Burleson County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Burleson County: 2.
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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Aug 25, 2017Tropical Storm, Burleson$20.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Slow moving Tropical Storm Harvey brought heavy rains and flooding to portions of Brazos, Burleson, Austin, Grimes, Washington and Madison Counties. Moderate to major lowland flooding occurred along rivers and numerous creeks and tributaries. This includes the Brazos at San Felipe, Davison Creek, etc.

2. Oct 17, 1998Tornado$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two tornadoes touched down in the Caldwell area causing substantial damage. Twenty-two homes were completely destroyed, 37 sustained major damage, and 101 homes with minor damage. Caldwell Middle School also had major damage. Tombstones weighing more than 1000 pounds were unearthed and moved.

3. Mar 10, 2000Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado touched down near Harmony at 1955 CST with significant tree damage including an 18 inch diameter tree blown down. A trailer was also significantly damaged. Tornado then tracked to just south of Center Line with mostly F0 tree damage along its path. Tornado then reached the Pin Oak subdivision at about 2022 CST. Several trailers, including a double-wide, were destroyed. A total of 7 homes were destroyed and another 10 severely damaged in this area, with damage reaching F2 status. Tornado then struck a ranch on the south side of FM 1361 with large trees uprooted or cut in half and windows blown out and portion of roof torn off large frame house. Several rural outbuildings at…

4. Aug 1, 1998Drought, Burleson$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.

5. Sep 20, 1996Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Sheriff reported a tornado near Caid Lake. Many public reports of multiple tornados on the gound in the general vicinity. This tornadic thunderstorm continued moving through Burleson County. Damage surveys show tornadoes breifly touched down along portions of Highway 36 through the county. Trees were down along portions of the highway where the tornado touched down. Caldwell reported trees down, damage to storage sheds, and damage to a barn that had a metal roof torn off of it. The town of Somerville had damage to a truckstop, trees down, and damage to tin barns.

6. Oct 17, 1998Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two tornadoes touched down in the Caldwell area causing substantial damage. Twenty-two homes were completely destroyed, 37 sustained major damage, and 101 homes with minor damage. Caldwell Middle School also had major damage. Tombstones weighing more than 1000 pounds were unearthed and moved.

7. Sep 20, 1996Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Sheriff reported a tornado near Caid Lake. Many public reports of multiple tornados on the gound in the general vicinity. This tornadic thunderstorm continued moving through Burleson County. Damage surveys show tornadoes breifly touched down along portions of Highway 36 through the county. Trees were down along portions of the highway where the tornado touched down. Caldwell reported trees down, damage to storage sheds, and damage to a barn that had a metal roof torn off of it. The town of Somerville had damage to a truckstop, trees down, and damage to tin barns.

8. Sep 20, 1996Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Sheriff reported a tornado near Caid Lake. Many public reports of multiple tornados on the gound in the general vicinity. This tornadic thunderstorm continued moving through Burleson County. Damage surveys show tornadoes breifly touched down along portions of Highway 36 through the county. Trees were down along portions of the highway where the tornado touched down. Caldwell reported trees down, damage to storage sheds, and damage to a barn that had a metal roof torn off of it. The town of Somerville had damage to a truckstop, trees down, and damage to tin barns.

9. Feb 3, 2012Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado touched down to the northeast of Snook and produced major damage to both a private business and a FedEx shipping facility. A small metal outbuilding was destroyed at the private business while a larger metal outbuilding sustained significant damage. The FedEx facility suffered some minor damage while a few tractor trailers were thrown across the road into a pecan tree orchard.

10. Feb 3, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Strong straight line winds destroyed a large barn and damaged numerous trees, in addition to briefly lifting the roof off of a home before setting it back down. These straight line winds were associated with the rear flank downdraft of a tornadic supercell.

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

112°F3 times, most recently Aug 27, 2023

All-time low

2°FDec 23, 1989

Warmest night

84°F2 times, most recently Aug 22, 2023

Coldest day

19°FJan 10, 1962

Wettest day

13.39 inOct 16, 1994

Snowiest day

3.0 inJan 10, 1973

Hottest year

2023mean 73.0°F

Coldest year

1979mean 65.3°F

Wettest year

196861.04 in

Driest year

198817.80 in

Snowiest season

8.0 in1972-73

Station College Station Easterwood Field (USW00003904), 315 ft elevation, 18.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1951 to October 25, 2026; 99.8% 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 USW00003904.
• 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.