Natural hazards · Boulder

Boulder, MT natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Boulder comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Boulder?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Boulder to be higher than in 77% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and wildfires.

Inland flooding47%Wildfire18%Cold waves17%Earthquakes6%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Boulder faces

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

Inland flooding

47% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 6 years in the area

Wildfire

18% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Cold waves

17% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 78% of U.S. places

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtAvalanches

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesTsunamisVolcanic activity

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 Boulder flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Boulder.

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Jefferson County.

Disasters that hit Boulder

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into BoulderDeclared for Jefferson County only

2011

Severe Storms and Flooding

1 household applied for aid

Jefferson County has had 9 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and fires.

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. Boulder is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

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

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.