Dawson County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jun 26, 2021Thunderstorm Wind$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A thunderstorm moved across Dawson County and produced wind damage in and near Lamesa. Significant wind damage was discovered on the north and northeast sides of Lamesa, Texas. The damage swath included multiple uprooted trees, downed or leaning power poles, metal roofs/carports lifted or bent, some homes missing shingles or roof damage due to uprooted trees, and several damaged metal buildings and travel trailers. All of this damage was oriented in a northwest direction. After re-analysis of radar data and evaluation of eye-witness accounts, the damage was determined to be the result of an intense downburst that developed as an approaching outflow boundary interacted with an…

2. Jun 26, 2021Flash Flood$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain resulted in flash flooding in Lamesa. There was a video of at least a foot of flowing water over roads in Lamesa. The damage estimate in Lamesa due to a thunderstorm downburst plus flooding was around ten million dollars.

3. Jun 26, 2021Flash Flood$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain resulted in flash flooding in Lamesa. There was a video of street flooding in Lamesa submitted via social media. The damage estimate from the flooding and thunderstorm downburst in Lamesa was around ten million dollars.

4. Jun 28, 2000Hail$450,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A supercell thunderstorm moved from the northwest portion of Dawson County southeast just west of Lamesa, across the community of Friendship, and then east of Patricia. Large hail, strong winds, and torrential rains produced widespread crop and property damage across the western half of Dawson County.

5. Apr 10, 1997Hail$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The beginnings of a monster storm were in western Andrews County along the dry line and began moving to the northeast. Just after leaving Seminole in central Gaines County this storm became a supercell and turned almost straight east. According to the KMAF 88D average storm movement was 221 degrees at 26 kt, but this supercell turned and slowed to 268 degrees at 14 kt (47 degrees to the right at 54% speed). The storm continued into the Texas South Plains where it produced numerous other tornadoes and caused one fatality.The environment for the storms according to the rawinsonde sounding that evening on the SHARP workstation showed a buoyancy of about 2800 J/kg for the best lifted…

6. Oct 1, 2004Flood, Dawson$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Local newspapers reported that a playa lake just west of U.S. Highway 87 in northern Dawson County flooded and restricted travel on the federal highway for an extended period of time. Rain fell over portions of Dawson County for a sixteen day period spanning the last week in September and the first week in October. The playa lake swelled to inundate a stretch of the U.S. highway's southbound lane during a flash flood event on September 30th. Runoff from daily rainfall maintained flood waters that covered the highway through October 8th. These flood waters ranged in depth from nine to fourteen inches over the driving surface. Texas Department of Transportation crews and troopers…

7. Sep 7, 2003Hail$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The second supercell thunderstorm to affect the Permian Basin this day resulted in a swath of large hail that damaged property and destroyed cotton and sorghum crops across northeast Dawson County. Hailstones ranging in size from pennies to golfballs fell along U.S. Highway 87 north-northeast of Lamesa. Large hail covered the ground northeast and east of Arvana, also ranging in size from pennies to golfballs. NWS meteorologists interviewed local residents the following day. Several residents indicated the hail fell at their locations for up to twenty minutes. The combination of damage surveys and interviews with local agricultural officials indicated over 3.7 million dollars worth…

8. Jun 25, 2021Thunderstorm Wind$210,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A thunderstorm moved across Dawson County and produced wind damage near Ackerly. There were 13 snapped power poles one mile north of Ackerly on Highway 87. The time was estimated by radar. The cost of damage is a very rough estimate.

9. Jun 13, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Reports indicated that several houses lost roofs and barns were destroyed. In addition...a couple of semi trucks were blown over on Highway 87.

10. Sep 13, 2025Flash Flood$150,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    An NWS employee reported flooding in several locations along TX 349, between Lamesa and Midland. Vehicles were reported stranded in floodwaters in Lamesa. The time of occurrence is partially estimated by radar. The cost of damages is also estimated.

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

111°FJun 28, 1994

All-time low

−15°FFeb 8, 1933

Warmest night

82°FAug 3, 1913

Coldest day

8°FFeb 15, 2021

Wettest day

9.10 inMay 5, 2015

Snowiest day

10.0 inJan 21, 1983

Hottest year

2006mean 64.5°F

Coldest year

1976mean 58.6°F

Wettest year

200442.85 in

Driest year

20115.23 in

Snowiest season

35.5 in1982-83

Station Tahoka (USC00418818), 3,112 ft elevation, 31.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1913 to October 23, 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 USC00418818.
• 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.