Montague County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Apr 1, 2006Drought, Montague$100 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Drought conditions have improved somewhat over North Texas, with the area considered to be in severe drought (D2) having shrunk considerably, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Areas of northern and western north Texas did not receive the beneficial rains that the eastern areas saw this month. Disaster declarations remained in place for Comanche, Jack, and Stephens Counties. Many counties received enough rain to rescind local burn bans. Young, Jack, Palo Pinto, and Comanche Counties were the only counties with burn bans still in place.Heavy rains helped many area lakes recover to within at least a few feet of their normal pool elevations. Some metroplex lakes, including Lakes…

2. Feb 14, 2021Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Montague$16.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Extreme cold gripped the county for several days. Overnight lows were at or below 10 degrees Fahrenheit almost all week. The period of February 15-16th was the coldest with low temperatures below zero, and the maximum temperature on the 15th was only around 10 degrees. Wind chill values during the 14th-16th were between 0 to -20 degrees Fahrenheit most of the time. The cold temperatures resulted in an extreme amount of damage to pipes, infrastructure, and power.

3. Apr 9, 2009Wildfire, Montague$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Nearly 38,000 acres of land were burned in several wildfires that ravaged the county. The towns of Stoneburg and Sunset were destroyed by fires that claimed nearly seventy homes, numerous structures and vehicles, oil field equipment, and livestock. Eight of the homes destroyed were in Sunset. Two people lost their lives in Stoneburg while attempting to save their home and their son was injured. Another fire in the Dye Mound area claimed several barns and outbuildings. The towns of Montague, St. Jo, and Bowie required evacuations. Some of the fires were still smoldering on April 12th.

4. May 22, 2020Flash Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flash flooding occurred across much of the southern half of Montague County after training strong storms produced up to 7 inches of rainfall. In Bowie, many streets were flooded and some buildings were flooded, too. Highway 59 near the Montague/Clay county line also had water over the roadway. The flooding did not subside until the next morning.

5. Jan 1, 2006Wildfire, Montague$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several devastating wild fires erupted across north Texas due to low humidities, strong winds, and the ongoing drought. In Montague County, a 17-mile long fire burned between Ringgold and Nocona, destroying forty homes. Two firefighters and two civilians were injured. A grass fire which began in Palo Pinto County near the Mineral Wells Airport burned 13 structures, including 5 homes. The fire grew to cover 1,800 acres. One firefighter suffered second-degree burns and another smoke inhalation. A grass fire burned more than 35,000 acres in the southeastern part of Eastland county and forced evacuations of the nearby towns of Carbon, Gorman, and Desdemona. The community of Kokomo…

6. Apr 29, 2009Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widepsread flooding continued through the night across the county with several roads and bridges under water and several areas inaccessible. Estimated rainfall totals across the northern portions of the county were as high as 12 inches of rainfall.

7. May 22, 2020Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Damaging straight line winds affected most of the western, northern and central portions of the City of Bowie. Straight-line wind damage was also observed northeast of Bowie along Highway 59, extending almost to the City of Montague. Within Bowie proper, large tree trunks were snapped, and many trees were uprooted. Much of this tree debris fell onto residences, resulting in roof and structural damage to these homes. Additional light structural damage, including roof, fascia and signage damage, was observed to many commercial buildings within Bowie. All of this straight-line wind damage was consistent with wind speeds ranging from 65 to 80 mph, with isolated heavier damage…

8. Apr 11, 2016Hail$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Emergency management reported 3 inch diameter hail in Bowie, TX near the Highway 287 exit.

9. Oct 1, 2006Drought, Montague$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…

10. May 22, 2020Tornado$500,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Within a larger swath of damaging thunderstorms winds in Bowie, subtle evidence of a tornado was discovered. Beginning near the Best Western Hotel near Highway 59 and US 287, the orientation of damage suggested weak convergence. The intensity of the damage also suggested higher wind speeds on the order of 90 to 95 mph. Similar indicators were noted from this area northeast along a mile-long path into the central business district of Bowie, where substantial roof damage and wall damage occurred to single story and multi-story buildings. This damage was suggestive of estimated tornado wind speeds topping out around 95 mph.

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

115°FJun 28, 1980

All-time low

−11°FDec 23, 1989

Warmest night

86°F3 times, most recently Jun 28, 1980

Coldest day

9°FFeb 16, 2021

Wettest day

10.25 inMay 16, 1989

Snowiest day

13.0 inJan 22, 1966

Hottest year

1911mean 67.5°F

Coldest year

1989mean 60.8°F

Wettest year

201565.83 in

Driest year

190115.35 in

Station Bowie (USC00410984), 1,080 ft elevation, 7.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1897 to September 30, 2026; 93.5% 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 USC00410984.
• 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.