Natural hazards · Superior

Superior, CO natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Superior comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 5 claims here since 2013. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is Superior?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Superior to be higher than in 33% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding50%Tornadoes15%Hail12%Lightning8%Everything else15%

By hazard

What Superior faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Inland flooding

50% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 38% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

15% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Hail

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Lightning

8% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 41% of U.S. places

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windDroughtVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesAvalanchesTsunamis

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does Superior flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Superior, from FEMA’s records.

5paid claims since 2013

$98Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20132026

Biggest named events

Late summer storms: 5 claims, $98K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Superior isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Boulder County.

Disasters that hit Superior

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Superior itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Town of Superior.

Brought FEMA money into SuperiorDeclared for Boulder County only

2021

Wildfires and Straight-Line Winds

934 households applied for aid $863K aid approved $6.1M to the Town of Superior for repairs

2013

Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

81 households applied for aid $77K aid approved $292K to the Town of Superior for repairs

2006

Snow

$41K to the Town of Superior for repairs

2003

Snow

$28K to the Town of Superior for repairs

Boulder County has had 15 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and floods.

Around Superior

Superior and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Superiormostly inland floodingLow

Broomfieldmostly inland floodingVery low

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.

Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Superior covers 3 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Superior’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Superior. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Superior total about $2.8M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.