Lincoln County Natural Disasters and Weather Extremes
The chance of earthquake damage in Lincoln County is lower than Colorado average and is much lower than the national average. The risk of tornado damage in Lincoln County is about the same as Colorado average and is lower than the national average.
Earthquake Index, #44
| Lincoln County | 0.08 |
| Colorado | 1.32 |
| U.S. | 1.81 |
The earthquake index value is calculated based on historical earthquake events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the earthquake level in a region. A higher earthquake index value means a higher chance of an earthquake.
Volcano Index, #26
| Lincoln County | 0.0000 |
| Colorado | 0.0009 |
| U.S. | 0.0023 |
The volcano index value is calculated based on the currently known volcanoes using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the possibility of a region being affected by a possible volcano eruption. A higher volcano index value means a higher chance of being affected.
Tornado Index, #20
| Lincoln County | 109.21 |
| Colorado | 117.98 |
| U.S. | 136.45 |
The tornado index value is calculated based on historical tornado events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the tornado level in a region. A higher tornado index value means a higher chance of tornado events.
Other Weather Extremes Events
A total of 8,914 other weather extremes events within 50 miles of Lincoln County were recorded from 1950 to 2010. The following is a break down of these events:
| Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count |
| Avalanche: | 0 | Blizzard: | 10 | Cold: | 1 | Dense Fog: | 1 | Drought: | 27 |
| Dust Storm: | 0 | Flood: | 358 | Hail: | 6,429 | Heat: | 0 | Heavy Snow: | 43 |
| High Surf: | 0 | Hurricane: | 0 | Ice Storm: | 0 | Landslide: | 0 | Strong Wind: | 24 |
| Thunderstorm Winds: | 1,600 | Tropical Storm: | 0 | Wildfire: | 11 | Winter Storm: | 37 | Winter Weather: | 7 |
| Other: | 366 | ||||||||
Volcanos Nearby
No volcano is found in or near Lincoln County.
Historical Earthquake Events
A total of 1 historical earthquake event that had a recorded magnitude of 3.5 or above found in or near Lincoln County.
| Distance (miles) | Date | Magnitude | Depth (km) | Latitude | Longitude |
| 33.8 | 1963-06-05 | 4.4 | N/A | 39.3 | -104 |
Historical Tornado Events
A total of 18 historical tornado events that had recorded magnitude of 2 or above found in or near Lincoln County.
| Distance (miles) | Date | Magnitude | Start Lat/Log | End Lat/Log | Length | Width | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage | Crop Damage | Affected County |
| 16.9 | 1951-06-06 | 2 | 38°44'N / 103°35'W | 38°46'N / 103°30'W | 4.70 Miles | 217 Yards | 0 | 1 | 25K | 0 | Lincoln |
| 18.8 | 1990-06-06 | 3 | 39°10'N / 103°42'W | 39°17'N / 103°41'W | 7.00 Miles | 500 Yards | 0 | 14 | 25.0M | 0 | Lincoln |
| 22.3 | 1999-05-31 | 2 | 39°19'N / 103°32'W | 39°19'N / 103°27'W | 7.00 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Lincoln |
| Brief Description: Two tornadoes touched down causing extensive damage north of Genoa. The first tornado, an F2, caused minor damage to a home, but substantial damage to trees in the area. The second tornado, an F3, destroyed 2 mobile homes and several grain bins. It also caused moderate damage to 2 framed houses. At one farm, several dogs that were boarded in kennels were killed. Several trees and dozens of power poles were also snapped, and a pickup truck was tossed over a quonset hut. Damage was estimated to be $3-4 million. | |||||||||||
| 23.6 | 1990-06-06 | 3 | 39°08'N / 103°53'W | 39°16'N / 103°50'W | 7.00 Miles | 500 Yards | 0 | 0 | 3K | 0 | Elbert |
| 25.2 | 1999-05-31 | 3 | 39°21'N / 103°35'W | 39°22'N / 103°24'W | 7.00 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 4.0M | 0 | Lincoln |
| Brief Description: Two tornadoes touched down causing extensive damage north of Genoa. The first tornado, an F2, caused minor damage to a home, but substantial damage to trees in the area. The second tornado, an F3, destroyed 2 mobile homes and several grain bins. It also caused moderate damage to 2 framed houses. At one farm, several dogs that were boarded in kennels were killed. Several trees and dozens of power poles were also snapped, and a pickup truck was tossed over a quonset hut. Damage was estimated to be $3-4 million. | |||||||||||
| 28.5 | 1965-05-23 | 2 | 38°34'N / 103°40'W | 38°38'N / 103°40'W | 4.60 Miles | 67 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Lincoln |
| 32.0 | 1990-06-06 | 2 | 38°50'N / 104°04'W | 2.00 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 2 | 250K | 0 | El Paso | |
| 34.5 | 1982-05-29 | 2 | 39°28'N / 103°43'W | 1.00 Mile | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Lincoln | |
| 36.1 | 1977-03-18 | 2 | 39°31'N / 103°32'W | 1.50 Miles | 67 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Lincoln | |
| 36.6 | 1977-03-18 | 2 | 39°31'N / 103°37'W | 1.50 Miles | 67 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Lincoln | |
| 36.8 | 1953-10-20 | 2 | 38°30'N / 103°46'W | 2.00 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 3K | 0 | Otero | |
| 37.7 | 2004-05-10 | 2 | 39°18'N / 104°02'W | 39°22'N / 104°05'W | 6.00 Miles | 150 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Elbert |
| Brief Description: A tornado touched down and severely damaged two farmsteads. The first farmstead was struck approximately 10 miles north-northwest of Simla. One tree was knocked over by the tornado. One cow was killed, another was severely injured and had to be destroyed. An unoccupied ranch house on a neighboring farmstead, about 11.5 miles north of Simla, was also destroyed. The tornado picked up the modular home and its contents, and dumped it about 500 feet away from the farmstead. In addition, a calving shed and a two story barn built in 1925 were destroyed. A pig, lamb and dog were killed. The twister also picked up and scattered a dozen trucks, farm vehicles and cars on the farmstead. | |||||||||||
| 43.8 | 1965-05-23 | 2 | 38°21'N / 103°41'W | 38°23'N / 103°35'W | 5.60 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Crowley |
| 46.3 | 1982-06-14 | 2 | 39°29'N / 104°06'W | 2.00 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Elbert | |
| 48.5 | 2001-05-28 | 2 | 38°49'N / 104°23'W | 38°50'N / 104°23'W | 0.50 Mile | 200 Yards | 0 | 4 | 8.0M | 0 | El Paso |
| 49.2 | 2001-05-28 | 2 | 38°50'N / 104°24'W | 38°50'N / 104°24'W | 0.30 Mile | 30 Yards | 0 | 5 | 100K | 0 | El Paso |
| Brief Description: A slow moving supercell thunderstorm stayed over the Ellicott area of eastern El Paso county for over an hour on Memorial Day evening. For over an hour, heavy rain and large hail pelted the area. Then another thunderstorm cell merged with the supercell, causing a brief time of extreme winds and three small tornadoes. A large mesocyclone developed, and the extreme winds rotated around its northeastern quarter. All of the debris from the damaged structures was moved to the west-northwest or west. Straight-line and twisting microburst winds, in some areas causing F2 damage, damaged or destroyed nearly 100 mobile homes, many occupied. Embedded within these winds, three tornadoes occurred. One, rated F2, struck the junior-senior high school building, totally destroying nearly one half of the structure. That tornado lifted briefly and set down again about 3/4 of a mile northwest of the school building and destroyed several mobile homes. Another tornado, rated F1, occurred about one mile west of the school building, flipping a mobile home. | |||||||||||
| 49.3 | 1975-05-12 | 2 | 38°30'N / 102°58'W | 38°28'N / 102°46'W | 11.10 Miles | 440 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Kiowa |
| 49.7 | 1988-05-30 | 2 | 39°18'N / 102°40'W | 1.00 Mile | 50 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Kit Carson | |
* The information on this page is based on the global volcano database, the U.S. earthquake database of 1638-1985, and the U.S. Tornado and Weather Extremes database of 1950-2010.