Culberson County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

Mapped landslides

Mapped by USGS Conterminous (2).

1. Landslides mapped in the USGS compilation of landslide inventories across the United States (version 3.0, 2025), rated probable or better. The compilation joins inventories made by federal and state agencies for different purposes and areas, so the number mapped in a county reflects how closely it has been surveyed as much as how often its slopes fail. An area with few records may simply not have been mapped. Deaths are as recorded in the inventories; a slide listed in two inventories is counted once.

USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0, retrieved October 27, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Nov 22, 2013Ice Storm, Guadalupe Mountains Of Culberson County$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Icy roads reported by the Culberson County S.O. The Guadalupe Pass ASOS reported nearly an inch of ice accumulation on the freezing rain sensor before the sensor went out for lack of power. Rio Grande Electric Coop reported 494 power poles down due to icing in Dell City, with 205 still to be replaced as of 12/12/13. 438 meters are still out of power as of 12/12/13.

2. Apr 19, 2025Dust Storm, Van Horn And Highway 54 Corridor$125,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Culberson County Emergency Manager reported a 4 to 6 car pile-up along I-10 at mile marker 153 due to blowing dust. The time of this incident and the amount of property damage are estimates.

3. Jul 17, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A wet macroburst that lasted 5-6 minutes caused scattered damage in Van Horn. One mobile home was overturned trapping and injuring the woman inside. The winds also downed 12 utility poles resulting in power outages of up to 15 hours. Also around town, several roofs were either blown off or damaged, trees and fences were knocked down, and carports lifted and thrown. The entire rain event lasted only 15 minutes and dropped 8/10 inch.

4. May 9, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Culberson County emergency manager reported a power outage in Van Horn with roof damage to the Knights Inn. Photos showed part of the roof peeled up and ripped off of the motel with damage to nearby vehicles and powerlines. Damage was likely caused by a localized dry microburst based on satellite data. Wind speeds are estimated to have been between 60-70 mph. Property damage costs are a rough estimate.

5. Dec 8, 2009High Wind, Guadalupe Mountains Of Culberson County$40,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Roof decking was ripped off a building, along with windows being blown out of the same structure in Pine Springs. In addition, several wind turbines in the Delaware Mountains were also destroyed by the high winds. A monetary damage estimate for the wind turbines is not currently available.

6. Jul 7, 2018Thunderstorm Wind$30,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A thunderstorm moved across Culberson County and produced wind damage in Van Horn. A large tin roof was blown off of a building and onto a highway. There was other wind damage around town such as fences and power lines blown down. The damage was likely caused by a microburst. The cost of damage is a very rough estimate.

7. Aug 17, 2020Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A thunderstorm that moved across Van Horn produced a localized area of damaging straight-line winds as the core of this storm collapsed just south of the town. Culberson County Office of Emergency Management reported ten snapped powerline poles one to two miles south of Van Horn along Highway 90 that resulted in a town-wide power outage. It was determined by the National Weather Service that the damage was caused by a microburst after re-evaluating radar data and assessing the damage remotely using photos sent in by the Culberson County emergency management. Winds were estimated to be near 100 mph. The cost of damage is a very rough estimate.

8. Feb 10, 2009High Wind, Presidio Valley$15,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A gust of high wind blew a tractor trailer over on SH 17. Both lanes were blocked between Marfa and Fort Davis.

9. May 23, 2018Hail$15,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A thunderstorm moved across Culberson County and produced two inch hail along Ranch Road 652. Over 20 vehicles were damaged along this road. The cost of damage is a very rough estimate.

10. Oct 28, 2000High Wind, Guadalupe Mountains Of Culberson County$10,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Non-thunderstorm gradient winds behind a line of thunderstorms damaged buildings in Pine Springs and knocked down tents in the campgrounds.

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.

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.
• 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.
• Landslides USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0 (2025).
• 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.