Liberty County

Every recorded tornado

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

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Aug 25, 2017Tropical Storm, Liberty$1.0 billion
   National Weather Service narrative

   Slow moving Tropical Storm Harvey produced torrential rainfall across Liberty and Chambers Counties. Major to record flooding occurred along the Trinity River and along numerous creeks and tributaries.

2. Sep 12, 2008Hurricane (Typhoon), Liberty$220 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread wind damage with limbs down and trees uprooted in many|Locations. Shingle damage to roofs. Trees on homes. Damage consistent with wind Gusts in the 70 to 90 mph range.

3. Sep 19, 2019Flash Flood$95.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Multiple roads across the county that were impassable due to extensive flooding inundation included, but were not limited to, sections of FM 1010, FM 1008 at County Road 2313 and County Road 2285 and County Road 379. Multiple high water rescues.

4. May 19, 2000Flash Flood$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Major flash flood in the Liberty and Dayton areas. US 90 water covered and closed for over 12 hours. Half the streets in Liberty covered with 1 to 2 feet of water with widespread street flooding in Dayton. Water into homes with numerous automobiles stranded. At least 262 homes and 42 businesses damaged countywide, including half the homes in the Oak Forest subdivision in Liberty. From 60 to 80 people rescued from flood waters. Several schools damaged by major flooding. Water reached 18 feet high on SH 321 underpass in Dayton. Co-op observer in Liberty reported a storm total of 19.1 inches of rainfall, with 18.3 inches falling in only 5 hours!

5. Jun 7, 2001Tropical Storm, Liberty$7.6 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tropical Storm Allison formed in the northwest Gulf of Mexico during the early afternoon of June 5th, 80 miles south of Galveston. Allison moved northward, making landfall on the west end of Galveston Island between midnight and 1am on the 6th, less than 12 hours after forming. As Allison moved inland it caused two to three foot tides, which had little impact on the area. On the evening of the 5th a tornado briefly touched down in Brazoria county causing damage to one home in the Manvel area. Over the next five days Allison produced record rainfall that led to devastating flooding across Southeast Texas, killing 22 people and damaging over 48,000 homes, 70,000 automobiles and…

6. Sep 23, 2005Hurricane (Typhoon), Liberty$7.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The eye of Hurricane Rita moved ashore in extreme southwest Louisiana between Sabine Pass and Johnson's Bayou In Cameron Parish with a minimum central pressure of 937 mb and maximum sustained winds of 120 mph. Rita was a Category 3 hurricane at landfall.Two and a half weeks after Hurricane Katrina made her final and devastating landfall along the northern Gulf coast, all eyes turned to Tropical Storm Rita as she moved westward through the central Bahamas. On Tuesday, September 20th, Rita rapidly intensified while moving west through the Florida Straits into the Gulf of Mexico. Rita reached Category 2 intensity as the center passed about 50 miles south of Key West and significantly…

7. Aug 1, 1998Drought, Liberty$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Drought conditions continue from July. After months of extremely dry and hot weather across SE Texas, relief came late in the month with welcomed rainfall and slightly cooler temperatures. Over 20 people across the region lost their lives due to the extreme heat and property and crop damage averaged $8.3 million per county since May. Locations across the region were finally catching up with rainfall toward the end of the month as the drought was coming to an end. NOTE: CROP AND PROPERTY DAMAGE LISTED HERE ARE FOR THE PERIOD MAY-AUGUST 1998.

8. Oct 31, 2015Flash Flood$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   High rainfall rates created flooding in both towns of Dayton and Liberty. The underpass at the intersection of US Highway 90 and FM 321, along with other streets in Dayton, were closed due to high water. The city of Liberty reported flood waters in six homes with numerous road closures due to high water.

9. Oct 22, 2000Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several homes flooded in the Rye and Moss Hill areas. Portion of FM 787 washed out in Romayor. SH 146 flooded and closed to cars north of Moss Hill. Total of 8.5 inches of rainfall in Rye and 10 inches in Votaw.

10. May 26, 2016Flash Flood$400,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Numerous roads and bridges under water. Damage estimated.

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

109°F2 times, most recently Sep 5, 2000

All-time low

7°FDec 24, 1989

Warmest night

87°FAug 17, 1951

Coldest day

23°FDec 23, 1989

Wettest day

16.57 inAug 27, 2017

Snowiest day

4.5 inFeb 12, 1960

Hottest year

1971mean 72.0°F

Coldest year

1983mean 66.8°F

Wettest year

2017102.75 in

Driest year

201121.15 in

Snowiest season

4.5 in1959-60

Station Baytown (USC00410586), 26 ft elevation, 17.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1946 to August 31, 2026; 94.2% 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 USC00410586.
• 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.