Lamb County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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. Jun 30, 2017Hail$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An intense, slow-moving supercell tracked slowly southeast along and near U.S. Highway 84 causing significant damage along its 28-mile path, particularly in Amherst and Littlefield. Wind driven hail as large as softballs devastated home siding, shattered windows, punctured roofs in homes, and severely damaged vehicles. An estimated 1500 homes and buildings in Amherst and Littlefield sustained moderate to severe hail damage, with many rural homes and outbuildings also affected. Financially, the greatest losses were dealt to approximately 50,000 acres of corn, cotton and sorghum. Those crops that avoided the worst hail succumbed to torrential rains, flooding and wash outs. Total…

2. Dec 26, 2015Blizzard, Lamb$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Following a mild Christmas, a strong cold front arrived early on the morning of the 26th ahead of temperatures falling to freezing territory throughout the course of the afternoon all in advance of a slow-moving upper low in the Desert Southwest and far north-central Mexico. Northerly winds increased in intensity during the day and by early evening were frequently gusting between 50 and 60 mph over the entire South Plains. These winds created several power outages, minor roof damage, downed tree limbs, and even toppled some trees completely. By mid-evening on the 26th, exceptionally rich moisture from the Gulf of Mexico deepened over the shallow dome of cold air and resulted in…

3. Apr 21, 2007Tornado$810,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A large and long-tracked tornado cut a path of damage twenty-nine miles in length and at times nearly three-quarters of a mile wide across portions of Lamb, Hale, Castro and Swisher Counties between 17:57 and 18:36 CST on the 21st. Total damages from the tornado were estimated to exceed $1.2 million, and one person was injured. |The development of this significant tornado was witnessed by storm chasers between Fieldton and Otlon at 17:57 CST. A National Weather Service damage survey team noted that the first damages to occur as a result of the tornado included five medium voltage power poles downed just east of the intersection of Farm to Market Road 168 and County Road 162. Just…

4. Jun 20, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong thunderstorm wind uprooted trees, downed power lines and power poles, damaged the roofs of homes, and destroyed 15 center pivot irrigation systems.

5. May 5, 2002Hail$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Spotters with the Littlefield FD reported golfball to baseball size hail in town.

6. May 8, 1998Hail$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorms developed over the Texas South Plains, the extreme southern Texas Panhandle, and the southern portions of the Rolling Plains during the late afternoon of the 8th. Plainview was hardest hit with over $5 million in property damage due to golfball-sized hail and winds in excess of 90 mph. Hundreds of homes and vehicles were damaged. Short-lived, weak tornadoes occurred in Lamb County (near Olton) and over the extreme southern Texas Panhandle near the towns of Quitaque and Turkey. Each tornado touched down in open country and caused no apparent damage.

7. May 26, 2019Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A NWS storm survey revealed tornado damage in several locations in Lamb County. The first noted damage was just south of the intersection of US Highway 70 and Farm to Market Road 303. At this location, EF0 damage was observed with two center pivot irrigation systems tipped over. Also, large tree branches of diameter one to three inches were broken. The most significant damage was discovered just north of the intersection of US Highway 70 and County Road 99. An electrical transmission line was snapped at the base which indicates EF2 damage.

8. Jun 14, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Texas Tech University West Texas Mesonet site south of Olton recorded thunderstorm wind gusts of 76 mph and 75 mph at 15:23 CST and 15:29 CST respectively. These winds occurred as a severe thunderstorm quickly moved northeastward over extreme western Hale County. The outflow winds spread northwestward and impacted portions of eastern Lamb County near Olton. Eye-witness accounts suggest that gustnadoes may have spun-up along the gust front as it raced north-northwestward in advance of the parent anticyclonic (left) splitting storm. The winds, or perhaps an associated gustnado, caused significant damage at a residence in the community of Correy. Stucco siding and roof shingles…

9. Oct 6, 2003Hail$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The public reported golfball to baseball size hail in and around town. The hail damaged homes and buildings, knocked out windows, and damaged vehicles. The storm also resulted in significant crop damage between Sudan and Amherst.

10. Aug 11, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A broadcast media automated weather station at Del-Tex Airport in Olton measured a wind gust to 69 mph. Significant wind damage was reported in Olton by the emergency manager. Several power lines and trees were downed along with roof damage.

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

112°FJun 28, 1994

All-time low

−8°FJan 26, 2026

Warmest night

77°FJul 4, 1994

Coldest day

6°FFeb 15, 2021

Wettest day

5.10 inJun 21, 1999

Snowiest day

11.0 in2 times, most recently Jan 21, 1983

Hottest year

2012mean 62.1°F

Coldest year

1979mean 55.9°F

Wettest year

200434.10 in

Driest year

20208.63 in

Snowiest season

35.0 in1982-83

Station Littlefield (USC00415265), 3,458 ft elevation, 11.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1966 to October 23, 2026; 98.8% 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 USC00415265.
• 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.