Gillespie County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Gillespie 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. Jul 16, 2026Flash Flood$6.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Old San Antonio Rd. at the Pedernales River was washed out completely south of Fredericksburg. Many low water crossings around the county were damaged. Total damage in the county was estimated at $6.5 million.

2. May 11, 1999Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado was preceded by strong, gusty winds, very heavy rainfall and finally, large hail. Severe winds in advance of the tornado took a roof off the High School in Harper and laid it on the ground on the opposite side of the building. These winds also damaged several other roofs in the area. The tornado began its track around three miles east of Harper, moving toward the southeast. It lifted post oak trees out of the ground with their roots in tact. Approximately 2 miles down the path, it turned toward the south and continued for another 1.5 miles. Along its track, it destroyed. 35 homes, 10 mobile homes, and damaged or destroyed 25 outbuildings and barns. The tornado damage…

3. Oct 12, 2001Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The strongest of the Friday night tornadoes struck the town of Stonewall. This tornado, rated F3 on the Fujita Scale, was preceded by brief gusty winds of 30 to 40 miles per hour, very heavy rainfall and spotty .5-inch hail. The tornado formed around 830 pm CST near the intersection of Hahn Road and SH290. It moved north-northeastward for .75 miles, crossing SH290 and the Pedernales River. Just north of the river, it made a slight turn toward the east, now moving another mile toward the northeast. It crossed North River Road and continued over open country until it crossed Ranch Road 1623. After passing RR1623 for approximately .25 miles, it dissipated. The worst damage, F3 level,…

4. Mar 19, 2012Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorms produced heavy rain that caused flash flooding. This closed roads south of Tivydale.

5. Feb 1, 2023Winter Storm, Gillespie$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Freezing rain began around 11 AM on January 30 and continued off and on through February 2. By 4:13 PM on January 30 a quarter of an inch of ice had accumulated in Luckenbach. By the end of the event 0.31 inches of ice had accumulated in Fredericksburg. The ice brought down power lines and tree branches in Fredericksburg. The Central Texas Electric COOP reported $500,000 in damages.

6. Jun 1, 2005Thunderstorm Wind$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Storms from a mesoscale complex that formed in the Texas Panhandle arrived in the Texas Hill Country shortly after midnight. The line stretched from Llano to Fredericksburg to Kerrville to Leakey and Rocksprings, moving toward the southeast with speeds varying at times from 25 to 45 mph. The most intense and widespread damage appeared to take place across Gillespie County. In the northwest part of the county several trees were blown over onto FM648 and blocked the road until they were removed. Minor damage was noted southeastward to near US290 where severe damage again was seen around the Gillespie County airport, just southwest of Fredericksburg. The roof was lifted off the…

7. Mar 14, 2018Wildfire, Gillespie$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An arsonist set a house and a recreational vehicle on fire and these spread to consume five acres northwest of Fredericksburg. Two structures and the RV where destroyed.

8. Aug 16, 2007Flash Flood$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The extremely heavy rainfall associated with the remains of Tropical Storm Erin moved into Gillespie County in the late afternoon, producing general 3 to 5 inch amounts. Highest were 9 inches at Cain City just south of Fredericksburg. Most roads in the southern and western part of the county were closed due to flooding. High water rescues were made on Bear Creek Road in the county and on East College Street and Goehmann Lane in Fredericksburg. US290 was blocked by the Pedernales River by early Friday morning and the LBJ Ranch was closed to visitors all day on Friday.

9. Mar 7, 2005Hail$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large hail, propelled by 30 to 40 mph winds broke the windows of homes, dented vehicles, and damaged trees near Fredericksburg.

10. May 7, 2006Hail$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Golfball-sized hail dented vehicle bodies, broke windows of cars and homes in the Harper 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

109°F3 times, most recently Sep 5, 2000

All-time low

−5°FJan 31, 1949

Warmest night

88°FAug 6, 1897

Coldest day

17°FJan 10, 1962

Wettest day

8.03 inSep 10, 1952

Snowiest day

6.0 in3 times, most recently Feb 9, 1940

Hottest year

2023mean 69.1°F

Coldest year

1903mean 63.4°F

Wettest year

200750.84 in

Driest year

195611.29 in

Snowiest season

14.0 in1914-15

Station Fredericksburg (USC00413329), 1,685 ft elevation, 2.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1896 to September 30, 2026; 92.5% 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 USC00413329.
• 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.