Cherokee County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Cherokee County: 3.
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. Apr 13, 2019Tornado$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF-3 tornado with maximum estimated winds near 160 mph that originally touched down in Houston County about 9 miles northeast of Crockett crossed the Neches River into Southwest Cherokee County, where it snapped and uprooted thousands of trees along its path. The tornado paralleled Highway 21 before reaching the city of Alto, where it severely damaged or destroyed approximately 20 homes. Included along the damage path southwest of Alto was the Caddo Mounds Sate Historic Site building, which had its roof torn off, nearly all of its exterior walls removed, and was left to only a few interior rooms in the building. Several people were outside running to get inside for safety when…

2. Feb 16, 2021Winter Storm, Cherokee$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   On the heels of the first winter storm and historically cold temperatures observed earlier in the week across all of the Southern Plains and much of the Lower Mississippi Valley, a second significant winter storm developed across much of these areas from February 16th-18th, with areas of snow, sleet, and freezing rain (some heavy) falling across much of East Texas. Strong forcing and moisture associated with the next upper level trough to move atop the extensive arctic air mass in place resulted in widespread snow and sleet totals of one to three inches, with isolated higher amounts up to five to seven inches over Eastern Cass County. Strong overrunning of warmer air atop the…

3. Sep 13, 2008Hurricane (Typhoon), Cherokee$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane force winds resulted in widespread trees and power lines downed throughout the county. Power outages were widespread as well with numerous residents without power during the height of the storm and well after the storm. The True Value store in Jacksonville, Texas on U.S. Hwy. 79 east sustained heavy damage when a storage shed toppled on its side and ripped concrete anchors from the ground. Virtually every road was blocked at one point in time from fallen trees in the Jacksonville area. Both residential and commercial structures in the town of Rusk suffered damage ranging from blown-off trim to lost roofs. A large oak tree landed on a home located along U.S. Hwy 69. A…

4. Apr 29, 2016Tornado$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF-2 tornado with winds estimated between 105-115 mph touched down along County Road 2807 just east of Farm To Market Road 220 South about 4.5 miles southwest of Alto, and lifted north of County Road 2438 about 3 miles north of Alto. Over 27 homes sustained damage, including two homes that completely lost their roofs. Several outbuildings were damaged or destroyed, and at least two travel trailers were destroyed. The total path length was 7.3 miles.

5. Apr 13, 2019Tornado$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The same storm that produced an EF-2 tornado over Southern Cherokee County about 6 miles south southwest of Alto produced another EF-2 tornado with maximum estimated winds near 120 mph across the southern and western sections of the city of Alto, where it damaged structures along Highway 21, Blaton Street, and Putnam Avenue. Damage included shifting a single family home off of its foundation and significant roof damage to another home on Quincy Avenue. Several other homes sustained structural damage as the tornado tracked across the west side of Alto and then crossed Highway 69. The tornado then moved across the Alto Independent School District (ISD) and damaged its gymnasium and…

6. Apr 9, 2015Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   AN EF-2 tornado first touched down 3.5 miles northeast of Mount Selman, Texas near Hwy. 177 and traveled a path length of 1.77 miles before lifting just north of Hwy. 135 or approximately 5.25 miles northeast of Mount Selman, Texas. The tornado uprooted trees along its path. The Mixon Community was hit the hardest with several homes receiving moderate to severe damage in the Gatewood Estates area of Mixon. One home was completely destroyed.

7. Jul 24, 1996Lightning$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning sturck an oil tank near Hwy 2172 off Hwy 1710 near Lake Cherokee.

8. Sep 7, 2022Lightning$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck a home on FM 2493 in Bullard, setting the house on fire. Unfortunately, the home was destroyed from the fire.

9. Apr 13, 2019Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF-2 tornado with maximum estimated winds near 120 mph touched down in a rural field approximately 2 miles north of the Neches River. It initially snapped several hundred hardwood and softwood trees at their trunks before destroying two single wide mobile homes and ripping the roof off of a single family home at the end of FM 220 near County Road 2806. There, winds were estimated to be at their strongest at approximately 120 mph. The tornado also tossed several antique vehicles near the home and then went on to snap another 20 trees before lifting along FM 220.

10. Jul 8, 2007Flash Flood$250,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Hwy. 79 was closed near Jacksonville, Texas due to high water. Nearly 20 homes suffered flood damage when Lake Jacksonville rose two feet above normal. The lake had to be closed as several secondary roadways leading into and around the lake were flooded.

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°FSep 5, 2000

All-time low

−3°FFeb 16, 2021

Warmest night

83°FJul 14, 1954

Coldest day

11°FFeb 16, 2021

Wettest day

10.00 inJun 7, 2001

Snowiest day

7.0 in2 times, most recently Feb 15, 2021

Hottest year

2025mean 68.1°F

Coldest year

1968mean 63.3°F

Wettest year

199188.41 in

Driest year

195427.00 in

Snowiest season

13.3 in1947-48

Station Rusk (USC00417841), 695 ft elevation, 8.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1942 to September 30, 2026; 98.1% 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 USC00417841.
• 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.