Fayette County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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. Aug 27, 2017Flood$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tropical Storm force winds and winds gusts caused minor tree damage. A few trees were uprooted. The highest rainfall total was 29.19 inches outside of LaGrange in Fayette County. Most locations in Fayette County received 20 or more inches of rain. Heavy rain and flooding caused the evacuation of about 400 residents as the Colorado River at LaGrange rose to 54.2 feet. This was the third highest crest ever. Much of the city below Waters Street was flooded. Schools in the Fayetteville Independent School District sustained $80,000 damage. There were roughly 400 impacted homes across the county, 200 had substantial flood damage, 150 moderate damage, and 50 minor damage. About 2 dozen…

2. May 3, 2019Tornado$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The same storm that produced the Salem-Freyburg Rd. EF0 tornado continued to move north through central Fayette County. As it approached the west side of La Grange, it produced another tornado with visible tree damage just south of the La Grange airport near the intersection of Supak Ln. and Jackson Rd. Large oak trees were damaged and uprooted near this area and areas along Old Lockhart Rd. Damage in this area was estimated to be EF1. The tornado then approached Hwy 71 producing heavy damage to a business on the south side of the road. At this location a large metal building was destroyed while another was heavily damaged. Business and employee vehicles were overturned and a…

3. Sep 5, 2011Wildfire, Fayette$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Lutherhill wildfire started on September 5 behind a cold front that brought strong northerly winds. The fire burned until September 9 and consumed 2700 acres. The fire destroyed 14 homes.

4. Oct 17, 1998Flash Flood$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Great October FloodIn advance of a very slow-moving upper level trough of low pressure over West Texas, a cold front drifted slowly southeastward into West Central Texas during the evening of Friday, October 16th. Deep moisture was in place across South Central Texas as the two systems approached, being fed at the mid and upper levels by two nearly stationary hurricanes, Madeline near the tip of Baja Mexico, and Lester, anchored just off Acapulco, Mexico, and in the low levels by a strong flow from the Gulf of Mexico. A very moisture-rich environment was in place across South Central Texas as the event developed. Near 3 am CST, with the cold front still west of San Angelo,…

5. Oct 17, 1998Flood, Fayette$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding along the Colorado River.The Colorado River at Bastrop reached a crest of 32.3 feet, with flood stage 25 feet, flooding a golf course. At Smithville, the Colorado crested at 34.6 feet, where flood stage is 20 feet. Just upstream from Smithville, Pecan Shores Estates and Hidden Valley Estates experienced severely flooding. Numerous trailer homes floated downstream, and some permanent homes were nearly totally destroyed. At LaGrange, in Fayette County, the Colorado crested at 45.5 feet, with flood stage 32 feet The Frisch Auf community had water up to five feet deep in several homes. Several homes were flooded with up to three feet inside them. Numerous mobile homes had…

6. Dec 23, 2002Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The small tornado touched down 3 miles south of Ledbetter near FM1291 and dissipated after striking the town. As it reached the town, It damaged the roofs of businesses and homes, knocking over a windmill, toppling large trees and moving a wooden church five feet off its foundation of concrete blocks. It also rolled over a vehicle. No one was injured.

7. Aug 8, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   As the line of thunderstorms associated with the late season cold front moved southward into Fayette County, they produced severe winds that knocked down numerous trees, blew over signs along the road, and damaged roofs of homes and businesses across central Fayette County from north to south. Some parts of the county were without power until the following afternoon.

8. May 18, 2021Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The combination of an NWS damage survey and storm chaser video and documentation has concluded that an EF1 tornado occurred during the early evening hours of May 18th near Swiss Alp, TX in Fayette County. The tornado occurred in a large cluster of storms that were generally moving east across Fayette County. There were multiple mid-level circulations evident on radar during this event. So while a single tornado path has been created, there may have been other smaller satellite tornadoes or vortices that caused minor wind damage in other areas of Fayette County that evening. Storm Chaser video|showed a multi-vortex tornado on the ground near Swiss Alp and this discussion is the…

9. Aug 11, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorms moving southward through eastern Fayette County produced damaging winds that blew down trees and power lines from Fayetteville to Schulenburg. Power was lost to nearly 1400 persons for several hours as a result of the storm. One man pumping gas at Schulenburg narrowly avoided injury when winds detached the roof from a store and it landed beside him.

10. Jun 13, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$80,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Severe thunderstorm winds were reported by the Fayette County Sheriff's Department to have blown down trees and power lines in the LaGrange area.

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°F4 times, most recently Aug 27, 2023

All-time low

5°F3 times, most recently Dec 23, 1989

Warmest night

86°FAug 21, 1943

Coldest day

23°FJan 30, 1951

Wettest day

11.30 inJul 1, 1936

Snowiest day

9.0 inFeb 14, 1895

Hottest year

2023mean 74.0°F

Coldest year

1979mean 67.5°F

Wettest year

199763.04 in

Driest year

201117.01 in

Station Hallettsville 2 N (USC00413873), 275 ft elevation, 26.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 22, 2026; 96.0% 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 USC00413873.
• 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.