Clay County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Aug 17, 1997Thunderstorm Wind$2.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorm winds blew a train car off the tracks, which in turn caused the rest of the freight train to derail. In all, 30 cars and 2 engines were derailed. One train car smashed into two automobiles and a tractor trailer that were parked on a parallel highway. The 2 occupants of one of the automobiles were treated for minor injuries. Damage to the train and track was estimated at $2,000,000.

2. Apr 21, 1996Hail$380,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Damage due to hail was estimated at $175,000 to automobiles and $200,000 to homes and roofs.

3. May 10, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The side of a metal barn was blown out. Numerous trees blown onto roofs. A 140 foot broadband tower was blown over. Several older metal barns were also blown over. Several trees were downed. One large tree was blown on top of a house. A barn door and the roof of another home sustained damage.

4. May 27, 2000Hail$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorms formed across portions of western north Texas during the afternoon of the 27th and moved southeastward. These storms resulted in areas of significant hail damage and 2 weak tornadoes. Hundreds of insurance claims were filed across Wichita, Archer, and Clay Counties (300 near and on the southwest side of Wichita Falls in Wichita County) due to hail damage, a total of approximately 1.8 million dollars.

5. Apr 30, 2004Hail$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several vehicles were damaged in the high school and junior high-elementary parking lots. Some homes were also damaged.

6. Jun 16, 1997Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A damage survey conducted by a National Weather Service meteorologist revealed a 6.5 mile tornado track across northern Clay County. The tornado began around 20:50 CST about 6 miles southwest of Charlie, TX, moved northeast, and lifted about 2 miles north of Charlie. Downed power poles and several trees on Ratt Road marked the beginning of the damage, with increasing damage through a pecan grove along Highway 171. Damage to a barn and over 1000 trees in the grove was rated at F1. Farther northeast along the track of the tornado, two homes and at least 3 barns/garages also sustained F1 damage along Linville and T-Bone Roads. The roof of a house on T-Bone Road was completely blown…

7. Aug 11, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$55,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A roof was blown off an apartment building and a two-foot diameter limb was blown off a tree. The roof was blown off a 14'X100' barn 2 miles south of Charlie.

8. Apr 26, 1998Tornado$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado, probably a gustnado, overturned a mobile home on FM 1288 on the southwest side of Bellevue. A man and woman were injured inside the trailer and were taken to local hospitals. Tree limbs up to 8 inches in diameter were blown down and roofs were damaged on several homes. Two barns in the area were also destroyed.

9. Apr 25, 2026Tornado$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado destroyed a hay barn approximately 4 miles northeast of Shannon off of the Old Joy-Shannon Road and windows were broken at an adjacent farmstead. Except for this damage, the path of the tornado is estimated.

10. Oct 13, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Significant wind damage occurred in Thornberry. Large overhead doors were blown into a barn. A cattle barn which was open on the south side was blown away, tearing welds from metal poles cemented into the ground. Cemented poles on the south side of the barn were also pulled out of the ground. Another barn had its metal roof blown off. Power lines were down across FM-171. A door was blown off a mobile home, highway signs were blown down, and trees and large limbs were downed.

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

117°FJun 28, 1980

All-time low

−12°FJan 4, 1947

Warmest night

88°FJul 26, 2011

Coldest day

9°FFeb 15, 2021

Wettest day

6.19 inSep 27, 1980

Snowiest day

9.8 inJan 18, 1925

Hottest year

1933mean 67.7°F

Coldest year

1983mean 61.7°F

Wettest year

201547.38 in

Driest year

201112.97 in

Snowiest season

20.0 in1904-05

Station Wichita Falls Municipal Airport (USW00013966), 1,013 ft elevation, 17.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1907 to October 26, 2026; 100.0% 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 USW00013966.
• 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.