Freestone County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 28, 2009Flash Flood$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   High water rescues were conducted on FM 246 near Wortham. Numerous County Roads were under water and damaged from prolonged rainfall for much of the day. Nearly every road between Fairfield and Mexia and Fairfield and Wortham was under water. Numerous bridges were washed out or heavily damaged around the county. The Tawakoni Bridge on Interstate 45 was damaged. The Wortham City Hall was damaged by water in the building. The lake near Wortham overflowed its dam and flooded nearby roads with up to three feet of water. Many motorists were stranded in rural parts of the county.

2. Sep 4, 2011Wildfire, Freestone$1.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Five fires in Freestone County erupted on the 4th. The fires burned a total of 7500 acres. According to the Limestone Office of Emergency Management, 7 homes and 18 outbuildings were burned by these fires. The largest fire was located near Teague and the fire were contained the morning of the 7th.

3. Jun 21, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Downburst and straight-line winds caused considerable damage along a line from south of Fairfield in Freestone County to Buffalo in Leon County. Notable, consistent tree damage was observed along Interstate 45 with large trees uprooted and at least one electrical tower partially bent. Along SH 164 west of Buffalo but just inside the Freestone County line, four electrical tower trusses were collapsed. Additional information about the damage in Buffalo is explained in the Leon County entry.

4. Oct 1, 2006Drought, Freestone$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…

5. Oct 24, 2015Flash Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous county roads were covered in water after several hours of rainfall. Several roads had to be closed due to the high water. Small portions of CR 540 and CR 210 were washed away by flood waters. On CR 210, a driver crashed into what a sinkhole. He was not injured, but the truck was a total loss. The County Commissioner said the road was closed for about two weeks.

6. Feb 15, 2021Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Freestone$140,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Extreme cold gripped the county for several days. Overnight lows were near or below 25 degrees Fahrenheit almost all week. The period of February 15-16th was the coldest with low temperatures between 5 and -4 degrees Fahrenheit. The maximum temperature on the 15th was only in the teens. Wind chill values during the 14th-16th were between 10 to -10 degrees Fahrenheit most of the time. The cold temperatures resulted in an extreme amount of damage to pipes, infrastructure, and power. The State listed 1 fatality in Freestone County due to the winter storm but no additional information could be obtained.

7. Apr 9, 2024Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Emergency management reported several roads closed and county roads with culverts washed out.

8. Oct 30, 2013Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous roads were closed across the county due to very heavy rainfall resulting in flash flooding. 4-12 of rain fell across the county in just a few hours. Water entered one house on Highway 84 in Teague. 4 houses on the northeast side of Teague were evacuated as Turtle Creek quickly rose.

9. Apr 25, 2011Hail$80,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The hail stones increased to tennis ball size in Fairfield.

10. May 30, 1997Thunderstorm Wind$70,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Trees were blown down by strong winds. One tree fell onto a mobile home south of Richland Creek Reservoir, effectively splitting it into two.

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°F2 times, most recently Jul 26, 1954

All-time low

−1°FDec 24, 2022

Warmest night

87°F2 times, most recently Aug 15, 1951

Coldest day

16°F4 times, most recently Feb 16, 2021

Wettest day

8.50 inOct 14, 1957

Snowiest day

5.3 inJan 22, 1940

Hottest year

1939mean 69.0°F

Coldest year

1976mean 63.5°F

Wettest year

202462.82 in

Driest year

196323.89 in

Station Centerville (USC00411596), 320 ft elevation, 33.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1937 to October 18, 2026; 96.6% 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 USC00411596.
• 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.