Lavaca County

Every recorded tornado

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

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Oct 18, 1998Flash Flood$3.0 million
   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,…

2. Oct 17, 1998Flash Flood$2.0 million
   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,…

3. Apr 10, 1997Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   General 6" rain amounts, with isolated totals near 14 inches were reported around Lavaca County. Hwy 95 was closed from Yoakum to Shiner, with widespread closures across the county. One man drowned in his truck while trying to get to Hallettsville to his job around 0100CST. It had not rained where he had been staying, but he ran into the flooding as he approached Breslau. His truck was swept off the road and he drowned. Two other couples, returning to Yoakum from near Sweet Home, had their van washed off FM531. The van lost power, and the doors and windows would not open. One of the men broke out a rear window with a wrench and the two couples climbed out. They grabbed a fence…

4. Sep 3, 2022Lightning$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck a storage tank battery and semi-truck tractor trailer starting a fire approximately one mile north of Hallettsville on Hwy 77.

5. Oct 17, 1998Flood, Lavaca$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding along the Lavaca and Navidad RiversThe Navidad River near Sublime at Highway 90A crested at 32.2 feet, with flood stage 24 feet, causing major flooding. Near Speaks at FM 530, the river rose to 28.5 feet, with the flood stage at 24 feet. At this location, the river was over a half mile wide. Flooding also occurred along the Lavaca River, which crested at 28.5 feet at Hallettsville. Flood stage here is at 29 feet. Flow reached within 6 inches of residential slabs in Hallettsville.

6. Jun 15, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   As thunderstorms moved into Lavaca County from the west, they began to produce downbursts. The winds first struck in the Shiner area, where they destroyed five barns and 4 homes. As the storms moved eastward, they produced a combination of large hail and damaging winds in the Hallettsville. A 14x80 mobile home was destroyed by the winds near Hallettsville.

7. Aug 8, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   As the line of thunderstorms associated with the late season cold front moved southward into Lavaca County, they produced severe winds just south of the Fayette County line. The wind knocked down many trees and power lines. Some homes were without power until 3am the following day.

8. Mar 31, 2007Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The first tornado touched down near 0330 CST at the community of Williamsburg, approximately 4 miles south of Hallettsville along US77. It tracked from just west of US77 northward along the highway for almost a mile, crossing the highway and dissipating on the east side of US77. It was difficult to separate severe thunderstorm wind damage which preceded the tornado from the tornado damage itself. The tornado destroyed a barn near its initial touchdown with a level of damage indicating winds approaching 100 mph. This is consistent with NWS Doppler Radar indications of winds at or just above 90 mph in the Williamsburg area near 0331 CST. Doppler Radar at that time showed a…

9. Feb 10, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe downbursts damaged roofs, awnings and carports of homes, and blew over trees. Two mobile homes were destroyed near Hallettsville by the wind. Wind gusts at the airport in Yoakum were measured at 73 kts.

10. Jul 22, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Severe thunderstorm winds blew down trees along US 77 in a path 12 miles long south of Hallettsville.

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°F4 times, most recently Aug 27, 2023

All-time low

5°F3 times, most recently Dec 23, 1989

Warmest night

86°FAug 21, 1943

Coldest day

23°FJan 30, 1951

Wettest day

11.30 inJul 1, 1936

Snowiest day

9.0 inFeb 14, 1895

Hottest year

2023mean 74.0°F

Coldest year

1979mean 67.5°F

Wettest year

199763.04 in

Driest year

201117.01 in

Station Hallettsville 2 N (USC00413873), 275 ft elevation, 7.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 22, 2026; 96.0% 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 USC00413873.
• 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.