La Salle County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Mar 17, 2023Hail$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   La Salle County Sheriff's Office reported hail damage to cars, including broken windshields, in Cotulla from hail up to the size of softballs. The large hail broke windows in several homes.

2. Oct 13, 2013Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several high water rescues occurred in La Salle County with water as high as|4 feet deep in some areas.

3. May 15, 2015Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   NWS storm survey confirmed an EF-1 tornado caused damage on a private ranch in rural northwest La Salle County. The tornado touched down near Johnson Ranch Road just northeast of Farm to Market Road 468. A rancher was thrown from his barn and landed on top of his trailer. Numerous large trees were snapped at their base and several trees were uprooted. The tornado destroyed a wooden cabin, lofting debris |about 100 yards. Wind speeds were estimated at 85 to 90 mph.

4. Sep 27, 2017Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Texas Department of Transportation reported Interstate 35 north of Millet was closed due to flooding. Bulldozers are being used to help push cars and trucks out of high water north of Cotulla.

5. Oct 17, 2013Flood$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Major flooding along the Nueces River occurred near Cotulla. Some farm and ranch equipment were flooded. Cattle were cut off by the flood waters also.

6. May 10, 2012Tornado$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado touched down along Farm to Market Road 468 near the Dimmit County line. The tornado flipped an 18 wheeler then proceeded northeast about 5 miles. The tornado then crossed Farm to Market Road 469 and struck an oil hydraulic fracturing flow back site. The tornado flipped one RV trailer at the site. Two people inside the RV trailer sustained serious injuries. Both were released from the hospital the next day. The winds were estimated to be around 80 mph with this damage. The tornado proceeded northeast across open ranch land another 5 miles before dissipating.

7. May 28, 2017Lightning$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning caused a fire at a storage facility along Highway 97.

8. May 15, 2015Tornado$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado moved across a ranch and damaged a couple of barns. Three trees were uprooted and many branches were broken.

9. May 7, 2007Thunderstorm Wind$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The bow echo that impacted northwest Webb county continued northeast into southern La Salle county, causing damage in the town of Encinal. There was damage to the siding of a few trailer homes. The sheet metal on a several structures was peeled back, and even taken off in some cases. Several large 8-12 inch diameter tree limbs were snapped. Highway signs were also blown over.

10. May 8, 2025Thunderstorm Wind$24,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Two tractor trailers blown over 5 SSW of town (estimated on I-35).

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°F2 times, most recently Jun 21, 2023

All-time low

15°FFeb 2, 1951

Warmest night

87°FSep 6, 2024

Coldest day

23°FFeb 15, 2021

Wettest day

7.34 inOct 13, 2013

Snowiest day

2.9 inFeb 23, 1966

Hottest year

2024mean 77.1°F

Coldest year

1976mean 69.2°F

Wettest year

197138.42 in

Driest year

20117.82 in

Snowiest season

2.9 in1965-66

Station Cotulla La Salle County Airport (USW00012947), 472 ft elevation, 7.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1949 to October 26, 2026; 85.6% 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 USW00012947.
• 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.