Gaines County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

Costliest events since 1996

1. Apr 30, 1999Hail$8.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A multicell cluster of severe storms that crossed into New Mexico from Reeves and Loving Counties, TX just before 1pm CDT emerged from Lea County, NM at around 6pm. The city of Seminole was pounded by large hail, high winds and flooding rains.

2. Jun 26, 2007Thunderstorm Wind$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A damage survey was conducted by NWS personnel the morning following the winds. The results of the damage survey follow.||Winds were measured at 97.5 mph at the West Texas Mesonet site two miles north northeast of Seminole, however, there is visual indication that wind speeds in some locations around Seminole, were at times even stronger ��� estimated in the range of 100-120 mph. Communication tower damage, where a tower measuring 320 feet in height fell on a church and another tall tower was bent into the shape of a rectangle, both suggest higher wind speed estimates. Additionally, three miles east southeast of Seminole along County Road 402, at least eight wooden power…

3. May 8, 1997Hail$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Baseball size hail and larger smashed the windshield of a Police cruiser and shattered windows in several homes. Power was knocked out around town as well. Autos and roofs of houses were smashed by the large hail and accounted for much of the damage total. A local insurance agent said the damage was the worst in 20 years in Seagraves.Storms that were moving eastward into the Seagraves area had been a multicell cluster, but just before arriving at Seagraves one cell developed briefly into an HP Supercell.

4. Apr 30, 1999Flash Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Training of numerous cells over Seminole and areas to the east and northeast caused widespread and extensive flooding. The KMAF 88D Storm Total Precipitation measured a strip of 20 by 8 miles that received in excess of 5 inches of rain. Readings from within the swath confirmed this estimation. Residences were flooded in Seminole and cars on FM 1429 east of Seminole were stranded in high water. One new mobile home east of the city became flooded and started to float in the water, only to break apart shortly thereafter. Several people were rescued from vehicles standing in 4-5 feet of water. Numerous animals died in the event, including five horses on a farm that died from…

5. Sep 14, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An isolated severe thunderstorm rapidly intensified as it moved to the south into Northern Gaines County just east of Seagraves. Doppler radar showed this storm to have VILs in excess of 50 kg/m2 for several volume scans as it entered the county. VILs and low-level reflectivity decreased significantly during and shortly after the time severe weather was reported. The MAF evening sounding suggested the potential for hybrid microbursts, with wind gusts over 75 knots possible.A trailer house and barn one mile east of the city limits were demolished, and the roofs off three hangars at the municipal airport farther east of town were partly or totally removed. Other structures from…

6. Apr 30, 2000Hail$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Small cluster of storms crossed into Texas from Eastern New Mexico with the southern-most cell developing into a low-topped supercell. Hail was described as very hard.

7. Apr 22, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorm winds blew through Seagraves in northern Gaines County taking down a cell phone tower and blowing a tree onto a house. Several reports of damage were received by police in Seagraves according to the local newspaper. A Texas Tech Mesonet site one mile southwest of Seagraves recorded wind gusts of 74 and 75 mph during the time damage was reported to have occurred.

8. Jul 1, 2018Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A thunderstorm moved across Gaines County and produced wind damage about three miles southwest of Seagraves. Several power lines were blown down due to thunderstorm winds at County Road 226 and US 385. The cost of damage is a very rough estimate.

9. Jun 25, 2026Thunderstorm Wind$475,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Emergency management reported several electrical poles were down in Seagraves near the Lowes. One power pole was reported to be downed on a vehicle and one on a house. Numerous reports of damaged roofs as well. The total time of occurrence is estimated from radar. The total cost of damages and the maximum wind gust is also estimated.

10. Oct 1, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$375,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    An intense supercell thunderstorm moved across the western sections of Gaines County. This storm resulted in damaging winds and large hail. Reports from the local emergency manager indicate eighty-seven power poles were blown down from the storm. Although reports of large hail were only confirmed in the two locations listed, evidence of wind driven hail was present in crop damage across a large part of western Gaines County.

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°FJun 27, 1994

All-time low

−2°F3 times, most recently Jan 27, 2026

Warmest night

78°F2 times, most recently Aug 12, 2023

Coldest day

8°FFeb 15, 2021

Wettest day

5.61 inSep 27, 2004

Snowiest day

9.0 inJan 10, 2021

Hottest year

2024mean 64.4°F

Coldest year

1993mean 57.1°F

Wettest year

200440.64 in

Driest year

20117.53 in

Snowiest season

19.6 in2009-10

Station Denver City (USC00412408), 3,580 ft elevation, 17.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1986 to October 21, 2026; 96.3% 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 USC00412408.
• 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.