Lynn County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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. Jul 4, 2010Flash Flood$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Portions of eastern Lynn County were impacted by a convective band during the early morning hours of the 4th. This feature subjected the area between O'Donnell and Draw to the heaviest rainfall rates observed on the west Texas South Plains during the passage of Hurricane Alex's remnants. ||Initial reports of flash flooding were received by the Texas Department of Transportation shortly before 02:00 CST. High water was reportedly flowing over U.S. Highway 87 north of Tahoka. Through the remainder of the pre-dawn hours, other segments of U.S. Highway 87 became inundated by high water southward between Tahoka and O'Donnell, as well as U.S. Highway 380 east of Tahoka. Reports of…

2. Jun 11, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$1.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong wind blew down or snapped over 350 power poles across the southern half of the county. The Southwestern Public Service, an electric company, reported 28 power transmission structures destroyed by the strong wind.

3. May 5, 2019Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Intense rear flank downdraft winds as high as 80 mph were documented over a large swath of central Lynn County for nearly one hour. In addition to downing an estimated 250 power poles over the area, these winds caused minor damage to a couple dozen homes, sheds, and toppled several trees.

4. May 25, 1998Hail$500,000
5. Dec 26, 2015Blizzard, Lynn$400,000
   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…

6. May 5, 2019Thunderstorm Wind$350,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe wind gusts were measured for a 45-minute period by a Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet near O'Donnell. These winds were the result of an intense rear flank downdraft that accompanied a nearly stationary supercell. Wind damage to buildings and power poles was commonplace throughout O'Donnell and nearby areas.

7. May 4, 2015Flash Flood$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A deep fetch of Gulf moisture overspread the South Plains this afternoon in advance of a slow-moving trough. Numerous thunderstorms erupted by late afternoon across the western South Plains and spread slowly northeast through the overnight hours under weak upper level winds. The slow nature of these storms resulted in torrential rainfall rates and flooding in many areas, but the most impressive rainfall and flooding bulls-eyed in central and southern Lynn County where between 6 and 12 inches of rain was measured before midnight. Nearly all roads in Lynn County were closed by DPS officials due to standing water in excess of one foot over long stretches. The city of Tahoka became…

8. May 25, 1996Hail$200,000
9. May 25, 2000Hail$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Baseball size hail did considerable damage to cars, damaged the roofs of many houses, and broke windows.

10. Jan 12, 2007Ice Storm, Lynn$150,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A bitterly cold arctic air mass moved into the South Plains region of west Texas during the daytime hours on the 12th. A potent upper level system moving down from the Rockies provided the lift needed for a prolonged period of wintry precipitation which began during the evening hours of the 12th and persisted through much of the 14th. Because of the shallow nature of the arctic air mass, precipitation in the form of freezing rain and freezing drizzle was the dominant precipitation type. This led to several locations across the South Plains region receiving between one quarter and one inch of ice accumulations. |Approximately 245 auto-accidents were attributed to the ice build-up.…

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°FJun 28, 1994

All-time low

−15°FFeb 8, 1933

Warmest night

82°FAug 3, 1913

Coldest day

8°FFeb 15, 2021

Wettest day

9.10 inMay 5, 2015

Snowiest day

10.0 inJan 21, 1983

Hottest year

2006mean 64.5°F

Coldest year

1976mean 58.6°F

Wettest year

200442.85 in

Driest year

20115.23 in

Snowiest season

35.5 in1982-83

Station Tahoka (USC00418818), 3,112 ft elevation, 2.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1913 to October 23, 2026; 99.8% 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 USC00418818.
• 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.