Erath County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

Costliest events since 1996

1. Apr 19, 2025Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF-1 tornado with max winds of 110 mph touched down 5.7 miles northwest of Hico along FM 1824 and moved northeast, damaging a few trees and outbuildings. Along CR 238, several trees were snapped and uprooted and outbuildings damaged. Further to the northeast, a home on CR 229 received roof and siding damage and several trees and outbuildings were damaged. More homes and trees were damaged along CR 209, and a large dairy farm received damage to buildings. The worst damage occurred along CR 211 where one home lost much of its roof and siding, and a mobile home was completely destroyed with debris blown up to 700 yards away across fields. The tornado curved more eastward and…

2. Jan 2, 2006Wildfire, Erath$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A grass fire destroyed 6 houses in the town of Huckabay.

3. Mar 8, 2016Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado caused EF-1 damage to several businesses and homes in the city limits of Stephenville. The tornado began near a business on U.S. Highway 377 on the south side of town, damaging a metal building structure. The tornado moved north and northeast, heavily damaging an apartment building, and causing tree and power line damage on the campus of Tarleton State University. As the tornado dissipated, homes and garages were damaged at the Foster's home for children, on the north side of Stephenville.

4. Jul 8, 2007Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several roads were flooded along the southern county border, and a high water rescue was needed on FM 914 six miles south of Alexander. Also in Alexander, CR 284 had about four feet of water over it's bridge. Five parts of Highway 1602 at Honey Creek were washed out, and Highway 281 was closed due to flood waters. There were a few reports of damaged driveways and culverts.

5. Oct 1, 2006Drought, Erath$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…

6. Feb 11, 2010Heavy Snow, Erath$350,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An average of 4-8 of snow fell across the county with the highest snowfall totals reported across the northeastern half of the county. The local TXDOT reported 8 of snow in the northern and northwestern portions of the county, 5-6 in Stephenville, and 4 in the southern portions of the county. A retired NWS employee reported 7 of snow between Stephenville and Bluff Dale. The COOP observers in Chalk Mountain and in Morgan Mill both reported 5 of snow. Several accidents were reported around the county from people sliding on the slick roads.

7. May 10, 2021Hail$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A public report indicated hen-egg sized hail in the city of Stephenville, TX.

8. Aug 10, 2011Wildfire, Erath$175,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A small acre fire consumed two vacant mobile homes near FM 914 and FM 847, approximately 3.5 miles south of Stephenville.

9. Feb 1, 2011Ice Storm, Erath$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   One to two inches of sleet and snow fell across Erath County. The sleet and ice made travel treacherous around the county. Many trucks got stuck on Highway 6 west of Dublin. Most of the vehicle incidents reported were due to stuck vehicles or vehicles that had slid off the roadway, but one person was injured when their car flipped into a ditch on FM 914. The prolonged cold that settled in after the ice storm kept the roads treacherous for the next four days and many schools and businesses were closed for just as long.

10. Mar 8, 2016Tornado$130,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    The Dublin Police Department reported damage from a tornado early in the morning of March 9th. The tornado was short lived, and produced minor damage to approximately ten buildings in downtown Dublin.

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°FJul 27, 1925

All-time low

−8°FDec 23, 1989

Warmest night

86°FAug 13, 1946

Coldest day

13°F2 times, most recently Dec 22, 1990

Wettest day

9.71 inMay 1, 1956

Snowiest day

6.0 in3 times, most recently Dec 11, 1986

Hottest year

2023mean 68.2°F

Coldest year

1961mean 60.4°F

Wettest year

199146.27 in

Driest year

20228.83 in

Snowiest season

7.4 in1986-87

Station Stephenville Clark Field (USW00003969), 1,321 ft elevation, 2.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1921 to October 26, 2026; 95.4% 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 USW00003969.
• 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.