Matagorda County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Matagorda County: 4.
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, Matagorda$500 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Harvey made landfall as a category 4 hurricane near Rockport, Texas during the evening of August 25th then slowed and looped back tracking over SE Texas, back over the Gulf of Mexico then making a second landfall along the Louisiana coast during the early morning hours of August 30th. Matagorda and Jackson counties experienced moderate storm surge along Matagorda Bay, Tropical Storm force winds and major lowland flooding along the Palacious and Navidad Rivers.

2. Sep 7, 1998Tropical Storm, Matagorda$28.7 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Synoptic Situation...On Monday September 7 (Labor Day) a tropical disturbance in the western Gulf of Mexico was increasing the pressure gradient along the Texas coast. A weak cold front had pushed south to near the Red River by Tuesday evening. At 4pm Tuesday the disturbance was upgraded to a Tropical Depression located about 250 miles south of Galveston. On Wednesday morning the cold front had sagged down to a Lufkin to Dallas line with a 1022 high pressure centered over the Ohio Valley. At 4 PM the depression was upgraded to a Tropical Storm and given the name Frances. Winds along the upper Texas coast were from the ENE 20 to 30 mph with gusts nearing 40 mph. The poorly…

3. Sep 12, 2008Storm Surge/Tide, Matagorda$8.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Significant damage occurred due to surge along gulf facing sections including Sargent and Matagorda areas. Surge estimates of 4 to 7 feet were obtained from high water marks.

4. Sep 12, 2008Hurricane (Typhoon), Matagorda$6.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Ike produced damage due to high storm surge and high winds over the region. Matagorda County was located to the left of the landfall where winds and surge were not quite as high, but still enough to produce significant damage. Storm surge estimates were 5 to 8 feet with wind gusts to hurricane force. Greatest damage due to surge was found near Sargent and Matagorda.

5. Aug 1, 1998Drought, Matagorda$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.

6. Feb 14, 2017Tornado$900,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This EF-1 tornado touched down on the west side of Van Vleck and moved east- northeast through a residential area. It crossed Highway 35 and then dissipated soon after. There was significant damage to two houses, and there were also trunks of hardwood trees snapped. Estimated peak winds were 100 mph.

7. Jul 14, 2003Hurricane (Typhoon), Matagorda$716,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Claudette made landfall along the middle Texas coast at Port O'Connor around 10:30 AM CDT on Tuesday, July 15, 2003. Claudette was the first hurricane to strike the Port O'Connor and Matagorda Bay area since Hurricane Fern on September 10, 1971. Historical records dating back to 1851 indicate Claudette is the first July hurricane to make landfall in this area. Claudette developed from a tropical wave over the central Caribbean Sea on July 8th. The storm moved westward until July 10th, when it turned northwestward over the northwestern Caribbean Sea. This motion brought the center over the northeastern Yucatan peninsula of Mexico on July 11th. Claudette briefly became a…

8. Sep 6, 2002Flash Flood$500,000
9. Aug 25, 2017Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A brief yet strong tornado moved onshore along the coast in Sargent causing significant damage to one home and overturning a motor home. Numerous trees were snapped and/or downed along the path as well as minor roof damage to several homes and businesses.

10. Apr 29, 2013Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Thunderstorm winds downed trees and damaged a number of roofs on Chinquapin Road.

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°FSep 4, 2000

All-time low

7°F2 times, most recently Dec 23, 1989

Warmest night

87°FJun 21, 2004

Coldest day

20°FDec 22, 1989

Wettest day

9.12 inSep 18, 2019

Snowiest day

3.8 inFeb 12, 1958

Hottest year

2000mean 73.0°F

Coldest year

1979mean 68.1°F

Wettest year

196165.94 in

Driest year

195420.07 in

Snowiest season

3.8 in1957-58

Station Bay City Wtr Wks (USC00410569), 52 ft elevation, 4.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1912 to October 22, 2026; 93.0% 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 USC00410569.
• 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.