Mason County

Every recorded tornado

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

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Oct 17, 2018Flood$8.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Prolonged heavy rainfall flooded roads across Mason County and this flooding resulted in damage to 257 miles of road.

2. Jun 22, 1997Flash Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Four to eight inches of rain fell over most of Mason County but much higher amounts fell in a few areas.In the town of Mason 10 to 11 inches of rain was reported and in northeast Mason County, there was an unofficial report of 25 inches of rain. Farm-to-Market roads were closed throughout the county.

3. May 11, 1999Tornado$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A large multiple-vortex tornado ripped through eastern Mason County during the late afternoon hours. The slow moving tornado first touched down near the Llano River 9 miles northwest of Loyal Valley and then travelled a 7-mile long path, finally dissipating 5 miles north of Loyal Valley. This tornado, whose width would reach three-quarters of a mile wide at times, caused widespread devastation. Two homes were completely destroyed, with debris scattered over great distances. Large pieces of a pick-up truck were located three-quarters of a mile away from the house where it had been left. Tragically, one person was killed and 5 others were injured when that same house was destroyed.…

4. Nov 6, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The combination of high winds and lightning strikes caused serious damage to an electrical substation in Mason. This resulted in a power outage which lasted well into the following day.

5. May 8, 2005Hail$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The supercell that developed in northern Concho County reached Mason. The storm produced hail across the northern half of the city, and the largest hail stones were noted just to the east of town. Mason was spared considerable damage with the main core of the storm passing within a mile or two of town.

6. Jul 5, 2002Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rains during the early morning hours produced widespread flooding over a large part of Mason County. There were numerous road closures during the height of the flooding. The majority of the property damage received was from road washouts.

7. Mar 9, 1997Flood, Mason$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Minor river flooding began late in the evening of the 9th along the Llano River near Mason as the river exceeded bankfull of six feet. The river remained above bankfull through the morning of the 13th with 9.9 feet at 1120 p.m. on the 9th.

8. May 4, 2006Tornado$80,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado damaged trees, a metal fence, and ripped some sheet metal roofing off a barn. A hunting cabin was also destroyed.

9. Jun 12, 2009Tornado$80,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   National Weather Service Storm Survey Team found evidence of an EF1 track located about 9 miles southeast of Mason. The tornado damaged or uprooted numerous large oak trees and pushed a manufactured home off of its foundation. The tornado destroyed the porch, an outbuilding, and a roof of a nearby home.

10. May 4, 2006Tornado$75,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    The tornado produced considerable tree 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

111°F4 times, most recently Jun 22, 2023

All-time low

3°F2 times, most recently Feb 2, 1985

Warmest night

81°F3 times, most recently Aug 4, 1998

Coldest day

19°F4 times, most recently Feb 15, 2021

Wettest day

7.45 inSep 10, 1952

Snowiest day

8.0 in3 times, most recently Feb 9, 1973

Hottest year

2024mean 69.6°F

Coldest year

1966mean 62.7°F

Wettest year

200745.96 in

Driest year

198810.82 in

Snowiest season

12.0 in1965-66

Station Mason (USC00415650), 1,531 ft elevation, 0.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1957 to October 19, 2026; 89.8% 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 USC00415650.
• 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.