very Low	$349	n/a	$20,382	$20,732	1
13	Hail	Very Low	Very Low	$11,314	$4,009	$861	$16,184	17
14	Volcanic Activity	Very Low	Very Low	under $1	n/a	$6	$6	0		No recorded events in Storm Events since 1996 (data through 2026-06-30).
15	Heat Wave	No Rating	No Expected Annual Losses	$0	$0	$0	$0	0		No recorded events in Storm Events since 1996 (data through 2026-06-30).
	Hurricane	Not Applicable	Not Applicable					0	NRI rates hurricane Not Applicable for this county, and no counted federal declaration for this county names it (EM-3224-CO names it but is not counted as a local occurrence; see B1-d).	No recorded events in Storm Events since 1996 (data through 2026-06-30).

Total = buildings + agriculture + population equivalence; FEMA values each expected death (or 10 injuries) at $13.7 million (2024 dollars).

NRI risk rating combines expected annual loss with social vulnerability and community resilience; EAL rating rates expected annual loss alone. Both compare this county with all U.S. counties.

Local data needed: state and local volcanic activity records (Storm Events records this hazard only in part).

Not applicable to this county per NRI, with no federal declaration and no Storm Events record since 1996: coastal flooding and tsunami. That is the evidence for leaving them out of the plan.

The state hazard mitigation plan also lists hazards for this county; FEMA asks the plan to explain any hazard it leaves out.

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-b: hazard location

Affects the whole county (national data give no location within it): Cold Wave, Drought, Hail, Heat Wave, Ice Storm, Lightning, Strong Wind and Winter Weather.

Inland Flooding: The FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) is the required location source for flooding. See the FEMA Flood Map Service Center (https://msc.fema.gov) for this county.

Hazards that vary within the county: highest-rated census tracts

Source: 5

Hazard	Highest-rated census tractsNRI risk rating, score 0 to 100
Avalanche	tract 7.03 (Relatively Moderate, 82.6); tract 3 (Relatively Moderate, 82.6); tract 4 (Relatively Moderate, 82.2)
Earthquake	tract 4 (Relatively Low, 67.4); tract 5 (Relatively Low, 63.1); tract 1 (Relatively Low, 54.9)
Hurricane	no tract has a National Risk Index rating for this hazard
Landslide	tract 1 (Relatively Moderate, 99.2); tract 3 (Relatively Moderate, 98.3); tract 8 (Relatively Moderate, 97.6)
Tornado	tract 4 (Very Low, 6.1); tract 1 (Very Low, 6.0); tract 8 (Very Low, 5.8)
Volcanic Activity	tract 4 (Very Low, 57.0); tract 5 (Very Low, 54.1); tract 6 (Very Low, 47.1)
Wildfire	tract 1 (Relatively Moderate, 95.8); tract 3 (Relatively Moderate, 94.8); tract 4 (Relatively Moderate, 93.5)

Up to 3 census tracts per hazard, highest National Risk Index rating first, then highest score; a tract number is the Census tract number (for example 7.03 is Census Tract 7.03). FEMA's Resilience Analysis and Planning Tool maps the National Risk Index for every tract: https://www.fema.gov/emergency-managers/practitioners/resilience-analysis-and-planning-tool

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-c: hazard extent

Extent: scale, observed range and worst recorded event per hazard

Sources: 6, 7

Hazard	Scale	Recordscount and years	Observed range	Worst recorded event	Most damaging (when different)	How it applies to jurisdictions	Note
Avalanche	none (count and damage only)	14 records, 2001 to 2026 (14 zone-level)		Avalanche, 2017-02-14, $2,000 property; $0 crops (2017 dollars); NWS zone COZ013		Countywide (zone-level records).	Physical measure: in event narratives only (local data needed).
Cold/Wind Chill, Extreme Cold/Wind Chill	wind chill	11 records, 2005 to 2025 (11 zone-level)	2 days to 16 days (median 8 days); 3 with a recorded value	16 consecutive days, 2005-12-04 to 2005-12-19, zone-level		Countywide (zone-level records).	Wind chill: in event narratives only (local data needed).
Frost/Freeze (outside NRI's Cold Wave definition)	crop damage	73 records, 2003 to 2025 (73 zone-level)		Frost/Freeze, 2017-06-13, $4,000 crop damage (2017 dollars); NWS zone COZ002		Countywide (zone-level records).	Temperature: in event narratives only (local data needed).
Drought	U.S. Drought Monitor scale (D0 to D4)	139 records, 2002 to 2026 (139 zone-level)	85 days to 1,219 days (median 242 days); 11 with a recorded value	1219 days (40 months), 2003-10-01 to 2007-01-31, a run of 40 consecutive Storm Events drought records, zone-level		Countywide (zone-level records).	Storm Events enters a drought at D2 or worse east of the Rockies and D3 or worse from the Rockies west (NWS Instruction 10-1605); NRI drought counts D3 and D4 only.
Earthquake	Modified Mercalli (local data)	0					Storm Events does not record earthquakes; the USGS earthquake catalog is the source.
Hail	hail size (inches)	19 records, 1988 to 2014	0.75 in to 2.75 in (median 1 in); 19 with a recorded value	2.75 in hail, 2005-06-24	Hail, 1997-09-20, $50,000 property; $100,000 crops (1997 dollars)	Event records naming jurisdictions in the plan: Steamboat Springs city (5 records), Hayden town (4 records), Oak Creek town (4 records).
Excessive Heat, Heat	heat index (in event narratives)	0					Heat index: in event narratives only (local data needed).
Hurricane, Tropical Storm, Tropical Depression	Saffir-Simpson	0					Storm Events files every zone of a storm's episode under the storm's type; flooding from the storm is filed as Flood or Flash Flood records.
Ice Storm	Sperry-Piltz ice scale (local data)	1 record, 2017 (1 zone-level)		Ice Storm, 2017-01-09, $2,000 property; $0 crops (2017 dollars); NWS zone COZ005		Countywide (zone-level records).	Ice thickness: in event narratives only (local data needed).
Flash Flood, Flood, Lakeshore Flood	damage and flood days (flood depth: FIRM)	25 records, 1997 to 2024 (8 zone-level)		Flood, 1997-06-01, $100,000 property; crops not reported (1997 dollars); NWS zone COZ005		Event records naming jurisdictions in the plan: Hayden town (3 records), Steamboat Springs city (3 records). Zone-level records (8) apply countywide.	Flood depth: see the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map. Storm Events damage is often $0 or blank for floods, major ones included; FEMA Public Assistance by declaration (B1-d) shows which floods cost the most.
Debris Flow	none (count and damage only)	5 records, 2005 to 2023 (3 zone-level)		No damage reported in 5 records.		No event record names a jurisdiction in the plan. Zone-level records (3) apply countywide.	Physical measure: in event narratives only (local data needed).
Lightning	annualized frequency (the measure FEMA's Local Mitigation Planning Handbook names)	2 records, 2003 to 2009		Lightning, 2009-06-03, $30,000 property; $0 crops (2009 dollars)		Event records naming jurisdictions in the plan: Steamboat Springs city (1 record), Yampa town (1 record).	Storm Events lists lightning with damage or casualties; physical measure in event narratives only (local data needed).
High Wind and Strong Wind (outside NRI's Strong Wind definition)	wind speed (kt and mph)	68 records, 1996 to 2026 (68 zone-level)	35 kt (40 mph) to 120 kt (138 mph) (median 56 kt (64 mph)); 65 with a recorded value	120 kt (138 mph), measurement type not recorded, High Wind, 1997-10-25; Storm Events area ELKHEAD AND PARK MOUNTAINS/FLAT TOPS/WHITE RIVER PLATEAU / E RIO BLANCO / NE GARFIELD / X NW EAGLE / ROUTT EXCEPT C XS (legacy zone code COZ004)	Strong Wind, 2005-04-08, $200,000 property; crops not reported, reported for the zone (2005 dollars)	Countywide (zone-level records).
Thunderstorm Wind	wind speed (kt and mph)	27 records, 1976 to 2024	42 kt (48 mph) to 75 kt (86 mph) (median 52 kt (60 mph)); 26 with a recorded value	75 kt (86 mph), measurement type not recorded, Thunderstorm Wind, 1997-09-19	Thunderstorm Wind, 2004-07-08, $45,000 property; crops not reported (2004 dollars)	Event records naming jurisdictions in the plan: Steamboat Springs city (11 records), Hayden town (4 records), Oak Creek town (1 record).
Tornado	Enhanced Fujita (Fujita before Feb 2007)	3 records, 1980 to 2018	F/EF0 to F/EF1 (median F/EF0); 3 with a recorded value	F1 tornado, 1980-05-30, 0.5 mi path length (whole path, pre-1996), 40 yd wide, $2,500 property; crops not recorded (1980 dollars)		Event records naming jurisdictions in the plan: Steamboat Springs city (1 record).	Before 1996 a tornado is listed once, under the county where it began, with its whole path's rating and length; from 1996 on, each county lists its own segment. Length is not used to rank tornadoes (see Methods).
Volcanic Ash, Volcanic Ashfall	Volcanic Explosivity Index (local data)	0					Physical measure: in event narratives only (local data needed).
Wildfire	acres burned (local data)	101 records, 1999 to 2025 (80 zone-level)		Wildfire, 2023-07-16, $300,000 property; $0 crops (2023 dollars); NWS zone COZ002		Event records naming jurisdictions in the plan: Steamboat Springs city (18 records), Oak Creek town (2 records). Zone-level records (80) apply countywide.	Acres burned: in event narratives only (local data needed).
Winter Storm, Heavy Snow, Blizzard, Lake-Effect Snow, Winter Weather, Sleet	none in data (snowfall: local data)	1,307 records, 1996 to 2026 (1,307 zone-level)		Heavy Snow, 2003-04-23, $30,000 property; crops not reported (2003 dollars); NWS zone COZ005		Countywide (zone-level records).	Snow depth: in event narratives only (local data needed).

Storm Events records are more complete after 1996; before 1996 only Tornado (from 1950), Hail and Thunderstorm Wind (from 1955) exist. Zone-level records whose zone no NWS zone-county file places in this county (mostly before 2020) are not counted here (the Methods page explains the zone matching).

Dollars are nominal (as reported), labeled with the year; not adjusted for inflation.

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-d: previous occurrences

Federal declarations for this county: 6 declarations covering 3 separate hazard incidents counted in this packet (declarations for the same incident count once; non-natural and evacuation-only declarations are not counted).

Federal disaster declarations for this county

Sources: 1, 2, 3

Declared	Incident began	FEMA number	Type	Title	Mapped hazard	County Public Assistancefederal share obligated, nominal dollars	Flags	Notes
2020-03-28	2020-01-20	DR-4498-CO	Major disaster	COVID-19 Pandemic	Non-natural, not counted	$113,966.89	in the 12 months before plan approval
2020-03-13	2020-01-20	EM-3436-CO	Emergency	COVID-19	Non-natural, not counted	no Public Assistance recorded	in the 12 months before plan approval	same incident as DR-4498
2005-09-05	2005-08-29	EM-3224-CO	Emergency	Hurricane Katrina Evacuation	Hurricane: evacuation support, not a local hazard event; not counted	no Public Assistance recorded
2002-06-19	2002-04-23	DR-1421-CO	Major disaster	Wildfires	Wildfire	PA not declared for this county
1984-07-27	1984-07-27	DR-719-CO	Major disaster	Severe Storms, Mudslides, Landslides & Flooding	Inland Flooding (primary); also designated: Landslide	no Public Assistance recorded
1977-01-29	1977-01-29	EM-3025-CO	Emergency	Drought	Drought	no Public Assistance recorded

County Public Assistance: applicants the FEMA record places in this county, including any state agencies FEMA files there; statewide rows are listed on the state page; federal share obligated, nominal dollars.

Statewide declarations

Source: 2

Declared	Incident began	FEMA number	Type	Title	Mapped hazard
1956-06-12	1956-06-12	DR-59-CO	Major disaster	Flood	Inland Flooding
1955-05-25	1955-05-25	DR-33-CO	Major disaster	Flood	Inland Flooding

FEMA recorded these with designated area Statewide and no county, so they are listed on every county page in the state and not counted with county rows. Local data needed: whether each one affected this county.

10 Fire Management declarations (1978-09-12 to 2016-07-10) FEMA filed as Statewide with no county; each names one local fire. Listed on the state page.

Previous occurrences by hazard, with explicit no-event rows

Sources: 2, 6, 7

Hazard	Storm Events records, all years on file(years in the Period column)	Since plan approvalrecords	In the 12 months before plan approvalrecords	Last 5 yearsrecords	Declared incidents, all yearsseparate disasters	Period	Statement
Avalanche	14	3	1	3	0	1996 to 2026-06-30
Cold Wave	84	31	11	27	0	1996 to 2026-06-30	Includes 73 Frost/Freeze records.
Drought	139	26	5	17	1	1996 to 2026-06-30
Earthquake	0	0	0	0	0		Storm Events does not record earthquakes; the USGS earthquake catalog is the source.
Hail	19	0	0	0	0	1955 to 2026-06-30
Heat Wave	0	0	0	0	0	1996 to 2026-06-30	No recorded events, 1996 to 2026-06-30, NOAA NCEI Storm Events
Hurricane	0	0	0	0	0	1996 to 2026-06-30	No recorded events, 1996 to 2026-06-30, NOAA NCEI Storm Events
Ice Storm	1	0	0	0	0	1996 to 2026-06-30
Inland Flooding	25	7	0	7	1	1996 to 2026-06-30
Landslide	5	1	0	1	1	1996 to 2026-06-30
Lightning	2	0	0	0	0	1996 to 2026-06-30
Strong Wind	95	26	11	26	0	1955 to 2026-06-30	Includes 64 High Wind and 4 Strong Wind records.
Tornado	3	0	0	0	0	1950 to 2026-06-30
Volcanic Activity	0	0	0	0	0	1996 to 2026-06-30	No recorded events, 1996 to 2026-06-30, NOAA NCEI Storm Events
Wildfire	101	31	11	22	1	1996 to 2026-06-30
Winter Weather	1,307	229	33	207	0	1996 to 2026-06-30

Notable Storm Events records

Sources: 1, 6, 7

Date	Event type	Magnitude or extent	Damagenominal dollars	Deaths, injuriesdirect only	Location	Flags	Why listed
2023-07-16	Wildfire		$300,000 property; $0 crops, reported for the zone (2023 dollars)	0, 0	NWS zone COZ002 (CENTRAL YAMPA RIVER BASIN), zone-level	new since last plan; within last 5 years	B1-c worst recorded: Wildfire
2022-03-19	Avalanche		$0 property; $0 crops, reported for the zone (2022 dollars)	1, 0	NWS zone COZ004 (ELKHEAD AND PARK MOUNTAINS), zone-level	new since last plan; within last 5 years	deaths or injuries recorded
2020-02-15	Avalanche		$0 property; $0 crops, reported for the zone (2020 dollars)	2, 1	NWS zone COZ013 (FLATTOP MOUNTAINS), zone-level	in the 12 months before plan approval	deaths or injuries recorded
2017-06-13	Frost/Freeze		$0 property; $4,000 crops, reported for the zone (2017 dollars)	0, 0	NWS zone COZ002 (CENTRAL YAMPA RIVER BASIN), zone-level		B1-c worst recorded: Frost/Freeze
2017-02-14	Avalanche		$2,000 property; $0 crops, reported for the zone (2017 dollars)	0, 0	NWS zone COZ013 (FLATTOP MOUNTAINS), zone-level		B1-c worst recorded: Avalanche
2009-06-03	Lightning		$30,000 property; $0 crops (2009 dollars)	0, 0	YAMPA		B1-c worst recorded: Lightning
2008-02-01	Avalanche		$1,000 property; $0 crops, reported for the zone (2008 dollars)	1, 0	NWS zone COZ013 (FLATTOP MOUNTAINS), zone-level		deaths or injuries recorded
2005-12-04	Cold/Wind Chill		damage not reported	0, 0	NWS zone COZ002 (CENTRAL YAMPA RIVER BASIN), zone-level		B1-c worst recorded: Cold/Wind Chill, Extreme Cold/Wind Chill
2003-04-23	Heavy Snow		$30,000 property; crops not reported, reported for the zone (2003 dollars)	0, 0	NWS zone COZ005 (UPPER YAMPA RIVER BASIN), zone-level		B1-c worst recorded: Winter Storm, Heavy Snow, Blizzard, Lake-Effect Snow, Winter Weather, Sleet
1997-10-25	High Wind	120 kt (138 mph), measurement type not recorded	$50,000 property; crops not reported, reported for the zone (1997 dollars)	0, 0	Storm Events area ELKHEAD AND PARK MOUNTAINS/FLAT TOPS/WHITE RIVER PLATEAU / E RIO BLANCO / NE GARFIELD / X NW EAGLE / ROUTT EXCEPT C XS (legacy zone code COZ004), zone-level		B1-c worst recorded: High Wind and Strong Wind
1997-09-19	Thunderstorm Wind	75 kt (86 mph), measurement type not recorded	damage not reported	0, 0	STEAMBOAT SPGS		B1-c worst recorded: Thunderstorm Wind
1997-06-01	Flood		$100,000 property; crops not reported, reported for the zone (1997 dollars)	0, 0	NWS zone COZ005 (UPPER YAMPA RIVER BASIN/STEAMBOAT SPRINGS AND VICINITY), zone-level		B1-c worst recorded: Flash Flood, Flood, Lakeshore Flood

The full list is in the Excel file, sheet "B1-d Storm Events history" (1,795 rows).

Location is the place NOAA recorded, as written in its data; it need not be a jurisdiction in this plan.

Local data needed: state-declared emergencies, from your state emergency management agency (federal data do not include them).

Tribal and special-area declarations in this state are listed on the state page.

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-e: probability of future events

Probability: FEMA annualized frequency and descriptor per hazard

Sources: 5, 6

Hazard	FEMA annualized frequency (modeled)unit per row	Unit	In plain terms	Descriptor	Descriptor basis	NRI events or days in its record period (hail, wind and tornado are area-weighted, so can be fractional)	NRI period	Location	Note
Avalanche	0.2	events per year	about 1 in 5 years	Likely	FEMA annualized frequency (modeled)	6	1994 to 2023 (30 years)	see B1-f
Cold Wave	0.0968	event-days per year	about 0.0968 days per year	Likely (from Storm Events: 3 of 30 years)	event-days in 3 of 30 years, 1996 to 2025 (10%)	1.84	2005-11-12 to 2024-11-12 (19 years)	countywide
Drought	59.6	event-days per year	about 59.6 days per year	Likely (from Storm Events: 17 of 30 years)	event-days in 17 of 30 years, 1996 to 2025 (56.7%)	1,750	2000 to 2025 (25.25 years; D3 and D4 only)	countywide
Earthquake	0.00104	annual probability at a location	chance a given location in the county has at least minor-damage shaking in a year: 0.104%			not shown	modeled	see B1-f	No descriptor (Storm Events does not record earthquakes).
Hail	0.0756	events per year	about 1 in 13 years	Possible	FEMA annualized frequency (modeled)	2.9 (modeled)	1986 to 2023 (38 years)	countywide
Heat Wave	0	event-days per year	none modeled		event-days in 0 of 30 years, 1996 to 2025 (0%)	0	2005-11-12 to 2024-11-12 (19 years)	countywide	No Storm Events heat wave record, 1996 to 2025
Hurricane		events per year					1851 to 2024 (Atlantic)	see B1-f	Not Applicable in NRI for this county; no descriptor.
Ice Storm	0.0149	event-days per year	about 0.0149 days per year	Possible (from Storm Events: 1 of 30 years)	event-days in 1 of 30 years, 1996 to 2025 (3.33%)	0	1946-12-31 to 2014-02-12 (67 years)	countywide
Inland Flooding	0.786	event-days per year	about 0.786 days per year	Likely (from Storm Events: 11 of 30 years)	event-days in 11 of 30 years, 1996 to 2025 (36.7%)	22	1996 to 2023 (28 years)	see B1-f
Landslide	1.43	events per year (modeled)	about 1.43 per year	Highly likely	FEMA annualized frequency (modeled)	not shown	modeled	see B1-f
Lightning	55.1	days per year with a strike	about 55.1 days per year	Highly likely	FEMA annualized frequency (modeled)	not shown	1995 to 2023 (29 years; CONUS)	countywide
Strong Wind	0.18	events per year	about 1 in 6 years	Likely	FEMA annualized frequency (modeled)	7	1986 to 2023 (38 years)	countywide
Tornado	0.0457	events per year	about 1 in 22 years	Possible	FEMA annualized frequency (modeled)	not shown	1950 to 2023 (EF2+); 1986 to 2023 (EF0-1)	see B1-f
Volcanic Activity	0.0001	annual probability	about 1 in 10,000 years	Unlikely	FEMA annualized frequency (modeled)	not shown	modeled	see B1-f
Wildfire	0.00127	annual probability at a location	chance a given location in the county burns in a year: 0.127%	Likely (from Storm Events: 18 of 30 years)	Storm Events records in 18 of 30 years, 1996 to 2025 (60%)	not shown	modeled	see B1-f	Descriptor from Storm Events, not NRI.
Winter Weather	45.6	event-days per year	about 45.6 days per year	Highly likely (from Storm Events: 30 of 30 years)	event-days in 30 of 30 years, 1996 to 2025 (100%)	867	2005-11-12 to 2024-11-12 (19 years)	countywide

FEMA annualized frequency (modeled) is the National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025) estimate of how often a hazard affects this county in a year; it is not recorded events divided by years, and its unit differs by hazard (events, event-days, or days with a lightning strike per year). For earthquake, wildfire, coastal flooding and tsunami the value is the chance (or number of events) at a location in the county, not across the county, so no "1 in N years" is given and the descriptor comes from Storm Events where it has a record (none for earthquake). The Methods page gives each hazard's method, from FEMA's National Risk Index Technical Documentation v1.20.

Descriptor scale used in this packet (defined per unit)

Sources: 5, 6

Unit	Descriptor	Definition
events per year	Highly likely	1 or more per year
events per year	Likely	about once in 1 to 10 years
events per year	Possible	about once in 10 to 100 years
events per year	Unlikely	less than once in 100 years
annual probability	Likely	10% to under 100% chance in a given year
annual probability	Possible	1% to under 10% chance in a given year
annual probability	Unlikely	under 1% chance in a given year
event-days (share of years)	Highly likely	event-days recorded in 90% or more of years
event-days (share of years)	Likely	event-days recorded in 10% to under 90% of years
event-days (share of years)	Possible	event-days recorded in some years but under 10% of years
lightning strike-days	Highly likely	cloud-to-ground strikes on 1 or more days per year

Intensity bands: historical frequency (Storm Events)

Source: 6

Hazard	Band	Years	Eventscounty-coded records	Years in period	Events per yearevents / years
Hail	1.00-1.99 in	1996 to 2025	8	30	0.267
Hail	2.00 in+	1996 to 2025	1	30	0.0333
Thunderstorm Wind (counted as NRI Strong Wind)	50-64 kt	1996 to 2025	16	30	0.533
Thunderstorm Wind (counted as NRI Strong Wind)	65 kt+	1996 to 2025	3	30	0.1
Thunderstorm Wind (counted as NRI Strong Wind)	unmeasured or below 50 kt	1996 to 2025	3	30	0.1
Tornado	EF0-1	1996 to 2025	1	30	0.0333
Tornado	EF2-3	1996 to 2025	0	30	0
Tornado	EF4-5	1996 to 2025	0	30	0
Tornado	unrated (EFU)	1996 to 2025	0	30	0

The bands show how often events of each severity were recorded in this county, to profile how severe events have been (FEMA's probability item asks for the range of intensities).

Hail smaller than 1 inch is not counted: on 2010-01-05 the National Weather Service raised its severe-hail threshold from 3/4 inch to 1 inch, so smaller reports became less common after 2009 (NWS Service Change Notice 09-52). NRI hail frequency uses a 0.75 inch threshold.

Optional: future conditions. Not a required item in the 2025 FEMA Local Mitigation Planning Policy Guide; some states ask for it. The federal Climate Mapping for Resilience and Adaptation (CMRA) site gives county exposure to future climate conditions (https://resilience.climate.gov/).

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-f: hazards that vary across jurisdictions

Range of census tract risk within the county

Source: 5

Hazard	Tractsrated of all	NRI risk score, 0 to 100			Tracts by rating
Hazard	Tractsrated of all	Min	Median	Max	Tracts by rating
Avalanche	6 of 10	79.9	81.7	82.6	Relatively Moderate 6, Not Applicable 4
Cold Wave	10 of 10	19.5	23.0	30.6	Relatively Low 10
Drought	8 of 10	67.9	80.1	91.8	Relatively Low 4, Very Low 4, No Rating 2
Earthquake	10 of 10	17.1	46.5	67.4	Relatively Low 7, Very Low 3
Hail	10 of 10	10.1	25.7	32.0	Very Low 10
Heat Wave	0 of 10				No Rating 10
Hurricane	0 of 10				Not Applicable 10
Ice Storm	10 of 10	12.1	22.9	37.4	Relatively Low 2, Very Low 8
Inland Flooding	10 of 10	14.0	72.9	95.8	Very High 1, Relatively High 4, Relatively Moderate 4, Very Low 1
Landslide	10 of 10	22.3	93.4	99.2	Relatively Moderate 4, Relatively Low 3, Very Low 3
Lightning	10 of 10	78.3	91.9	97.9	Very High 2, Relatively High 8
Strong Wind	10 of 10	14.8	20.7	30.1	Relatively Low 5, Very Low 5
Tornado	10 of 10	2.4	4.2	6.1	Very Low 10
Volcanic Activity	10 of 10	42.4	45.6	57.0	Very Low 10
Wildfire	10 of 10	30.2	91.7	95.8	Relatively Moderate 7, Relatively Low 2, Very Low 1
Winter Weather	10 of 10	75.9	89.1	94.3	Relatively High 9, Relatively Moderate 1

Drought: Agriculture is all of NRI's expected annual loss for this hazard in the county, so the tract range mostly reflects where crop and livestock value is.

Rated tracts only: No Rating (score 0.0), Not Applicable and Insufficient Data tracts are counted but not used for the minimum, median and maximum.

The score ranks a tract against all U.S. tracts (100 = highest). The rating is FEMA's category for the tract's risk value, computed differently, so the two can disagree.

Frequency data for cold wave, drought, hail, ice storm, lightning, strong wind and winter weather are county-wide or coarse (49 km grid or NWS zone), the same for every jurisdiction; the tract range mostly reflects where buildings and people are (crop and livestock value where a line above names agriculture).

Each jurisdiction (starting figures from federal data)

Sources: 1, 3, 4, 6

Jurisdiction	Type	Plan status	Repetitive lossFMA RL and SRL (44 CFR 77.2); repeat-flood, any definition	Public Assistance to this jurisdictionFEMA records matched by applicant name; federal share obligated, nominal dollars	Event records naming this placeall years; since its plan	Notes
Routt County	County	Expired on 2025-12-14	FMA RL 0, SRL 0; any 0	no Public Assistance recorded	0 total; 0 since its plan
Hayden town	Town	Expired on 2025-12-14	FMA RL 0, SRL 0; any 0	no Public Assistance recorded	11 total; 2 since its plan
Oak Creek town	Town	Expired on 2025-12-14	FMA RL 0, SRL 0; any 0	no Public Assistance recorded	7 total; 0 since its plan
Steamboat Springs city	City	Expired on 2025-12-14	FMA RL 0, SRL 0; any 1	$31,272.73	39 total; 2 since its plan	Includes $31,272.73 for declarations not counted as hazard incidents (DR-4498-CO).
Yampa town	Town	Expired on 2025-12-14	FMA RL 0, SRL 0; any 0	no Public Assistance recorded	1 total; 0 since its plan

Repetitive-loss counts are for whole NFIP communities, which can extend beyond this county (see the note in B2-c).

School districts and special districts get a plan clock row only.

County Public Assistance in B1-d also includes applicants filed under the county that are not jurisdictions in this plan (for example state agencies, special districts and nonprofits), so the jurisdiction rows add up to less.

Supports FEMA checklist items B2-a and B2-b: vulnerability and potential impacts

Local data needed

The table below gives county-level starting figures; the plan describes impacts for each jurisdiction and its own assets.

Critical facilities and lifelines per hazard
A problem statement per jurisdiction per hazard
Changes in development in hazard-prone areas since the last approval, or a statement of none (E1-a)
Future assets

County-level starter: exposure, expected annual loss and damage since the plan

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7

Hazard	Building exposuremodeled dollars	Agriculture exposuremodeled dollars	Population exposedpeople	EAL buildingsmodeled dollars per year	EAL agriculturemodeled dollars per year	Cost of expected deaths and injuriesFEMA's dollar value per year, not property damage	EAL as % of exposurebuildings; agriculture where noted	Storm Events damage since 2020-12-15county-coded records, property plus crops, nominal dollars	Zone-level damage since planproperty plus crops, reported for the zone	Note
Avalanche	$4,397,226	n/a	10	$26	n/a	$1,410,753	0.000601%		$0
Cold Wave	$7,059,626,539	$40,749,616	24,767	$48	$10,186	$96,418	under 0.0001%		$0
Drought	n/a	$4,334,819	n/a	n/a	$49,055	n/a	1.13% (agriculture)		$0	NRI has no building exposure for this hazard; agriculture shown
Earthquake	$11,765,506,943	n/a	24,829	$311,295	n/a	$44,974	0.00265%
Hail	$7,059,626,539	$40,749,616	24,767	$11,314	$4,009	$861	0.00016%
Heat Wave	$0	$0	0	$0	$0	$0				building exposure is 0 in NRI
Hurricane										Not Applicable in NRI for this county
Ice Storm	$7,059,626,539	n/a	24,767	$349	n/a	$20,382	under 0.0001%
Inland Flooding	$7,040,774,477	$3,768,741	1,299	$12,548,979	$242	$67,968	n/a (see note)	$4,500		NRI counts the full building value of any census block with some flood loss; this is not the value of buildings in the floodplain. Use local FIRM overlays for B2-a/B2-b.
Landslide	$782,801,912	n/a	2,367	$36,596	n/a	$48,929	0.00467%	$0
Lightning	$7,059,626,539	n/a	24,767	$4,094	n/a	$630,101	under 0.0001%
Strong Wind	$7,059,626,539	$40,749,616	24,767	$14,620	$176	$38,402	0.000207%	$5,000	$32,500	Storm Events damage since the plan includes 1 zone-level High Wind record ($32,500): a NOAA non-thunderstorm wind type, outside NRI's Strong Wind definition.
Tornado	$7,059,626,539	$40,749,616	24,767	$10,862	$111	$10,483	0.000154%
Volcanic Activity	$7,059,626,539	n/a	24,767	under $1	n/a	$6	under 0.0001%
Wildfire	$1,860,641,544	$22,668,819	9,918	$616,182	$81	$28,945	0.0331%		$1,612,000
Winter Weather	$7,059,626,539	$40,749,616	24,767	$8,621	$3	$171,087	0.000122%		$0

Totals since 2020-12-15 (Storm Events through 2026-06-30): 9 county-coded records, 9 with a damage value recorded (including $0), $9,500; 345 zone-level records, 345 with a damage value recorded (including $0), $1,644,500 reported for the zone; Public Assistance: no counted declaration since the plan.

FEMA does not split Public Assistance by hazard. A declaration mapped to several hazards is listed under each of them with its full amount, so the per-hazard column does not add up to the total; the unit total counts each declaration once.

NRI computes earthquake exposure on its own basis, so it exceeds the county building value in B2-a.

Supports FEMA checklist item B2-a: vulnerability (county context)

County context

Source: 5

Measure	Value
Population	24,767
Building value (total, not at risk)	$7,059,626,539
Agriculture value (total, not at risk)	$40,749,616
NRI risk rating (all hazards)	Very Low
Expected annual loss, buildings and agriculture, all hazards	$13,626,848
Expected annual loss, population equivalence, all hazards (NRI values each statistical life at $13.7M; a modeled value of expected deaths and injuries, not property damage)	$2,569,309
Social vulnerability rating	Very Low
Community resilience rating	Relatively High
NRI version	December 2025

FEMA's all-hazard expected annual loss adds buildings, agriculture and population equivalence; this table gives the property part and the population-equivalence part as separate rows.

Social vulnerability: higher means people are more likely to be harmed and slower to recover. Community resilience: lower means the community is less able to recover. High social vulnerability and low resilience both raise the NRI risk rating.

Supports FEMA checklist item B2-c: repetitive loss properties

Repetitive loss in this county, both definitions

Sources: 1, 4

Definition	Properties	Severe repetitive loss	Properties
Repetitive loss, FMA definition (44 CFR 77.2)	0	Severe repetitive loss, FMA definition (44 CFR 77.2)	0
Repetitive loss, NFIP insurance definition	1	Severe repetitive loss, NFIP insurance definition	0

The state NFIP coordinator's list, the source FEMA's Handbook names, often uses the NFIP insurance definition (second row).

Repeat-flood properties: county and state-level rows

Sources: 1, 4

Scope	RL, NFIPproperties	Any categoryproperties
County total	1	1
of which: Steamboat Springs city	1	1
Statewide, no county in FEMA's file	8	8

The statewide row counts properties FEMA's file gives with no county in this state; they are listed for reference and are not in this county's counts.

Repeat-flood properties by jurisdiction in the plan (NFIP community)

Sources: 1, 4

Jurisdiction	NFIP community ID	RL, NFIPproperties	Any categoryproperties
Routt County	080156	0	0
Hayden town	080157	0	0
Oak Creek town	080158	0	0
Steamboat Springs city	080159	1	1
Yampa town	080160	0	0

Counts by occupancy group for each jurisdiction are in the Excel file, sheet "B2-c Jurisdictions".

Jurisdiction rows are whole NFIP communities and need not add up to the county total: a community that extends into another county is counted in full on each jurisdiction row, while the county table counts only its part in this county.

County repeat-flood properties by occupancy group

Sources: 1, 4

Occupancy group	RL, NFIPproperties	Any categoryproperties
single-family residential	1	1
2 to 4 unit residential	0	0
other residential	0	0
non-residential	0	0
not reported	0	0

FEMA's occupancy groups have no institutional class; institutional properties are counted in non-residential or other residential in the table by occupancy group.

FMA RL and FMA SRL are the Flood Mitigation Assistance definitions (44 CFR 77.2), the ones the FEMA Local Mitigation Planning Policy Guide cites. NFIP repetitive loss (the FEMA insurance definition) is 2 or more claims over $1,000 in 10 years, and a property can leave that group once it is mitigated. Also shown: NFIP severe repetitive loss, any category, mitigated and currently insured. The Methods page gives the OpenFEMA field details.

Counts are aggregates of FEMA's public NFIP Multiple Loss Properties file (FEMA's data date 2026-08-02; file version 2026-08-04). No property is identified. County assignment is FEMA's geocode.

In this county 0 properties are FMA repetitive loss but not NFIP repetitive loss, and 1 property is NFIP repetitive loss but not FMA repetitive loss.

Exact counts; no count suppression.

Sources

Tables cite these sources by number. The full list, for the plan's bibliography (FEMA review item A4-a):

FEMA, OpenFEMA HazardMitigationPlanStatuses v1, version 2026-09-29T134039Z, pulled 2026-09-30, https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v1/HazardMitigationPlanStatuses (API)
FEMA, OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2, version 2026-09-29T162832Z, pulled 2026-09-30, https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v2/DisasterDeclarationsSummaries (API)
FEMA, OpenFEMA PublicAssistanceFundedProjectsSummaries v1, version 2026-09-29T150754Z, pulled 2026-09-30, https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v1/PublicAssistanceFundedProjectsSummaries (API)
FEMA, OpenFEMA NfipMultipleLossProperties v1, version 2026-08-04T164045Z, pulled 2026-09-30, https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v1/NfipMultipleLossProperties (API)
FEMA, FEMA National Risk Index 1.20.0 (December 2025), county and census tract tables, version 1.20.0, pulled 2026-09-30, https://www.fema.gov/about/reports-and-data/openfema/nri/v120/NRI_Table_Counties.zip (download, 25 MB), https://www.fema.gov/about/reports-and-data/openfema/nri/v120/NRI_Table_CensusTracts.zip (download, 635 MB)
NOAA NCEI, NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, details files (csvfiles v1.0), version c20260918, pulled 2026-09-30, https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/data/swdi/stormevents/csvfiles/
NOAA National Weather Service, NWS county-public forecast zones correlation file, version bp03mr20 to bp16ap26 (11 files; newest bp16ap26), pulled 2026-09-30, https://www.weather.gov/gis/ZoneCounty
U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2024 Gazetteer, 2020 place by county, CT county-to-cousub crosswalk, version 2024-gazetteer, pulled 2026-09-30, https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2024_Gazetteer/2024_Gaz_counties_national.zip, https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2024_Gazetteer/2024_Gaz_cousubs_national.zip, https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2024_Gazetteer/2024_Gaz_place_national.zip, https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2024_Gazetteer/2024_Gaz_unsd_national.zip, https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2024_Gazetteer/2024_Gaz_elsd_national.zip, https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2024_Gazetteer/2024_Gaz_scsd_national.zip, https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/reference/codes2020/national_place_by_county2020.txt, https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/reference/ct_change/ct_cou_to_cousub_crosswalk.xlsx (used to match place names and codes; no table prints its values)

What this packet is and what the plan adds

This packet is the federal data for the plan's risk assessment, organized by the items of FEMA's Local Mitigation Plan Review Tool, Element B. Each section heading names the item its tables support; the plan and FEMA's review decide whether the item is met.

The plan adds what only the community has: local data on assets, critical facilities, development and each jurisdiction's impacts; local hazard history, including state-declared emergencies; the mitigation strategy; and adoption.

How the federal data are built: National Risk Index values are FEMA's model, not counts of events. Storm Events is more complete from 1996; zone-level records are placed by forecast zone, not by location in the county. Public Assistance for a jurisdiction is matched by applicant name. The Methods page gives every rule and the known edge cases.

OpenFEMA disclaimer

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).

Reuse, citation and corrections

Reuse and citation: Hazard Plain text and tables are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/); credit Hazard Plain and the release. The underlying federal data are public domain; OpenFEMA data are also subject to the OpenFEMA terms and conditions.

Cite this: Hazard Plain (2026). Routt County, CO: risk-assessment baseline packet, release 2026-10 (data as of 2026-09-30; County FIPS 08107). Automated baseline. https://hazardplain.org/co/08107/ Built from FEMA OpenFEMA, the FEMA National Risk Index and NOAA NCEI Storm Events; source versions in the packet's Sources list.

Corrections: to report an error, name the packet, the table and what your records show. Contact: [email protected]

Hazard Plain release 2026-10. As of 2026-09-30; Storm Events data through 2026-06-30. Automated baseline.