Deaf Smith County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Feb 24, 2013Blizzard, Deaf Smith$660,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Blizzard conditions reported by the Deaf Smith Emergency Manager in Hereford, stranded motorist, and 11.0 inches storm total snow.

2. Jun 20, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$280,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A metal barn was reported destroyed and a cotton stripper was lifted and tossed by the high winds.

3. Sep 27, 2004Flash Flood$180,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorms with very heavy rainfall remained over the southwest Texas panhandle from the late morning and into the early evening hours. This led to serious flooding in the town of Hereford where parts of Hereford were reported to be under water. The hardest hit area was the San Jose community which had damage to homes. Also...the cotton and corn crops were reported damaged by the flash flooding and some young wheat crops drowned.

4. May 24, 2011Wildfire, Deaf Smith$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Tierra Blanca Creek Wildfire began about four miles southeast of Hereford Texas in Deaf Smith County at approximately 1322CST. The wildfire consumed an estimated seven thousand and six hundred acres. The wildfire threatened twenty-five homes with one home destroyed. Another thirty other structures were threatened with five of those structures destroyed. There were no reports of injuries. The wildfire was determined to have been caused by smoking materials. One wildland fire truck became burned over during structure protection, however the firefighters were not injured. The wildfire was contained around 2230CST.

5. May 25, 1996Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado blew the roof and some exterior walls of a brick veneer home down and destroyed the adjacent barn. Two other homes were seriously damaged. Two farm hands rode out the storm in the brick veneer home without injuries. The track is an estimate.

6. Apr 15, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$125,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The roof off of an apartment building was blown off and damage was reported to vehicles in the parking lot.

7. May 20, 2006Wildfire, Deaf Smith$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A wildfire sixteen miles north-northwest of Bootleg burned four thousand eight hundred and eighty acres. Four people were injured along with two homes saved but one home destroyed. Also...five outbuildings were saved but one outbuilding was destroyed.

8. May 5, 2012Wildfire, Deaf Smith$80,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A wildfire began approximately 1320CST about seven miles southeast of Hereford Texas in southeastern Deaf Smith county. The wildfire started in a pasture near County Road EE and County Road 1 and consumed an estimated six hundred and forty acres. The wildfire destroyed a house that was being remodeled and three firefighters were treated for minor smoke inhalation. There were no reports of fatalities, and the cause of the wildfire was still under investigation. The Hereford, Dawn, and Bootleg Fire Departments responded to the wildfire which was controlled around 1640CST.

9. Jun 29, 2008Flash Flood$68,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Deaf Smith County Emergency Manager reported that Park Avenue in Hereford was closed between U.S. Highway 385 and U.S. Highway 60. Also...water was reported in a few homes in the San Jose Community just south of Hereford. Water was four feet deep over Farm to Market Road 1055 about one mile south of Hereford. No injuries were reported.

10. Oct 1, 2002Hail$60,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A center-pivot irrigation system was overturned by the damaging winds. Also...the hail damaged thousands of acres of cotton anywhere from a half mile to one and a half miles wide. The winds also nearly flattened a field of sorghum.

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 8, 1910

All-time low

−17°FFeb 1, 1951

Warmest night

85°F3 times, most recently Aug 7, 1911

Coldest day

4°F2 times, most recently Feb 15, 2021

Wettest day

5.30 in2 times, most recently Aug 3, 1976

Snowiest day

14.0 inDec 14, 1987

Hottest year

2024mean 60.4°F

Coldest year

1979mean 54.4°F

Wettest year

194138.95 in

Driest year

19567.71 in

Snowiest season

41.5 in1982-83

Station Hereford (USC00414098), 3,820 ft elevation, 1.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1905 to August 31, 2026; 94.6% 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 USC00414098.
• 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.