Limestone County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

Costliest events since 1996

1. Apr 28, 2009Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several roads in Kosse are blocked with 3-5 of water over the road. Numerous county roads were under water county-wide from heavy rain during the day. Several homes around Lake Mexia and other lakes were flooded and so were schools in Groesbeck. An estimated 12 bridges and 60 roads were damaged or destroyed.

2. Dec 29, 2006Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A damage survey was conducted by a team from the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Fort Worth, and they found that a tornado formed near Kosse. The first sign of damage found by the survey team was uprooted trees along CR 662. The tornado took a north-northeast track and several areas of large uprooted trees were found along CR 660, CR 656, CR 644, FM 1246 and FM 147. Damage to barns, sheds, and roofs was also found in this stretch. |Substantial damage was found along CR 635 were a home was struck, resulting in one fatality and several injuries. Portions of the roof were removed and an adjacent barn was heavily damaged. A barn was destroyed along the adjacent road CR…

3. Oct 1, 2006Drought, Limestone$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…

4. Jan 16, 2017Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A National Weather Service damage survey crew found evidence of a tornado outside of the city of Mexia, damaging numerous buildings on the campus of the Mexia State Supported Living Center. The warehouse on the south end of the campus suffered the most damage, as the metal building warehouse lost much of its roof and back wall.

5. Mar 30, 2002Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado first touched down just west of farm road 2749 about .5 mile southeast of Thornton. Two houses were damaged, one mobile home destroyed and a mobile home unroofed. The tornado moved northeast damaging a barn, then moved into the Davis Prairie community damaging several houses, some mobile homes, and numerous outbuildings. The tornado moved northeast and weakened before dissipating 2.4 miles south of the Box Church community.

6. Mar 21, 2022Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado began on the southwest side of Groesbeck along the west side of S State Highway 114 where damage to a small barn resulted in the removal of the roof. As the tornado moved northeast it caused a narrow path of damage along Private Road 5401 with a few structures damaged including the lift and removal of a metal roof from a manufactured home and damage to a few metal shelters and a carport. The tornado then crossed Highway 14 N just north of Groesbeck causing damage to several trees as the tornado tracked toward Shiloh. As the tornado reached County Road 431 and FM 39 it lifted/wrapped a large anchored farm outbuilding against a tree. After crossing FM 39 the tornado…

7. Nov 7, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$170,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Winds estimated to 80 mph severely damaged homes and snapped trees.

8. Apr 26, 2011Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A NWS Storm Survey determined an EF-1 tornado occurred in Groesbeck. This tornado had a path length of approximately one mile and an estimated width of 75 yards. Tree and building damage was observed along the path, mainly in downtown Groesbeck. The Courthouse, the Dairy Queen, the Tire Shop, the Lord's Store House, and the Volunteer Fire Department sustained building damage. An estimated 40 businesses sustained some type of damage, and the steeple of a baptist church was ripped off. Window damage to buildings and cars was caused by the winds and flying debris. Winds were estimated between 85 and 90 mph.

9. Feb 15, 2021Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Limestone$149,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Extreme cold gripped the county for several days. Overnight lows were near or below 20 degrees Fahrenheit almost all week. The period of February 15-16th was the coldest with low temperatures between 5 and -4 degrees Fahrenheit. The maximum temperature on the 15th was only in the teens. Wind chill values during the 14th-16th were between 10 to -10 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 Limestone County due to the winter storm but no additional information could be obtained.

10. Mar 9, 2016Flash Flood$140,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A social media report indicated swift water flowing along Highway 84 near Lake Mexia. As the flooding worsened, Texas Task Force 1 helped rescue residents near Lake Mexia. In all, there were sixteen water rescues, along with 48 homes affected. THirty three homes had minor damage, and fifteen suffered major 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°FSep 5, 2000

All-time low

−5°FDec 23, 1989

Warmest night

83°FAug 2, 2011

Coldest day

17°F2 times, most recently Dec 23, 1989

Wettest day

16.70 inOct 24, 2015

Snowiest day

12.0 inJan 14, 1982

Hottest year

2006mean 68.3°F

Coldest year

1979mean 62.8°F

Wettest year

201575.99 in

Driest year

196322.22 in

Station Navarro Mills Dam (USC00416210), 454 ft elevation, 27.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1963 to October 17, 2026; 87.5% 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 USC00416210.
• 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.