Waco

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 McLennan County, the county that contains Waco.

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 McLennan County, the county that contains Waco.

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 McLennan County, the county that contains Waco.

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. Apr 26, 2023Hail$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large hail up to 4.5 inches was reported 2 miles east of Waco. Numerous vehicles and buildings were damaged from the large hail that fell in and around Waco.

2. May 5, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Isolated wind damage was noted in western McLennan County, including Crawford, Valley Mills, McGregor, and western Waco. Widespread wind damage occurred across southern McLennan County near Woodway, McGregor, Speegleville, Hewitt, Robinson, Bruceville-Eddy, and south Waco. The damage extended along and south of the Highway 6 corridor. A large sycamore tree was uprooted in McGregor and fell onto a parked car. Three tractor trailers were blown over on Interstate 35 near mile marker 329...about 7 miles south-southwest of Waco. Thousands of trees, power lines, and signs were blown down across the county. Power was knocked out throughout Waco. Winds of 50-80 MPH damaged roofs and blew…

3. May 5, 2006Tornado$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado was reported on Waco Drive by the media, just north of the damage swath produced by the downburst. A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service in Fort Worth found that a tornado formed south of New Road and just west of Spur 298 (Franklin Avenue), or just north of Richland Mall. The tornado reached its peak intensity of lower F2 and did the most damage just east of Spur 298. Several commercial buildings had large sections of their roofs and walls damaged. A Coca-Cola Bottling Plant lost much of its roof and most of its inventory was damaged. A spokesman for the company stated that the tornado did well over $1 million worth of damage. An owner of an auto…

4. Feb 14, 2021Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Mclennan$2.6 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Extreme cold gripped the county for several days. Overnight lows were below 25 degrees Fahrenheit almost all week. The period of February 15-16th was the coldest with low temperatures in the single digits and slightly below zero degrees Fahrenheit. The maximum temperature on the 15th was only in the teens. Wind chill values during the 14th-16th were between 10 to -10 degrees Fahrenheit most of the time. The cold temperatures resulted in an extreme amount of damage to pipes, infrastructure, and power. The State listed 1 fatality in McLennan County due to the winter storm but no additional information could be obtained.

5. Apr 26, 2023Hail$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A CoCoRaHS Observer located southeast of Valley Mills reported an average hailstone size of 1.25 inches, but the largest measured hail stone was 4 inches in diameter. Large amounts of hail fell for roughly 20 minutes and shredded leaves, damaged roof shingles, dented cars, and broke house windows. The school district had to cancel school due to damage sustained from the large hail.

6. Apr 26, 2023Hail$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large amounts of baseball sized hail was reported southeast of Valley Mills.

7. Mar 30, 2007Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The back half of a rodeo arena was destroyed. The building was made out of metal.

8. Oct 12, 2001Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The second McLennan county tornado touched down just southwest of Tokio then moved east northeast and dissipated 1.3 miles east of West. Homes, a church, and several businesses were damaged in Tokio. After moving through Tokio, the tornado moved along FM 1858, causing heavy damage to wood-frame structures, mobile homes, storage buildings, and minor damage to several brick homes. As the tornado moved across the extreme southern edge of West, several homes and storage buildings were damaged.

9. Apr 26, 2023Hail$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Softball sized hail was reported in Bosqueville near the Waco Regional Airport. HVAC damage was reported at the airport along with other notable damage due to the large hail.

10. Oct 1, 2006Drought, Mclennan$500,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Persistent drought conditions continued across portions of north Texas. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, much of the region was still experiencing extreme (D3) drought conditions. The areas which were rated exceptional drought (D4) last month had received enough rainfall to be downgraded into the D3 category this month.|Even though drought conditions were lessened by a few rain events this month, serious hydrological problems remained. For instance, as much water was used from Lake Bridgeport in one month alone as was saved through conservation efforts by north Texas over the summer. Almost every north Texas lake remained well below conservation levels. The rain events this…

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

114°FJul 23, 2018

All-time low

−5°FJan 31, 1949

Warmest night

86°FAug 2, 2011

Coldest day

18°F3 times, most recently Dec 22, 1990

Wettest day

7.98 inDec 20, 1997

Snowiest day

7.0 inJan 30, 1949

Hottest year

2011mean 69.6°F

Coldest year

1979mean 63.8°F

Wettest year

200459.48 in

Driest year

195414.92 in

Snowiest season

9.0 in2020-21

Station Waco Regional Airport (USW00013959), 498 ft elevation, 4.7 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1941 to October 27, 2026; 100.0% 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 McLennan 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 USW00013959.
• 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.