Armstrong County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Armstrong County: 0.
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 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.

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

River crests

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.

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.

Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles

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 county boundary (or inside the county).
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. Feb 24, 2013Blizzard, Armstrong$660,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Blizzard conditions reported by the Armstrong County Emergency Manager in Claude, stranded motorist, and 14.0 inches storm total snow.

2. May 28, 2013Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A decaying thunderstorm produced a localized downburst on US Highway 287 about 5 miles east of the Interstate 40 and US Highway 287 split (Armstrong County). A tractor trailer that was traveling on US Highway 287 was hit by this downburst and was blown over. No Injuries were relayed with this report from the Armstrong County Emergency Manager.

3. Mar 7, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$80,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Power lines were blown down and there was damage to some barns.

4. Aug 1, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$40,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An eighteen wheeler truck was blown off the road.

5. Sep 20, 2025Thunderstorm Wind$40,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A truck and camper flipped over on US 287 a mile east of Washburn.

6. Jun 15, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$35,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Cars were reported blown off the roads. Numerous trees and powerlines were also reported blown down.

7. Dec 19, 2006Ice Storm, Armstrong$32,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An estimated one half inch of ice accumulation was reported on vehicles. Less than an inch of snow was also observed.

8. Mar 13, 2021Tornado$30,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Continuation from a tornado that started in Randall County. The supercell underwent another odd handoff from the Palo Duro Canyon tornado near Highway 1258 which was documented by storm chasers in the area. Again, both the initial and new developing tornado co-existed for a period of time creating a wide damage path Near County Road 1 in Armstrong County. This tornado path remained in very rural country with few damage indicators and was likely stronger than suggested by the very limited rating. Along the path the tornado snapped a few small diameter power poles and destroyed a couple out buildings. It also pushed over a semi before it dissipated just north of Highway 287.

9. Jul 6, 2024Hail$30,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large hail fell for about 15 minutes at an outdoor adventure park on the north rim of the canyon with the largest hail up to around ping pong size. At least 3 RVs were damaged and had skylights broken out. Porta potties were also blown about 40 feet from the thunderstorm winds.

10. Mar 28, 2007Thunderstorm Wind$28,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Sheriff dispatch reported damage to the fire house and other buildings.

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°FJun 26, 2011

All-time low

−14°FFeb 1, 1951

Warmest night

79°FJul 9, 2011

Coldest day

2°FDec 24, 1983

Wettest day

5.74 inJul 7, 2010

Snowiest day

19.0 inFeb 25, 2013

Hottest year

2024mean 61.9°F

Coldest year

1979mean 55.0°F

Wettest year

196036.67 in

Driest year

20117.01 in

Snowiest season

47.9 in1982-83

Station Amarillo (USW00023047), 3,703 ft elevation, 20.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1947 to October 26, 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.

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.

Neighbouring counties

• 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 USW00023047.
• 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.