Hardin County

Every recorded tornado

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

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Aug 27, 2017Flash Flood$600 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread 20 to 40 inches fell across the county which resulted in near 10,000 homes being flooded. Worst hit areas were around Lumberton, Silsbee, Sour Lake, and Kountze. Record flooding occurred on Pine Island Bayou and Village Creek. The second highest crest of the Neches occurred at Evadale. The US Highway 96 bridge near Silsbee collapsed due to the current.

2. Sep 12, 2008Hurricane (Typhoon), Hardin$70.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Ike caused category 1 wind damage across Hardin County. Many trees and power lines were downed, some landing on homes and businesses.

3. Sep 23, 2005Hurricane (Typhoon), Hardin$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Although Hurricane Rita made landfall just east of the Texas - Louisiana border, she moved northwest and moved across southeast Texas in the morning hours of September 24th as a dangerous category 3 hurricane with sustained winds of 120 mph. Along the coast of Jefferson County, storm surges near 10 feet occurred near Sabine Pass, where over 90 percent of the homes were severely damaged or destroyed. The storm surge backed up the Sabine River, and flooded a small section of downtown Orange with around 4 to 5 feet of storm surge. Winds blew over 100 mph across the entire region, snapping and uprooting trees, and damaged over 125,000 homes and businesses. Some homes in rural Jasper…

4. Aug 26, 2020Tropical Storm, Hardin$30.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   There was a mandatory evacuation for the county. Many trees and power lines were blown down across the county. Homes and businesses were damaged from trees falling on them or wind. Over 40 percent of the county was without power immediately after the storm. Wind gusts ranged from 35 to 70 mph across the county.

5. Oct 9, 2020Tropical Storm, Hardin$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tropical storm force wind gusts downed trees and power lines across the county. Rainfall totals were 2 to 5 inches.

6. Sep 18, 2019Flash Flood$8.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The first reports of flooding was received from Silsbee's Fire Department. Water was entering 2 homes and major street flooding was beginning. During the event numerous roadways and structures in the county became flooded. River and bayou flooding also lasted for several days especially along Pine Island Bayou. Rain totals were between 10 and 40 inches, with the highest amounts along the extreme southern part of the county. Between 50 and a 100 homes were flooded, mainly between Sour Lake and Pinewood Estates.

7. Oct 29, 2019Thunderstorm Wind$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A thunderstorm downburst produced wind gusts of 90 to 100 mph across parts of Hardin County from Kountze to Silsbee. Damage started around the Hwy 326/ Hwy 770 intersection southwest of Kountze, where numerous trees were snapped or uprooted. Part of the roof of the Hardin County Show Barn was ripped off. ||In Kountze, several trees were snapped or uprooted near the county courthouse. The intermediate school lost part of a metal roof on the gymnasium.||Further south, a church lost part of its roof on Hwy 96, and part of the roof at the Hawthorne Airport hangar came off. A small building near the airport was flipped over. A man that was in the building received minor injuries.||The…

8. Oct 16, 2006Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two day rain totals of 12 to 18 inches resulted in long duration flooding across portions of Hardin County. The hardest hit areas were along near Village Creek near Lumberton, where many roads were flooded for almost a week and homes were cut off by high water. Between 20 to 25 homes near Brushy Creek had flood damage. Another 75 homes were damaged across the county.

9. Oct 31, 2015Flash Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain moved into Hardin County early during the morning of the 31st. Flooding of roadways with water at least 2 feet deep was reported in Silsbee by 6:15 AM. By 10:51 AM the Department of Highways reported that most roads in the county had water covering them and water rescues were ongoing by 11 AM according to the county police department near Silsbee and Kountze. Around 50 houses in the county were flooded. By the end of the event Reeves Elementary in Silsbee received 9.0 inches, Kountze Elementary received 9.71 inches, 11.58 inches was reported from West Hardin High School in Saratoga, and 14.25 reported at Highway 105 at Pine Island Bayou near Batson.

10. May 29, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$1.1 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    Severe downburst winds hit the community of Sour Lake. 1 man was injured in a motel room when the ceiling and air conditioner collapsed on him. Between 20 and 30 percent of the building in Sour Lkae received some kind of damage. 5 homes were completely destoyed, 20 homes were severely damaged, and 60 homes received minor damage.

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

108°F2 times, most recently Aug 28, 2023

All-time low

8°FDec 23, 1989

Warmest night

89°FAug 11, 1951

Coldest day

24°FDec 26, 1983

Wettest day

19.43 inSep 19, 2019

Snowiest day

2.5 in2 times, most recently Jan 30, 1949

Hottest year

2023mean 71.6°F

Coldest year

1979mean 65.9°F

Wettest year

200190.62 in

Driest year

195432.35 in

Station Beaumont Rsch Center (USC00410613), 34 ft elevation, 16.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1947 to October 22, 2026; 98.8% 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 USC00410613.
• 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.