Denton County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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. Apr 3, 2014Hail$500 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Softball sized hail was reported by a trained spotter one-eighth of a mile west of the Texas Woman's Campus in Denton. Additionally, this storm covered much of the city of Denton, and a considerable part of the County as well. The Insurance Council of Texas estimated approximately 35,000 vehicles, and 22,000 homes were damaged in some fashion with this storm. The damage estimate is aproximately 500 million dollars.

2. Mar 24, 2021Hail$60.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail between 1.5-2.5 inches was reported near Highway 377 and 1171 in western Flower Mound.

3. Apr 11, 2016Hail$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A public report indicated grapefruit sized hail near the intersection of Audra Lane and East McKinney St.

4. Mar 24, 2021Hail$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Storms developed along a dryline during the afternoon hours on March 24th. These storms advanced east into North and Central Texas, producing hail and a couple of EF-Unknown tornadoes. Large hail up to the size of 3 was reported in Tarrant and Denton counties. Hail-producing storms continued overnight as a cold front made its way through the area.

5. Mar 23, 2016Hail$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A social media report indicated ping pong to golf-ball sized hail in Lewisville, TX.

6. Mar 23, 2016Hail$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail up to the size of golf balls fell near Business 121 and Southwest Parkway in Lewisville.

7. Apr 28, 2021Hail$18.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Golf ball size hail was reported in Trophy Club.

8. Apr 28, 2021Hail$18.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail between 1.5-2 inches was reported in Flower Mound.

9. Feb 14, 2021Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Denton$16.7 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Extreme cold gripped the county for several days. Overnight lows were near or below 20 degrees Fahrenheit almost all week. The period of February 15-16th was the coldest with low temperatures between 5 to -7 degrees Fahrenheit, and the maximum temperature on the 15th was only in the lower teens. Wind chill values during the 14th-16th were between 0 to -20 degrees Fahrenheit most of the time. The cold temperatures resulted in an extreme amount of damage to pipes, infrastructure, and power.

10. Apr 3, 2014Hail$15.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    Golf ball to hen egg sized hail was reported by a trained spotter 1.8 miles northeast of Denton.

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 Jun 27, 1980

All-time low

−2°FFeb 16, 2021

Warmest night

86°F9 times, most recently Aug 24, 2026

Coldest day

13°FDec 24, 1983

Wettest day

5.85 inSep 21, 2018

Snowiest day

11.2 inFeb 11, 2010

Hottest year

2017mean 69.9°F

Coldest year

1983mean 63.3°F

Wettest year

201562.61 in

Driest year

195618.55 in

Snowiest season

17.6 in1977-78

Station Dallas-fort Worth WSCMO Airport (USW00003927), 544 ft elevation, 15.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1953 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 USW00003927.
• 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.