Irion County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. May 29, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The storm brought wind, hail and a small tornado to the town of Mertzon. Nearly every building was battered; 50 percent of all homes and 25 businesses were damaged in this 778-person town. Two homes were completely destroyed. There were no serious injuries other than people being cut by glass.

2. May 4, 2006Hail$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A hail swath with hail sizes ranging from golfball to softball size hail formed and tracked across the town of Mertzon and produced considerable damage to roofs and vehicles. Some of the larger hailstones penetrated roofs and severely damaged vehicles. A Mertzon resident was driving home when the hailstones hit her car as big as baseballs just outside of town. The large hail smashed a hole in her back windshield, punched holes in the hood, ripped the license plate off one of its screws and destroyed both side-view mirrors. At least 250 homes had roof damage.

3. Aug 29, 1996Flash Flood$500,000
4. Aug 28, 1996Flash Flood$50,000
5. Feb 20, 1997Flood, Irion$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread showers and thunderstorms developed in the early morning hours of the 20th as a potent upper level storm system approached the Concho Valley, then spread over the rest of west central Texas during the afternoon. Rainfall totals of three to five inches occurred in much of the area.River flooding occurred on Dove Creek at Knickerbocker, which reached a crest of 19.06 feet at 645 am on the 20th. Flood stage is 14 feet.

6. Feb 15, 2021Cold/Wind Chill, Irion$29,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Texas Tech West Texas Mesonet measured a wind chill temperatures of -10 degrees. Irion County reported damage to their buildings and public utility systems.

7. Jun 15, 2007Hail$15,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Golfball Size hail damaged windows and homes.

8. May 24, 1999Flash Flood$15,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Four cars attempting to cross a flooded low water crossing in northern Irion County were swept away by the swiftly flowing floodwaters. Heavy rains had swelled the Mid-Concho River, flooding the low water crossing along Farm-to-Market Road 853. All of the occupants were accounted for, although one person was treated for hypothermia.

9. Jun 22, 1999Flash Flood$10,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An isolated thunderstorm produced 6 to 10 inches of rain across extreme northern Crockett County during the early morning hours of the 22nd. The rainfall quickly ran off into Teepee Draw, with flood waters knocking down fences along the draw in northern Crockett County. Teepee Draw then reached three quarters of a mile wide in southwest Irion County, covering Highway 67 just west of Barnhart. Although no damage was reported, the flooding would continue through the morning along the remainder of the draw in western Irion County.

10. Jun 11, 1997Thunderstorm Wind$10,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Winds broke large tree branches in Mertzon.

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°F2 times, most recently Jun 21, 2023

All-time low

−4°FDec 23, 1989

Warmest night

84°FAug 30, 2011

Coldest day

15°F2 times, most recently Feb 1, 1985

Wettest day

11.75 inSep 15, 1936

Snowiest day

10.1 inFeb 14, 2021

Hottest year

2024mean 69.4°F

Coldest year

1915mean 62.8°F

Wettest year

201635.72 in

Driest year

19567.41 in

Snowiest season

15.9 in2020-21

Station San Angelo (USW00023034), 2,004 ft elevation, 21.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1907 to October 26, 2026; 99.9% 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 USW00023034.
• 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.