Port Lavaca

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 Calhoun County, the county that contains Port Lavaca.

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 Calhoun County, the county that contains Port Lavaca.

The National Weather Service sets flood stages for 3 gauges here but lists no crests for them.

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 Calhoun County, the county that contains Port Lavaca.

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.

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the city centre.
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Aug 25, 2017Hurricane (Typhoon), Calhoun$250 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Minor to moderate property damage was common across the city of Port Lavaca with large areas of siding removed from a few well constructed homes. The tops of grain bins in Port Lavaca were peeled off. Numerous trees were blown down in the community of Seadrift. Many homes experienced minor to moderate roof and property damage. Some poorly constructed homes experienced major roof damage. In Port O'Connor, numerous trees were blown down with three quarters of the community experiencing minor roof damage. A few power poles were blown down. Minor to moderate roof damage occurred at Magnolia Beach, Alamo Beach, and Indianola. Over 2100 homes and 72 businesses received major damage…

2. Aug 25, 2017Storm Surge/Tide, Calhoun$30.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Storm tides averaged from 6 to 8 feet across Calhoun County with maximum tide levels around 10 feet recorded on the north end of Lavaca Bay while lower tides from 3 to 5 feet occurred from Port O'Connor to southeast of Seadrift next to Espiritu Santo Bay. In Port Lavaca, water from Chocolate Bay inundated the public boat ramp near Buren Road. The lower half of Buren Road was inundated. The entire marina along Lavaca Bay was strongly impacted with 16 boats declared a total loss with many of them sinking in the marina. Several boats were grounded next to the marina. The Bayfront Peninsula Park was inundated. Areas east of Broadway street were inundated with water reaching across…

3. Jun 16, 2015Storm Surge/Tide, Calhoun$1.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A storm surge between 2 and 3.5 feet affected the county with the highest storm surge around Lavaca Bay. The storm surge was 3.5 feet at Port Lavaca. A new bulkhead near Alamo Beach suffered moderate damage. Fifteen piers were damaged or destroyed from Port Alto to Port Lavaca to Port O'Connor and near Seadrift. Water rose and covered some piers in a matter of minutes. Lighthouse Beach and bay front were closed due to storm surge. Residents in Indianola were cut off from homes due to rising water. Total public damage was estimated at 1.3 million dollars.

4. Aug 30, 2017Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Major flooding occurred along the Guadalupe River from Hurricane Harvey. Several homes were flooded in Calhoun County along River Road east of Tivoli. State Highway 35 was closed near Tivoli. Major flooding continued into the first few days of September.

5. Mar 29, 2018Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF-1 tornado touched down in north part of the community of Seadrift on Oakland Avenue and traveled to the east-northeast to North 3rd Street. The tornado flipped several mobile homes and completely destroyed one mobile home near the intersection of West Denver Avenue and North 4th Street. A truck and boat were capsized. Several homes experienced roof damage and several outbuildings were damaged or destroyed. Eight homes were destroyed with one home sustaining major damage and two homes receiving minor damage. Estimated peak wind from the tornado was 110 mph.

6. May 1, 2026Thunderstorm Wind$405,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   On May 1, 2026, severe weather developed across South Texas as a shortwave trough moved eastward out of northern Mexico and interacted with a quasi-stationary frontal boundary draped across South Texas and the middle Texas coast. North of the front, a very moist air mass characterized by dewpoints in the lower to middle 70s combined with moderate instability to support widespread showers and thunderstorms. As the upper-level disturbance approached, increasing large-scale ascent and strengthening mid-level winds enhanced deep-layer shear, allowing some storms to become better organized and rotate. Despite extensive cloud cover and ongoing convection, sufficient instability remained…

7. May 13, 2024Thunderstorm Wind$350,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Emergency manager of Calhoun confirms at least 12 RVs were either damaged or completed destroyed with two confirmed injuries. There was also sporadic tree damage and a couple power poles leaning significantly. Time was estimated from radar and surrounding observations.

8. May 1, 2026Thunderstorm Wind$326,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Four double pole transmission lines snapped. End of damage, gate 4.

9. Apr 2, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A NWS storm survey concluded that a downburst occurred in the city of Port Lavaca with estimated winds between up to 80 mph. Several homes in the path of the downburst sustained minor roof damage. Two telephone poles were snapped at their base. Numerous large tree limbs were down along with a few uprooted trees. The damage path was approximately a half mile wide and 2 miles in length, beginning near Alcoa Drive and extending northeast to near Travis Street to the south of Highway 35.

10. Feb 14, 2021Cold/Wind Chill, Coastal Calhoun County$150,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Freezing temperatures affected the area from the 14th until 18th. Long duration cold spell led to power outages and issues with water pressure. Damages to homes occurred when frozen pipes burst.

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

107°FSep 6, 2000

All-time low

9°FDec 23, 1989

Warmest night

91°FJun 28, 1995

Coldest day

28°F2 times, most recently Jan 6, 2014

Wettest day

14.65 inJun 26, 1960

Hottest year

2024mean 72.9°F

Coldest year

1970mean 68.6°F

Wettest year

196075.87 in

Driest year

196321.42 in

Station Point Comfort (USC00417140), 20 ft elevation, 5.2 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1957 to October 27, 2026; 89.3% 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 Calhoun 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 USC00417140.
• 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.