Kent County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Apr 11, 2011Wildfire, Kent$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Following the initial influences of a potent upper air storm system that brought strong winds and an outbreak of wind-driven wildfires to much of the Southern Plains on the 9th and 10th, isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms developed over west Texas as the center of the system passed during the nighttime hours of the 10th and predawn hours of the 11th. Lightning associated with this convective activity initiated several additional wildfires. The massive and long-lived 'Cooper Mountain Ranch' Fire emerged around midday on the 11th from a smoldering lightning-start in southeastern Kent County, about 9 miles south of Clairemont.||The wildfire consumed 162,625 acres of…

2. May 23, 2013Thunderstorm Wind$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Similar to an earlier supercell in Floyd and Crosby Counties, intense downburst winds in the rear flank downdraft created prolonged and widespread destructive winds in northeast Kent County. These winds were likely enhanced by a strong mesocyclone that earlier was tornadic in southeast Dickens County. A Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet located one mile SSE of Jayton recorded 20 consecutive minutes of severe wind gusts ranging from 59 mph to 92 mph! In Girard and Jayton, scattered structural damage was commonplace and at least one trailer was completely destroyed. At least one home in Girard lost a portion of its roof, but damage to most homes in Girard and Jayton was less…

3. Apr 5, 2019Thunderstorm Wind$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A downburst caused widespread damage to structures, trees, and about one dozen power poles in and around Jayton. Photos provided by the local Emergency Manager indicated numerous homes sustained mostly light roofing damage, although two homes completely lost their roofs. A few homes had west-facing windows blown out from airborne gravel and stones. Several trees were completely uprooted by these fierce straight line winds. Damage to structures was further compounded by waves of heavy rain overnight that caused water damage to walls, flooring, and personal property. An initial loss estimate of $300K was assigned for all damages.

4. Jun 12, 2005Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The National Weather Service in Lubbock, TX conducted a damage survey in Kent County, approximately 8 miles to the northeast of Clairemont. In collaboration with the Center for Severe Weather Research in Boulder, CO and Texas Tech University meteorologists assessing the tornadoes across the county with Doppler-On-Wheels (DOW) data, a better understanding of the wind fields and tornado timing was achieved. The area of assessed damage was bounded by a triangle comprised of FM2320 to the south, FM1228 to the east, and CR112 to the west. There was a damage path characterized by tree damage across the zone. The path of the damage was oriented from a northeast-east to southwest-west…

5. May 1, 1996Drought, Kent$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The drought continued through most of the month of May, causing significant crop damage. Some areas received several inches of rain during the severe weather of the 25th and 26th, but this was not nearly enough to break this long term drought.

6. Jun 1, 1996Drought, Kent$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Despite periodic thunderstorms this month, the long drought continued across the extreme southern Texas Panhandle, the South Plains, and the Low Rolling Plains. The very dry weather adversely impacted the early cotton crop that dominates this area.

7. May 3, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The West Texas Mesonet site located just south of Jayton measured severe thunderstorm wind gusts up to 82 MPH. The winds occurred along a narrow swath just south of the city. A National Weather Service storm survey team discovered one mobile home that was destroyed on the southern outskirts of Jayton, and another residence that suffered minor roof damage. Other damage was restricted to downed tree limbs.

8. May 3, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   many large mesquite limbs were snapped from trees along U.S. Highway 380 near Clairemont. A local bed and breakfast inn suffered wind damage when several windows and a sliding glass door were blown out. Roof damage also occurred when a large tree was uprooted, and fell onto the south and southwest side of the building . A small grain silo also was destroyed.

9. Jun 15, 2002Hail$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Kent County Sheriff's office reported golfball size hail.

10. Jun 13, 2009Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    The Texas Tech University West Texas Mesonet site near Jayton initially recorded a thunderstorm wind gust of 64 mph at 16:50 CST. By 17:15 CST, a 58 mph gust was additionally recorded by the same mesonet site. Local law enforcement officials reported that several utility lines and poles were blown down in the Jayton vicinity. Authorities reported that a number of residents were without power throughout much of the night.

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

116°FJun 28, 1994

All-time low

−6°F2 times, most recently Feb 15, 2021

Warmest night

84°FJul 14, 2020

Coldest day

10°FFeb 15, 2021

Wettest day

6.50 in2 times, most recently Jul 29, 2004

Snowiest day

12.0 inFeb 5, 2020

Hottest year

2024mean 65.9°F

Coldest year

1979mean 60.1°F

Wettest year

200443.88 in

Driest year

19175.25 in

Snowiest season

19.4 in2020-21

Station Jayton (USC00414570), 2,010 ft elevation, 3.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1962 to October 7, 2026; 96.3% 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 USC00414570.
• 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.