Howard County

Every recorded tornado

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

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. May 10, 1996Hail$30.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A left-split storm moved to the NNE from Glasscock County and produced one inch hail in the Elbow community. The storm reorganized with the storm-relative inflow favoring the north side of the storm. As the storm moved into the Big Spring area the it became a left-split supercell with the velocity display from the KMAF WSR-88D showing a well-developed anti-cyclonically rotating mesocyclone. The storm moved over the eastern half of the city from the south. In southern Big Spring baseball size hail fell while over the northeastern and eastern parts of the city softball size hail was reported. Graduation ceremony was ready to commence when softball hail struck Howard College.…

2. Jun 8, 2025Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous reports were received of wind-driven hail damage across Big Spring. West facing windows and walls of homes were damaged. Car windows were broken. Multiple power poles were snapped. At least some small metal outbuilldings and awnings were damaged. Wind speeds are estimated to have been between 80-100 mph. The time of occurrence is estimated from radar. The total cost of damages is also estimated.

3. Sep 28, 2012Flash Flood$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain moved over Howard County and produced flash flooding over Big Spring and portions of rural Howard County. Numerous vehicles were stranded in Big Spring. The cost of damage of six hundred thousand dollars is a very rough estimate. There were no injuries reported.

4. Apr 16, 2001Hail$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A severe thunderstorm moved across the eastern portions of the city of Big Spring, producing golfball to baseball size hail and 40-50 mph winds over approximately a one mile stretch of land. It is estimated that 400 cars sustained hail damage.

5. May 9, 2011Wildfire, Howard$240,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This fire, known as the Matt Loop Fire, burned 1,291 acres in Howard County near Big Spring, TX. Four homes were destroyed, and thirty homes were threatened. Sixty homes were evacuated.

6. Apr 24, 2022Flash Flood$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain fell across Howard County and produced flash flooding in Big Spring. There were multiple reports of homes flooded throughout the city of Big Spring. The cost of damage is a very rough estimate.

7. Apr 16, 2016Thunderstorm Wind$190,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A thunderstorm moved across Howard County and produced wind damage near Elbow. Two telephone poles and three irrigation pivots were knocked down from strong winds. The cost of damage is a very rough estimate.

8. Mar 14, 2025Dust Storm, Howard$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Multiple social media reports and photos of vehicle accidents due to near-zero visibility, caused by blowing dust along US Highway 87 in the Big Spring area. The time and location are approximate. The property damage cost is an estimation.

9. Sep 26, 2004Heavy Rain$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rainfall caused ponding of water on many driving surfaces near Big Spring. A semi-truck hydroplaned off of Interstate 20 on the north side of the city. A second semi-truck lost control and jack-knifed when the driver tried to avoid a collision with emergency workers responding to the first incident.

10. Jun 3, 2003Flash Flood$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A significant flash flood event affected the eastern part of Howard County. At least one vehicle was stalled in high water on the access road of Interstate 20 east of Big Spring. The occupants were rescued. Houses were flooded in both Forsan and Coahoma. Pavement on rural roadways was washed away. No injuries were reported.

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.

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.
• 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.