Colorado Annual Rainfall, Severe Weather and Climate Data

City	Avg Annual Precip	Avg Annual Snow	Avg # days of Precip	Avg # thunderstorm days	Avg # hail days	Avg # severe thunderstorm watches per year	Avg # tornado watches per year	# of tornadoes reported in county, 1960-2010
Alamosa	7.25	32.5	68	42	6	0	0	12
Colorado Springs	17.40	41.8	91	51	5	3	8	77
Denver	15.81	60.3	89	39	4	2	4	13
Grand Junction	8.99	23.6	73	36	2	0	1	9
Pueblo	12.39	32.6	71	40	4	3	8	15
Colorado Annual Precipitation Average - 15.97 inches, 44th wettest state in the U.S. Colorado Tornado Average - 24.7 per year, 10th most in the U.S. Largest reported Tornado in Colorado from 1950-2011, 5/22/2008 - 1.760 yards / 1 mile wide Date with highest number of reported Tornadoes in Colorado from 1950-2011, May 29th - 46 tornadoes Average time of occurrence of reported Tornadoes in Colorado from 1950-2011 - 3:58 pm Colorado Annual Lightning Density - 5.0 flashes per square mile - 31st highest in U.S. Record Driest year in Colorado from 1895-2012 - 2002, avg precipitation 10.10 inches Record Wettest year in Colorado from 1895-2012 - 1941, avg precipitation 21.95 inches

Driest location ranked by lowest annual average precipitation: Center, south-central Colorado, 6.98"

Wettest location ranked by highest annual average precipitation: Wolf Creek Pass, southwestern Colorado, 47.46"

Snowiest location ranked by highest annual average snowfall: Wolf Creek Pass, southwestern Colorado, 435.6"

State precipitation record for 24 hours - Holly, southeastern Colorado, 6/17/1965, 11.08"

State snowfall record for 24 hours - Silver Lake, north-central Colorado, 4/14-15/1921

State snow record for 1 season - Wolf Creek Pass, southern Colorado, 1978-1979, 838.0"

Wolf Creek Pass is the 9th snowiest location in the western United States with 435.6 inches of snow annually

On April 14-15, 1927, Freye's Ranch, Colorado received the current United States record of 62.0 inches of snow in 22 hours

On May 30-31, 1935, Cherry Creek, Colorado received the 16th highest 24-hour rainfall total in United States history with 24.0 inches of rain Denver receives 300 sunshine days a year - more annual hours of sun than San Diego, CA or Miami Beach, FL

Colorado temperature averages and extremes, Denver climate extremes/averages, precipitation and temperature data for all U.S. states
and Top 10 U.S. climate extremes
Data sources: National Climatic Data Center, Severe thunderstorm / tornado watch data period is 1999 - 2008, NOAA Storm Prediction Center, Tornado climate data -
NOAA Storm Prediction Center, State lightning flash density average - 1997-2011, Vaisala