Lamar County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Lamar County: 11.
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.

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. Dec 5, 2013Ice Storm, Lamar$20.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Up to 1 of freezing rain fell across the county causing significant damage to trees, tree branches, utility poles and lines due to the heavy collection of ice. The COOP Observer in Paris reported 0.75 of ice. Hundreds of trees, tree branches, and power lines were knocked down and travel was difficult across the county. The EOC in Paris lost power and all communications due to a power outage. All emergency radio communications were also knocked out by the power outage. Falling tree branches and ice damaged cars and roofs. In addition, an estimated $10.5 million in damage to roads and bridges was caused by the ice storm.

2. Nov 4, 2022Tornado$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado formed near Brookston in western Lamar County and tracked rapidly northeastward, passing to the northwest of Paris, Texas before exiting the northern edge of Lamar County, east of Arthur City. The tornado continued into Choctaw County Oklahoma and additional information about the damage in that county can be found in a separate entry. Several dozen individual homes, businesses and outbuildings were impacted across western and northern Lamar County. Damage consistent with EF-3 intensity tornadic winds of 150-160 mph were identified at several locations west through north of Paris. In particular, several residences along Farm Market Road 1499 northwest of Paris were…

3. Feb 14, 2021Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Lamar$1.6 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Extreme cold gripped the county for several days. Overnight lows were near or below 10 degrees Fahrenheit for most of the week. The period of February 15-16th was the coldest with low temperatures between 2 and -5 degrees Fahrenheit, and the maximum temperature on the 15th was only in the lower teens. Wind chill values during the 14th-16th were between 0 to -20 degrees Fahrenheit most of the time. The cold temperatures resulted in an extreme amount of damage to pipes, infrastructure, and power. The State listed 1 fatality in Lamar County due to the winter storm but no additional information could be obtained.

4. Jun 23, 2026Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous roads, buildings and vehicles were flooded in and around Blossom, including an RV park, apartment complex, and several homes. Highway 82 through town was flooded and approximately 35 water rescues were reported.

5. Apr 19, 1996Hail$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Baseball size hail damaged 400 vehicles, 20 to 30 of which were classic cars, at a drag strip. Numerous law enforcement vehicles were also damaged.

6. Mar 4, 2025Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Social media video showed major wind damage occurred to a solar panel farm near Cunningham.

7. Oct 1, 2006Drought, Lamar$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Persistent drought conditions continued across portions of north Texas. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, much of the region was still experiencing extreme (D3) drought conditions. The areas which were rated exceptional drought (D4) last month had received enough rainfall to be downgraded into the D3 category this month.|Even though drought conditions were lessened by a few rain events this month, serious hydrological problems remained. For instance, as much water was used from Lake Bridgeport in one month alone as was saved through conservation efforts by north Texas over the summer. Almost every north Texas lake remained well below conservation levels. The rain events this…

8. Jul 30, 2007Lightning$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning caused several house fires, with one house considered a total loss. A duplex was also seriously damaged.

9. Feb 1, 2011Ice Storm, Lamar$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Freezing rain, heavy sleet, and some light snow blanketed the county. Ice and sleet totals up to 1 were reported in the county. The sleet and ice made travel treacherous around the county. Most of the vehicle incidents reported were due to stuck vehicles or vehicles that had slid off the roadway. The prolonged cold that settled in after the ice storm kept the roads treacherous for the next four days and many schools and businesses were closed for just as long. Hundreds of homes were believed to have frozen water pipes during the week.

10. Aug 20, 1997Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Strong winds damaged several hangars at the airport. Several small aircraft were also damaged by the winds.

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

115°FAug 10, 1936

All-time low

−5°F2 times, most recently Jan 19, 1930

Warmest night

88°FAug 4, 2011

Coldest day

10°FFeb 16, 2021

Wettest day

7.61 inJun 24, 1928

Snowiest day

9.5 inFeb 7, 1979

Hottest year

2006mean 67.7°F

Coldest year

1979mean 61.0°F

Wettest year

195775.65 in

Driest year

191020.67 in

Station Paris (USC00416794), 542 ft elevation, 1.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1896 to June 16, 2026; 93.3% 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 USC00416794.
• 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.