Tornado Risk in San Juan County, UT
San Juan County's tornado history, by the numbers
7 tornado tracks have crossed San Juan County since 2015 by NOAA's count, roughly one every 10.9 years - the Low band on this site's scale. That is the 21st percentile nationally for tornado frequency. Among 29 Utah counties in this dataset, San Juan County ranks 9 for how often a tornado touches down.
The number that matters more than frequency
No violent (EF4-5) tornado has been recorded in San Juan County in NOAA's 76-year database. Of its 7 recorded tracks, 1 were weak (EF0-1) and 2 significant (EF2-3).
Shelter and safe-room economics
Utah does not currently have a confirmed state rebate layered on top of FEMA's 75% Hazard Mitigation cost-share, so a San Juan County homeowner should expect the full national range: $2,890-$13,280, $7,645 typical.
Power after the storm, not just shelter during it
14,601 people live in San Juan County, and a tornado outbreak's power loss usually reaches far more of Utah than the tracks themselves touch. A portable battery unit is the faster, no-fuel way to bridge that outage.
What San Juan County's figure does not tell you
San Juan County's figure is county-wide, not address-specific. San Juan County covers about 7,824 square miles, so a single touch here counts the same as a single touch in a county a fraction of that size. NOAA also documents that older records undercount weaker tornadoes from before Doppler radar became standard. San Juan County has about 14,601 residents.