Austin County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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

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.

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.

Costliest events since 1996

1. Apr 18, 2016Flash Flood$2.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The following roads either inundated with water and/or closed due to being flooded; FM 2429 south of Bellville, FM 529 and FM 331 east of Bellville. A report at 0309 CST stated that that there were numerous road closures due to flooding across a large part of the county, especially over the central and north part of the county. A female resident drowned when driving into high water on Plumb Creek Road. Damage amounts estimated.

2. May 23, 2017Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorms moved rapidly across the Sealy area, and a very intense and wet microburst produced significant wind damage to trees, structures and utility poles. Wind gusts may have exceeded 80 to 100 mph. The most significant damage began along or just northwest of Interstate 10 a few miles west of Sealy and moved in an approximate two mile wide swath south of the Interstate toward Highway 36. Damage included an 18 wheeler truck blown over, car windows blown out and part of a roof blown off at Sealy High School.

3. Aug 1, 1998Drought, Austin$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Drought conditions continue from July. After months of extremely dry and hot weather across SE Texas, relief came late in the month with welcomed rainfall and slightly cooler temperatures. Over 20 people across the region lost their lives due to the extreme heat and property and crop damage averaged $8.3 million per county since May. Locations across the region were finally catching up with rainfall toward the end of the month as the drought was coming to an end. NOTE: CROP AND PROPERTY DAMAGE LISTED HERE ARE FOR THE PERIOD MAY-AUGUST 1998.

4. Jun 19, 2024Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado touched down northwest of Bellville near SH 36 then tracked along and across Koy Road. The path then crossed SH 159 near Koy Road. Numerous hardwood trees were snapped or uprooted . There was damage to one business where the metal roof was removed. At least two homes sustained damage from high winds, tree and debris impacts.

5. Nov 5, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Roof damage in Buckhorn area of Bellville. Numerous trees down across county.

6. Aug 27, 2017Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous roads closed due to flooding including but not limited to FM109, FM 331, FM 2429, FM 1093 and SH 36. Moderate, yet record, flooding along the Brazos at San|Felipe caused several homes to flood along FM 1458. Inundation ranged from 4 to 7 feet of water. Minimal impacts were observed at Mill creek near Bellville. No impacts were observed from the minor flooding at the Brazos river near Hempstead.

7. Nov 12, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$80,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Minor damage to mobile homes. Double-wide trailer pulled apart.

8. Nov 17, 2007Flash Flood$60,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding in and around the intersection of Rinn Road and FM 109. Three vehicles were swept off the road. Three occupants were successfully rescued from one of the three vehicles after it became pinned against bridge pilings. One home in the area suffered water damage.

9. Oct 17, 1998Flash Flood$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Major flooding across the county, especially the southern half near Sealy and San Felipe. HWY 36 flooded.I-10 closed near mile marker 725 with 15 to 20 rescues of stranded motorists by 236 am. San Felipe evacuated at 355 am.

10. Aug 11, 2004Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Power lines down and a semi-tractor trailer overturned on Highway 159.

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

113°FSep 5, 2000

All-time low

−2°F2 times, most recently Jan 19, 1930

Warmest night

85°FJun 2, 2022

Coldest day

21°F2 times, most recently Feb 16, 2021

Wettest day

20.50 inMay 27, 2016

Snowiest day

8.3 inFeb 13, 1960

Hottest year

1990mean 71.6°F

Coldest year

1941mean 65.8°F

Wettest year

201579.18 in

Driest year

195418.79 in

Snowiest season

8.7 in1948-49

Station Brenham (USC00411048), 313 ft elevation, 23.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1897 to October 23, 2026; 97.1% 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 USC00411048.
• 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.