Jim Wells County

Every recorded tornado

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

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. May 27, 2014Tornado$1.6 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF1 tornado touched down on the southeast side of the city of Alice just south of the intersection of Highway 359 and Stadium Road. The tornado traveled 2.3 miles and lifted just north of the intersection of County Road 1352 and County Road 382. This tornado produced shingle damage to the roof tops of several homes, lifted the roof deck off of several homes, and snapped a dozen power poles at their mid-point. The tornado destroyed a metal building and a portable building, broke overhead doors, blew out the siding of several metal buildings, and downed numerous trees.

2. Jun 17, 2015Flash Flood$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Street flooding occurred in Orange Grove. A high water rescue was performed for a woman in a trailer near a rapidly rising creek along Farm to Market Road 534 west of Sandia. Water was over the roadway in two places on Farm to Market Road 624 northwest of Westdale.

3. Jun 17, 2015Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Over 9 inches of rainfall in three hours produced widespread flooding in Alice. Many water rescues were performed as numerous vehicles became stranded in high water. Water reached into some homes in low lying areas.

4. Apr 4, 2014Thunderstorm Wind$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   NWS storm survey concluded that damaging straight line winds, estimated at 65 to 70 mph, impacted the town of Orange Grove. The damage path was 4.5 miles long and 3.2 miles wide. Approximately 500-600 homes suffered minor to moderate damage with a few broken windows, damaged shingles or siding. A few homes suffered major damage with all west facing windows broken, and exterior siding destroyed by wind blown hail. Throughout the impacted areas, large tree branches and fence posts were snapped. Numerous trampolines were blown and destroyed. There were approximately a dozen unanchored outdoor storage sheds or carports that were destroyed by the wind. One large unanchored outdoor…

5. Feb 14, 2021Cold/Wind Chill, Jim Wells$605,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Freezing temperatures affected the area from the 13th until 18th. Long duration cold spell led to power outages and issues with water pressure. Damages to homes occurred when frozen pipes burst.

6. Apr 4, 2014Hail$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Golf ball sized hail occurred throughout the town of Orange Grove. The hail, driven by high winds, broke windows on some homes and damaged siding. Numerous vehicles were damaged by the large hail.

7. May 27, 2014Hail$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Baseball sized hail occurred in the east-central portion of the city of Alice.

8. May 27, 2014Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF0 tornado touched down in the city of Premont near the intersection of Northwest 3rd Street and South Cora Street. The tornado traveled south and briefly produced EF1 damage near Southeast 5th Street and Southern Bernice Street. Partial roof damage was observed to a few homes, numerous large tree limbs were snapped, and one tree was completely uprooted. The tornado continues south of the Premont city limits and regained EF1 status near the intersection of Highway 281 and East County Road 401. Numerous power poles were snapped at their mid-point and several poles were leaning in a southerly direction.

9. May 8, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A NWS survey concluded that a downburst of straight-line winds occurred over the southern portion of the city of Orange Grove near the intersection of Highway 359 and County Road 374. The winds were estimated to be up to 80 mph. The damage path was 1 mile long and a half of a mile wide. Several large power poles were snapped in half. The roof was peeled off of two mobile homes. The roof was damaged on a two story home with a large porch overhang. There were numerous large trees and branches down across the area also.

10. Sep 12, 2018Flash Flood$250,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Multiple videos showed street flooding near Premont via the Snapchat map. The flooding affected 25 homes in the Premont 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

110°FJul 5, 2009

All-time low

15°FFeb 3, 1951

Warmest night

84°F2 times, most recently Jul 31, 2009

Coldest day

25°FJan 30, 1951

Wettest day

13.21 inSep 13, 1951

Hottest year

2009mean 75.6°F

Coldest year

2010mean 71.8°F

Wettest year

201544.03 in

Driest year

202310.80 in

Station Alice International Airport (USW00012932), 170 ft elevation, 2.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 26, 2026; 85.1% 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 USW00012932.
• 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.