Bailey County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Dec 26, 2015Blizzard, Bailey$6.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Following a mild Christmas, a strong cold front arrived early on the morning of the 26th ahead of temperatures falling to freezing territory throughout the course of the afternoon all in advance of a slow-moving upper low in the Desert Southwest and far north-central Mexico. Northerly winds increased in intensity during the day and by early evening were frequently gusting between 50 and 60 mph over the entire South Plains. These winds created several power outages, minor roof damage, downed tree limbs, and even toppled some trees completely. By mid-evening on the 26th, exceptionally rich moisture from the Gulf of Mexico deepened over the shallow dome of cold air and resulted in…

2. Jan 29, 1999Winter Storm, Bailey$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An intense winter storm severely impacted the northwestern South Plains and the extreme southwest Panhandle on the 29th and 30th. Over a foot of snow fell across parts of Parmer and Bailey Counties, where drifts reached as high as 6 feet and major highways were closed for hours. Five to seven inches of snow fell in Castro, Swisher, Lamb, and Cochran Counties. Some of these same areas received significant accumulations of freezing rain. The combined effect of this storm snapped numerous trees and tree limbs, and caused many thousands of people to lose power (some for more than two full days). In Swisher County alone, approximately 700 power poles were snapped or brought down due to…

3. Jun 7, 2014Hail$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Law enforcement personnel estimated hail of ping pong to golf ball size from Muleshoe to just south of the city. Strong to severe winds accompanying the hail enhanced the hail damage to roofs and sidings of homes, vehicles and windows.

4. Jun 17, 2008Hail$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Emergency management officials reported that giant hail stones that ranged in size from baseballs to softballs resulted in significant damages throughout the city of Muleshoe around 20:00 CST. Numerous windshields were knocked out of vehicles and many structures sustained heavy roof and window damage. Hail even punctured the interior walls of one mobile home. No injuries were reported.

5. Jul 17, 2009Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The convective complex and embedded high-precipitation supercell that impacted parts of Parmer County subsequently moved southward over Bailey County. A post storm survey by Texas Tech University West Texas Mesonet meteorologists revealed a swath of intense wind damage from between Needmore and Baileyboro southward to Enochs. At least 100 utility poles were blown down, some broken near ground-level, and several center irrigation pivots were destroyed. Minor roof damage was noted to several homes in Enochs. The winds were occasionally accompanied with nickel size hail in the Enochs vicinity. Wind-driven hail contributed to significant cotton losses. Wind speeds were estimated to be…

6. Jun 7, 2014Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A strong low-level mesocyclone accompanied by destructive rear flank downdraft (RFD) winds tracked southeastward from Muleshoe to about 12 miles southeast of Muleshoe. Although law enforcement reported a tornado, no definitive evidence of such could be determined from the NWS storm survey conducted in the following days. Combined with direct accounts from storm chasers, the storm survey determined that significant straight line winds were to blame for the majority of damage discovered generally north of Highway 84. Maximum sustained winds were estimated between 80 and 90 mph and created much damage to rural homes, a dairy business, farm equipment, and area power poles. The worst…

7. Mar 13, 2019High Wind, Bailey$350,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Measured by a Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet near Muleshoe.

8. Sep 17, 2017Hail$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Broadcast media relayed damage photos of a significant hailstorm that struck the community of Bula. Wind-driven hail as large as baseballs pummeled crops and caused extensive damage to siding, windows and roofs to dozens of buildings in the area.

9. May 25, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorm winds resulted in considerable damage in the Muleshoe vicinity between 17:35 and 17:45 CST on the 25th. Extensive damage occurred to a pair of trailer homes just southeast of the city, when one was rolled by the winds and a second home sustained heavy roof damage. A barn was additionally reported to have been destroyed and large pieces of debris obstructed a county road just northeast of Muleshoe. East of the city, extensive damage occurred at a cattle dairy, where 1,500 stables were destroyed and at least three calves were killed. Local utility companies reported nearly 100 power poles were downed by the winds. The damaging winds were accompanied by large…

10. Jun 9, 2016Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A farmer in Bailey County reported hail and wind damage to his property north of Muleshoe. Several center pivot irrigation systems were knocked over. Also, a small shed was destroyed by high winds.

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

110°F2 times, most recently Aug 3, 1944

All-time low

−21°FFeb 8, 1933

Warmest night

75°FJun 29, 2026

Coldest day

5°F2 times, most recently Feb 15, 2021

Wettest day

5.25 inMay 16, 1951

Snowiest day

12.0 inDec 16, 1931

Hottest year

1934mean 60.3°F

Coldest year

1975mean 54.6°F

Wettest year

194143.52 in

Driest year

20117.21 in

Snowiest season

32.5 in1982-83

Station Muleshoe #1 (USC00416135), 3,830 ft elevation, 0.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1927 to October 23, 2026; 93.9% 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 USC00416135.
• 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.