Houston County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Houston County: 3.
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.

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Sep 12, 2008Hurricane (Typhoon), Houston$100 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Moderate wind damage with trees and limbs down. Shingle damage to roofs.

2. Mar 21, 2022Tornado$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This EF2 tornado was flown by emergency management and noted a continuous damage track from the first point along Highway 21 until the final point north of Crockett. There were ten total injuries including three serious ones at a pair of mobile homes with occupants thrown into an adjacent field. At least 30 structures were severely damaged.

3. Feb 15, 2021Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Houston$1.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Bitter cold air and wind overspread SE Texas behind and Arctic front on Valentines Day with wind chill indices below zero for much about a 30 hour period Between Sunday night and Tuesday morning. Increased power demand, wind and ice led to widespread power outages. Bursting pipes caused many to be without water as well.

4. Jun 7, 2001Tropical Storm, Houston$1.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tropical Storm Allison formed in the northwest Gulf of Mexico during the early afternoon of June 5th, 80 miles south of Galveston. Allison moved northward, making landfall on the west end of Galveston Island between midnight and 1am on the 6th, less than 12 hours after forming. As Allison moved inland it caused two to three foot tides, which had little impact on the area. On the evening of the 5th a tornado briefly touched down in Brazoria county causing damage to one home in the Manvel area. Over the next five days Allison produced record rainfall that led to devastating flooding across Southeast Texas, killing 22 people and damaging over 48,000 homes, 70,000 automobiles and…

5. Sep 23, 2005Hurricane (Typhoon), Houston$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The eye of Hurricane Rita moved ashore in extreme southwest Louisiana between Sabine Pass and Johnson's Bayou In Cameron Parish with a minimum central pressure of 937 mb and maximum sustained winds of 120 mph. Rita was a Category 3 hurricane at landfall.Two and a half weeks after Hurricane Katrina made her final and devastating landfall along the northern Gulf coast, all eyes turned to Tropical Storm Rita as she moved westward through the central Bahamas. On Tuesday, September 20th, Rita rapidly intensified while moving west through the Florida Straits into the Gulf of Mexico. Rita reached Category 2 intensity as the center passed about 50 miles south of Key West and significantly…

6. Apr 13, 2019Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The EF-3 tornado damage mainly consisted of snapped pine trees indicative of high end EF-1 damage but much more severe EF-3 damage was discovered northeast of Weches. The most severe damage occurred to a double wide trailer that was destroyed and thrown over 150 years from its original foundation. The one female occupant of the trailer was killed. The path width was as wide as a half mile in places. The tornado continued into Cherokee County and was on the ground for more than 40 miles.

7. Aug 1, 1998Drought, Houston$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Drought conditions continue from July. After months of extremely dry and hot weather across SE Texas, relief came late in the month with welcomed rainfall and slightly cooler temperatures. Over 20 people across the region lost their lives due to the extreme heat and property and crop damage averaged $8.3 million per county since May. Locations across the region were finally catching up with rainfall toward the end of the month as the drought was coming to an end. NOTE: CROP AND PROPERTY DAMAGE LISTED HERE ARE FOR THE PERIOD MAY-AUGUST 1998.

8. Dec 25, 2012Tornado$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The worst of the tornado damage, rated EF3, was along Highway 287, or one mile north of the town of Pennington. An agricultural feed store and restaurant were completely destroyed with the debris scattered off toward the east in a field. There was severe damage to several homes and trailers along the path of the tornado that was indicative of either EF1 or EF2 scale damage.

9. Apr 13, 2019Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The survey discovered tornado damage with trees either uprooted or snapped along a path parallel to County Road 1170. A double wide trailer was destroyed and pushed back into a wooded area at the end of the tornado path. The four occupants of the trailer were injured. Damage scar apparent on satellite data. Aerial photographs also help define path.

10. Jun 6, 2005Tornado$275,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Tornado moved from southwest to northeast across Grapeland. Ten residential homes had patio, roof and chimney damage. Windows were blown out of the south side of the library. There was roof damage to six downtown businesses. Numerous trees were down on vehicles and over twenty power lines were down throughout town.

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

114°FAug 18, 1909

All-time low

0°F2 times, most recently Dec 24, 1989

Warmest night

81°F7 times, most recently Aug 11, 2023

Coldest day

18°F2 times, most recently Dec 23, 1989

Wettest day

9.11 inJun 8, 2001

Snowiest day

7.0 inDec 19, 1909

Hottest year

1911mean 69.9°F

Coldest year

1979mean 63.4°F

Wettest year

202469.59 in

Driest year

198826.74 in

Snowiest season

10.0 in1909-10

Station Crockett (USC00412114), 347 ft elevation, 1.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1904 to October 20, 2026; 90.8% 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 USC00412114.
• 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.