Cooke County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Cooke County: 7.
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.

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. Jun 18, 2007Flash Flood$28.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Significant flooding occurred in the central portions of the county with numerous high water rescues required. People were forced to cut holes in their roofs in order to escape floodwaters in Gainesville, and several mobile homes were damaged. A mobile home along Pecan Creek was thrown into the floodwaters and came to stop only when it hit a bridge. Four family members were dumped into the creek and three of them drowned. Interstate 35 service roads and the northbound lane were flooded near Valley View. Interstate 35 had to be closed between Highway 82 and the Oklahoma border just north of Gainesville. Water was 2-3 feet deep over streets in Lindsay. A total of 300 homes and 75…

2. May 25, 2024Tornado$15.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This is segment #2 of 4 of a multi-segmented EF-3 supercellular tornado that began in Montague County, crossed into Cooke County, Denton County, and then back into Cooke County. The tornado was ongoing for about an hour and a half with a total path length just under 48 miles. The tornado was the strongest in Cooke County and resulted in 7 fatalities in Cooke County. ||The tornado entered Cooke County at 1008 pm CDT time and exited into Denton County at 1049 pm CDT for a total path length of 25.41 miles. The tornado path zigzagged at times. The maximum width of the damage path is measured at over a mile in the area west of Valley View; however this is misleading. We do not believe…

3. Apr 5, 2003Hail$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large hail damaged approximately 1,000 cars and about the same number of homes.

4. Apr 29, 2009Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread flooding continued through the night across the county with several roads and bridges under water and several areas inaccessible. High water rescues and evacuations continued in Gainesville and parts of Interstate 35 South were still closed due to water over the road. Rainfall totals were as high as 11 inches. Approximately 35 homes and 15 businesses were damaged by flooding in Gainesville. Homes and businesses along Pecan Creek in Gainesville suffered major damage. The water was 1-2 feet deep around the creek. A total of 10 swift water rescues were needed during the event. The Moss Lake area also received significant damage to boats, docks, and boathouses.

5. Jun 18, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$1.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A significant microburst occurred in the city of Muenster. Numerous trees were uprooted across the city, the field house of a school was damaged, a church sustained substantial damage, several roofs were torn off homes, mobile homes suffered significant damage, and tombstones at the local cemetery were blown over and crushed. The most costly damage occurred to two grain silos. Along Main Street, many businesses were heavily damaged and the windows were blown out of Orr Construction. The damage across the city was estimated to total over 1 million dollars.

6. Jul 17, 2014Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Very heavy rainfall resulted in significant flash flooding across the southern portions of Cooke County. Up to 10 inches of rain fell in the area. The town of Valley View was significantly affected by the flooding. Interstate 35 was shut down from the Denton County line north to mile marker 491. The water was 5-6 feet deep on the frontage road in some locations. One gas station along I-35 in Valley View had standing water in the convenience store. The interstate reopened between 8-9 am CDT. Numerous cars, trucks, and semis were stranded in the area; including along Interstate 35. The emergency manager estimated 20-30 vehicles were pulled from high water. Numerous high water…

7. Dec 27, 2005Wildfire, Cooke$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous grass fires were started across north Texas due to low humidities, strong winds, and the ongoing drought. A grass fire burned 6,000 acres in Callisburg, Cooke County when high winds caused electrical lines to touch and spark. One woman was killed when she fell and broke her hip fighting the fire. Firefighters were unable to reach her in time. In addition, four permanent homes and two mobile homes were destroyed. Ten barns were destroyed and two were damaged. Two other grass fires burned eighty acres near Arlington Municipal Airport in Tarrant County. Several mobile homes were destroyed, as well as five permanent homes on Mitchell Parkway. Fires also burned several acres…

8. May 8, 2015Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Emergency management reported that flood waters damaged railroad tracks in Valley View, TX, causing two locomotives and many train cars to derail around 130 AM. Four workers went into the water and sustained minor injuries. They were transported to Denton Regional Medical Center where they were treated and released.

9. Apr 21, 1996Hail$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Softball size hail damaged 185 cars, some of which had the windows totally smashed out, at a dealership near the intersection of I-35 and Highway 82. Roofs were damaged and windows were broken out of homes and businesses.

10. Oct 1, 2006Drought, Cooke$500,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Persistent drought conditions continued across portions of north Texas. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, much of the region was still experiencing extreme (D3) drought conditions. The areas which were rated exceptional drought (D4) last month had received enough rainfall to be downgraded into the D3 category this month.|Even though drought conditions were lessened by a few rain events this month, serious hydrological problems remained. For instance, as much water was used from Lake Bridgeport in one month alone as was saved through conservation efforts by north Texas over the summer. Almost every north Texas lake remained well below conservation levels. The rain events this…

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

113°F2 times, most recently Jul 23, 2018

All-time low

−7°F2 times, most recently Dec 24, 1989

Warmest night

84°FAug 3, 2011

Coldest day

10°FJan 15, 2024

Wettest day

7.99 inJun 18, 2007

Snowiest day

8.0 inMar 6, 2008

Hottest year

1998mean 66.1°F

Coldest year

1989mean 61.6°F

Wettest year

201587.72 in

Driest year

200522.44 in

Station Gainesville 5 Ene (USC00413420), 870 ft elevation, 5.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1987 to October 22, 2026; 98.9% 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 USC00413420.
• 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.