Brewster County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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.

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. Sep 9, 2008Flood$14.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lajitas Resort and Spa owner reported flooding across most of his property. This included the Ambush Golf Course, which was covered in water.

2. Apr 11, 2010Hail$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several windows, roofs and other structural items were damaged at the Gage Hotel in Marathon, TX.

3. Jun 13, 2012Hail$122,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A thunderstorm moved over Brewster County and produced golfball hail in Marathon. Windows were broken and vehicles were dented from the hail. The cost of damage is a very rough estimate.

4. May 26, 1998Hail$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This small, but intense storm formed on an outflow boundary from storms to the north in Pecos County. The storm built right over the town of Marathon then slow moved to the southeast and weakened.

5. May 10, 2009Thunderstorm Wind$88,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A NWS Storm Survey concluded that damage was done to 44 power poles near Ranch Road 2627 in Brewster County, TX. Some of the poles were snapped 3 to 4 feet above the ground and all the poles fell to the south as the storm moved in the same direction around 20 mph. The poles were not consecutively snapped in a row. At times, there were 15 snapped...then a gap...and then more snapped as you moved southeastward down the line. Please see the attached images for a detailed look at the damage path.

6. Jun 15, 1997Thunderstorm Wind$70,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wind damage occurred to several buildings on a ranch located on Taurus Mesa. Much of the damage was limited to corrugated metal that was strewn across the countryside. Rear-flank downdraft (RFD) winds were thought to have been the mechanism for the high winds. The RFD then hit State Highway 118 where the Longhorn Ranch Motel sustained wind damage. A 12x20 foot sign was blown down as well as damage to doors and the roof.The Red Cross determined that 2 houses were destroyed and 6 houses sustained major damage in the area near the motel.

7. Apr 5, 2004Hail$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   House windows and cars were heavily damaged.

8. Jun 9, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several structures at Terlingua Ranch sustained roof damage and a few barns were destroyed.

9. Aug 14, 2004Flash Flood$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Alpine Police Department barricaded city streets at several low water crossings at 14:15 CST due to flash flooding. Shortly before 1600 CST Alpine Creek began to overflow its banks, and washed away the police barricades. During the next half hour, residents were evacuated from several homes along the creek as flood waters continued to rise.

10. Jul 3, 2025Flash Flood$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Emergency Management in Alpine reported one home inundated by flooding due to heavy rainfall and numerous road closures by local authorities. The time of occurrence is estimated by radar. The total cost of damages is also estimated.

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°F2 times, most recently Jun 27, 1998

All-time low

0°F2 times, most recently Feb 2, 1985

Warmest night

79°FJun 29, 1902

Coldest day

18°FDec 22, 1989

Wettest day

5.30 inAug 29, 1932

Snowiest day

9.3 inDec 1, 2009

Hottest year

2024mean 65.2°F

Coldest year

1905mean 58.5°F

Wettest year

200433.23 in

Driest year

20115.59 in

Snowiest season

22.0 in1918-19

Station Fort Davis (USC00413262), 4,864 ft elevation, 30.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1902 to September 30, 2026; 94.7% 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 USC00413262.
• 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.