Medina County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Medina County: 3.
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.

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.

Costliest events since 1996

1. Oct 12, 2001Tornado$20.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado was spotted as it touched down near 940 pm CST just northwest of the Hondo airport. It grew to nearly 500 yards in width and moved toward the southeast for 1.2 miles across the airport and over the National Guard Armory before dissipating near the center of town. Although much of the damage was F0 and F1 on the Fujita Scale, the tornado was rated F2 because of the level of damage from the airport to the armory. During this time it destroyed a large hangar, partially destroyed the roof and walls of the concrete Armory and moved numerous mobile homes off their pads. One mobile home clearly showed the nature of damage from a tornado. The center of the mobile home was…

2. Jun 22, 1997Flash Flood$13.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The heavy rain Friday night into Saturday afternoon had left South Central Texas soils saturated. The situation worsened Saturday evening into Sunday as heavy rain associated with the upper low pressure system redeveloped over the western Texas Hill Country. Very heavy rains over the Texas Hill Country Saturday night and Sunday morning caused widespread flooding as well as flash flooding across numerous counties. The heavy rains moved into San Antonio Sunday morning and into the Austin area later in the morning. By Sunday afternoon and evening, areas of showers and thunderstorms had diminished over South Central Texas as the upper low moved into North Texas. Late Sunday evening,…

3. Feb 10, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail propelled by winds estimated at over 80 mph broke windows and destroyed vegetation across the southeast corner of the county. The hail was piled up to 3 feet deep in many locations, and, in spite of temperatures through the mid morning in the mid 60s to near 70, hail piles were still visible at noon when the NWS survey team arrived. Over 1000 windows were broken out of homes and cars in Devine. Major damage was reported to 12 homes with minor damage to nearly 1300 others. Hundreds of cars were damaged by the combination of wind and hail. Also several school buses were damaged.

4. Feb 10, 1998Hail$10.0 million
5. Jul 21, 2007Flash Flood$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Extremely heavy rainfall was reported from eastern Bandera County into northern Medina County. A general 3 to 5 inch rainfall was reported from persistent, nearly stationary thunderstorms in the northwest quarter of Medina County, with up to 12 inches inside the county just south of Tarpley. Highest totals were 17 inches just north of D'Hanis. More than 300 people were evacuated along Hondo Creek, Seco Creek and Verde Creek. Some were snatched from the roofs of their homes by helicopters. Nearly all roads in the north and east halves of the county were closed. Seco Creek overflowed in D'Hanis causing widespread damage to over 100 homes and businesses. Some buildings had up to 4…

6. Oct 12, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The damage at Hondo was due to the combination of a large tornado, severe downburst winds and large hail. The event was classic, as taught in the NWS Skywarn training program. Severe downburst winds (estimated in excess of 100 miles an hour), struck first, followed by heavy rain, then hail to the size of golfballs, and finally, just in front of the tornado, winds began to calm. This is the classic sequence - wind - rain - hail - calm - tornado. Wind damage began 2 miles northwest of the Hondo Airport, continued across the downtown area, and ended 5 miles southeast of the center of town. This damage was characterized by large limbs knocked from trees, trees uprooted, roofs and…

7. Apr 28, 2021Hail$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A NWS damage survey showed extensive damage to cars, RVs, and structures in D'Hanis from very large hail and windblown hail. RVs had holes in their roofs, cars and trucks had windows busted out, and siding had holes in them. Building facades had extensive damage as well. Monetary loss numbers are not readily available but based on the amount of RV, automobile, and building damage, it can be estimated that damage in the D'Hanis area is likely more than 1 million dollars.

8. Aug 11, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$850,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorm winds struck just east of Castroville and moved southwestward through the town. Damage was first indicated approximately 2 miles east of Castroville, along the north side of US90, where 8 to 10 telephone poles had been snapped near the base. The estimated wind gusts at this point were between 80 to 100 miles per hour. The damage path was between one-quarter and one-half mile in width, with no indication of rotation or twisting. The storm continued to move toward the southwest where it damaged several mobile homes in the valley mobile home park along FM471. Much of the damage was minor, and confined to outbuildings. Numerous trees were damaged or uprooted, with…

9. Apr 28, 2021Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Within a larger more sporadic wind damage path, a National Weather Service Storm Survey Team found a distinct path of concentrated damage along Elstone Road/CR 446 that they rated an EF-1 tornado. Based on radar and time estimates from locals the tornado began west of Hwy 173 where it peel back the roof of a barn before causing significant damage to a manufactured home and rolled an RV. The tornado crossed Hwy 173 and proceeded east along CR 548 snapping tree trunks along the road before reaching another cluster of manufactured homes. One home was pushed off of its foundation. Another single family home suffered extensive roof damage. The|homeowner provided details of the event…

10. Oct 12, 2001Hail$500,000

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

6°FFeb 15, 2021

Warmest night

82°F3 times, most recently Sep 1, 2020

Coldest day

22°FDec 22, 1989

Wettest day

5.90 inJun 2, 1979

Snowiest day

10.8 inJan 12, 1985

Hottest year

2024mean 72.6°F

Coldest year

1976mean 66.7°F

Wettest year

199245.34 in

Driest year

20257.71 in

Snowiest season

12.8 in1984-85

Station Hondo Municipal Airport (USW00012962), 922 ft elevation, 13.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1975 to October 26, 2026; 99.3% 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 USW00012962.
• 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.