Alton

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond this area.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Every storm within 100 miles

1. Tropical storms and hurricanes (34 kt or more, still tropical) at closest approach. Post-tropical remnants with gale-force winds are listed but not counted. Direct: track within 50 miles; near: within 100 miles. Distance is measured to the county boundary for counties and to the city centre for cities, using positions interpolated hourly between HURDAT2 fixes.

National Hurricane Center HURDAT2, 1851 to 2025.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Flood insurance figures are for Hidalgo County, the county that contains Alton.

Claims by ZIP code

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

River crests

River gauges in Hidalgo County, the county that contains Alton.

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

The drought index is for Hidalgo County, the county that contains Alton.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jul 25, 2020Tropical Storm, Southern Hidalgo County$305 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The slowly weakening inner eyewall of Hurricane Hanna eased into southern Hidalgo County along the Willacy County line during the evening of July 25th and would exit the southwest corner of the county just before daybreak on the 26th. Widespread wind damage was noted in more than a dozen colonias from near Elsa/Edcouch to north of Edinburg (San Carlos to Doolittle), including damage to roofs, walls, shingles, and windows to dozens of poorly constructed/anchored homes severely damaged and at least a dozen (that were seen on survey) were demolished. Hundreds of trees and dozens of power poles were damaged (leaning or snapped), and power outages across this area were likely to be…

2. Mar 29, 2012Hail$200 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Up to an hour of continuous hail, driven by frequent winds estimated at 70 to 75 mph, knocked at least one window out of every north���facing home, defoliated nearly every tree, left up to a half foot of accumulated hail on the ground, and produced hail drifts up to 4 feet high. Numerous tree limbs were blown down, many homes had roof damage, and broken glass and water littered the north facing rooms and apartments. Hundreds of vehicles left outdoors were severely damaged by golf ball to baseball size hail dents, including many shattered windows.||Preliminary data estimate that 1100 homes and more than 60s businesses were affected by the wind and hail in McAllen, according…

3. Jul 23, 2008Tropical Storm, Hidalgo$189 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Dolly's slow progression westward across south central Willacy County during the afternoon and evening of the 23rd delayed the onset of sustained tropical storm force winds into Hidalgo County, but by mid afternoon on the 23rd, the winds indeed arrived, and would continue well into the evening and overnight, at first in broad rain bands within a large circulation around the enlarged center, and later in rain bands well to the east and southeast of the collapsing core.||Sustained winds in the western and southern eyewall increased to 35 to near 50 mph, with gusts nearing hurricane force, generally between 4 PM and 8 PM, especially across the more populated southern half of the…

4. Mar 27, 2025Flash Flood$52.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Significant to locally devastating flash flooding began in the McAllen/Mission metropolitan area during mid-afternoon. Rainfall rates of at least 3 in 30 minutes were too much for the city's drainage infrastructure to handle, and soon after, city fire/rescue/police reported more than two dozen roads closed citywide and up to forty homes with an unknown amount of water depth inside, to the Emergency Management Coordinator. ||It was likely that several hundred homes had incident flooding, from affected to major damage - most concentrated in the south side of the city. The frontage roads on IH2 (Mission/McAllen) and IH-69C (Pharr/Edinburg) flooded with varying amounts of water, and…

5. Oct 24, 2015Flash Flood$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   After hours of rainfall the nuisance flooding became a flash flood. Several inches to at least a foot of water rose into homes in the Las Brisas subdivision on the east side of town, with three to five feet of water on neighborhood streets. At least three feet of water submerged vehicles along the frontage roads between the Westgate and Airport Road exits during the peak of the flash flooding. Additional high water closed portions of FM 1015 between Weslaco and Progresso (which also had flash flooding of unknown depth)and FM 493 near Donna. At least 26 separate boat rescues were made in flooded neighborhoods and more than 500 homes were impacted by some level of floodwater.

6. Jul 25, 2020Tropical Storm, Northern Hidalgo County$33.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The slowly weakening inner eyewall of Hurricane Hanna eased into northern Hidalgo County during the early evening of July 25th and would exit a few hours after midnight on the 26th. The Automated Weather Observing System 11 miles north of Edinburg reported a peak sustained wind of 45 mph with a peak gust of 54 mph soon after 6 PM CST on the 25th before the sensor stopped reporting. Farther east, near the Willacy County line, a sensor reported a peak gust to 80 mph (Texas Agriscience Center, just a few miles from the Willacy County line) as the southern inner eyewall crossed at 1005 PM CST - just on the edge of the Northern Hidalgo zone area.||A NWS Storm Survey team investigated…

7. Jul 26, 2020Flash Flood$31.9 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Torrential rains associated with both the eastern and southern eyewall (late evening of July 25th) and persistent southeast to northwest feeder bands that followed (after midnight through late afternoon of July 26th) created widespread flash and areal flooding across many portions of populated Hidalgo County as then-Tropical Storm Hanna slowly moved from Hidalgo County into Starr County, Texas, and eventually into northern Mexico on July 26th. Heaviest rainfall directly associated with Hanna and the feeder bands fell in the Mission-South McAllen-Pharr region, where measured and estimated rainfall of 10 to 15 inches produced 18 inches to 4 feet of water depth and required a number…

8. Jun 24, 2019Flash Flood$30.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Measured and estimated rainfall between 6 and 15 inches that fell predominantly from early evening June 24th through a bit after midnight on June 25th produced widespread flash flooding across southeastern Hidalgo County. Hardest hit locations were near the Cameron and Willacy County line, including locations just west of Santa Rosa through Monte Alto, and between Sebastian and Elsa. ||In the tri-county area (western Willacy, northwestern Cameron, and southeastern Hidalgo), 1188 homes were considered destroyed or with major damage, with an additional 182 homes with minor damage. Hundreds of streets flooded, including 30 Texas-managed highways. This included the frontage roads of…

9. Jun 20, 2018Flash Flood$25.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rainfall measured and estimated between 7 and 18 inches in a 3 to 5 hour period produced locally devastating flooding in Weslaco and Mercedes, just north of the expressway. Measured rainfall at the Weslaco Cooperative station was 15.57 inches for the event, with 11.36 of it falling in a three hour period generally between 3 AM CST and 6 AM CST. Radar estimates suggested higher amounts at the Las Brisas and other neighborhoods in northeast Weslaco, where nearly all homes had 18 inches of water depth or higher inside. ||The rain flooded (at least 18 inches) 2500 homes in Weslaco, with an unknown number (but likely in the 1,000 range) in next-door Mercedes. Video, photograph,…

10. Jun 19, 2015Flash Flood$23.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    Numerous roads were closed in east Edinburg and the surrounding colonias, including San Carlos, as 6 to 18 inches of water covered roadways. Numerous vehicles became stalled in the waters. Water entered numerous homes and businesses. City of Edinburg officials reported that nearly 50 people had to be evacuated due to flood waters. According to City of Edinburg officials, preliminary damage estimates totaled about $23 million. An estimated 510 homes sustained damage, 225 incurred major damage and 285 incurred minor damage, for an estimated total of $18.5 million. 25 businesses sustained some damage and approximately $4.5 million in road infrastructure damage was sustained,…

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

111°F2 times, most recently May 9, 2024

All-time low

13°FJan 12, 1962

Warmest night

85°FJul 21, 2009

Coldest day

32°F2 times, most recently Jan 11, 1962

Wettest day

9.42 inAug 10, 1980

Snowiest day

0.2 inJan 9, 1967

Hottest year

2016mean 79.5°F

Coldest year

1976mean 71.6°F

Wettest year

196637.17 in

Driest year

19898.64 in

Snowiest season

0.2 in1966-67

Station Mcallen Miller International Airport (USW00012959), 99 ft elevation, 8.6 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1961 to October 27, 2026; 99.4% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

Declarations for Hidalgo County.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USW00012959.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.