Karnes County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

Costliest events since 1996

1. Oct 17, 1998Flood, Karnes$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding along the San Antonio River, Cibolo Creek and Geronimo CreekIn Bexar County, the San Antonio River begins just below Olmos Dam where it merges with spring flow. Two new flood tunnels on the San Antonio River and Apache Creek respectively saved downtown San Antonio and homes and businesses below Brackenridge Golf Course to the old Lone Star Brewery from very serious flooding. At Loop 410 in San Antonio, the San Antonio River crested at 36.2 feet, where flood stage is 20 feet. Several homes just below Loop 410 had 10 feet of water over the slabs. At Elmendorf, the San Antonio crested at 64.6 feet, with flood stage at 35 feet. Flow escaped out of the deep canyon of the…

2. Jul 15, 2003Tropical Storm, Karnes$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Former Hurricane Claudette, now Tropical Storm Claudette, produced widespread damage in Karnes County, knocking over hundreds of trees and power poles. Major damage was reported to14 homes, along with minor damage to another 237. Nearly every home in Kenedy reported some type of damage. Most of the damage was caused to roofs by a combination of high winds and falling trees. An unofficial weather station at a manufacturing plant in Kenedy recorded a peak wind gust of 106 mph. However, the wind instrument was blown over to the side prior to the recorded gust, making the report of uncertain reliability. The storm knocked over several dozen power poles and hundreds of people without…

3. Oct 18, 1998Flash Flood$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Great October FloodIn advance of a very slow-moving upper level trough of low pressure over West Texas, a cold front drifted slowly southeastward into West Central Texas during the evening of Friday, October 16th. Deep moisture was in place across South Central Texas as the two systems approached, being fed at the mid and upper levels by two nearly stationary hurricanes, Madeline near the tip of Baja Mexico, and Lester, anchored just off Acapulco, Mexico, and in the low levels by a strong flow from the Gulf of Mexico. A very moisture-rich environment was in place across South Central Texas as the event developed. Near 3 am CST, with the cold front still west of San Angelo,…

4. Aug 16, 2007Flash Flood$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The area of heaviest rainfall associated with Tropical Storm Erin in South Central Texas began in Karnes County. General rainfall over the county ranged from 3 to 5 inches with up to 7 inches near Helena. Most of the roads in Karnes County were closed Thursday afternoon, including FM887, SH119, and US80.

5. Nov 15, 2001Tornado$120,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A second and more intense Karnes County tornado touched down west of Karnes City near the Wilson County line. Rated F1, it destroyed a trailer, a metal barn, and literally hundreds of trees as it moved northeast for just over two miles.

6. Oct 18, 1998Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Great October FloodIn advance of a very slow-moving upper level trough of low pressure over West Texas, a cold front drifted slowly southeastward into West Central Texas during the evening of Friday, October 16th. Deep moisture was in place across South Central Texas as the two systems approached, being fed at the mid and upper levels by two nearly stationary hurricanes, Madeline near the tip of Baja Mexico, and Lester, anchored just off Acapulco, Mexico, and in the low levels by a strong flow from the Gulf of Mexico. A very moisture-rich environment was in place across South Central Texas as the event developed. Near 3 am CST, with the cold front still west of San Angelo,…

7. Aug 30, 2001Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Showers and thunderstorms continued through the early morning over Karnes County. By mid-morning, rainfall across the county averaged 2 to 4 inches with isolated totals near 8 inches. By early afternoon the rain began to subside, but only after a general 3 to 5 inch soaking countywide, with up to 15 inches reported in the southeast part of the county. Road closures were widespread across the county with considerable damage to county bridges, roads and highways.

8. Sep 5, 2001Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorms formed again in the mid afternoon over the eastern part of the Texas Hill Country and spread southeastward into the I-35 corridor from New Braunfels southward past San Antonio into the Pearsall area. With the soils saturated over nearly all of the South Central Texas area, flash flooding redeveloped as rain totals were generally 1 to 2 inches. Highest rain totals were 4 to 6 inches in southeast Medina County and southwest Bexar County Natalia to Von Ormy, 3 to 5 inches in northwest Wilson County, and totals of between 6 and 8 inches between Stockdale and Gonzales and Karnes City. Flooding that developed in the mid afternoon in the Stockdale area redeveloped with…

9. May 17, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$80,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Brief but widespread downbursts of severe winds blew down trees and knocked over power lines across all of the above listed counties. In DeWitt County, severe winds took roofs off homes in the Smiley area as well as between Cuero and Thomaston. Severe winds destroyed a mobile home near Pearsall, rolling it over 100 feet. In the Dilley area, the roof of a school building was damaged.

10. Jul 19, 2009Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Several power poles were blown down by thunderstorm winds near El Oso.

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

111°FJul 9, 1939

All-time low

8°FDec 25, 1983

Warmest night

83°F4 times, most recently Oct 13, 2013

Coldest day

21°FDec 23, 1989

Wettest day

10.61 inSep 22, 1967

Snowiest day

7.5 inFeb 14, 1895

Hottest year

1911mean 74.0°F

Coldest year

1979mean 67.6°F

Wettest year

190349.13 in

Driest year

20116.07 in

Station Beeville 5 Ne (USC00410639), 255 ft elevation, 29.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1897 to October 22, 2026; 95.9% 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 USC00410639.
• 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.