Nueces County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Nueces County: 2.
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.

High tide flooding

1. High tide flooding days are days on which a NOAA tide gauge recorded water at or above NOAA's minor flood threshold, set from the gauge's tide range, counted by meteorological year (May to April). These are the counts in NOAA's annual high tide flooding reports; they are not National Weather Service flood stages. Years with less than 80 percent of data are left out.

NOAA CO-OPS high tide flooding counts, through April 2026, 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.

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. Aug 25, 2017Hurricane (Typhoon), Nueces$1.0 billion
   National Weather Service narrative

   The most significant damage was in Port Aransas where widespread major damage occurred. There were 4170 homes that received major damage and 1036 homes destroyed. Most homes suffered major roof damage while some homes lost roofs and walls collapsed. There were 457 businesses with major damage and slightly more than 1100 homes with minor damage. Mobile homes and recreational vehicles were demolished. Numerous power poles were blown down or snapped. The roofs were damaged at the elementary, middle, and high schools for Port Aransas leading to water damage in the interior. In Corpus Christi, widespread minor property damage was common due to lost shingles and fences down. Some…

2. Aug 25, 2017Storm Surge/Tide, Nueces$300 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Storm tides were from 6 to 8 feet in Port Aransas as the storm surge entered from the west from Corpus Christi and Redfish Bays. Numerous boats were damaged or destroyed and pushed out of their moorings onto high ground. A large drill boat broke loose, destroyed a pier, and became grounded along the jetty. Two tugs broke loose near the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway with one becoming grounded and the other sinking. Two ferries were damaged when they were pinned against the loading dock. The storm surge inundated Highway 361 along a 10 miles stretch from near the Mustang Island State Park to Port Aransas with the water several feet deep. A few boats became moored near Packery Channel.…

3. Oct 24, 2002Tornado$75.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   One Confirmed fatality and many injuries. The Tornado was first indentified by the public approximately 8 miles south of the CCI airport. Most extensive damage reported across Del MAr College.

4. Jul 25, 2020Storm Surge/Tide, Coastal Nueces County$37.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tide levels reached 2 to 4 feet above ground level with the storm surge. Surge damaged parts of Corpus Christi Marina and numerous piers along Corpus Christi Bay. Surge inundated North Beach with water entering one business and one home. Surge damaged the Nueces Bay shoreline near the Port of Corpus Christi.

5. Jul 25, 2020Storm Surge/Tide, Nueces County Islands$15.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tide levels reached 3 to 4.5 feet above ground level with the storm surge. Surge damaged Bob Hall Pier with the t-head parts being destroyed. Storm surge destroyed the parking lot at Bob Hall Pier.

6. Oct 24, 2002Tornado$10.0 million
7. May 8, 2025Thunderstorm Wind$6.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   There were 80 transmission lines blown down upon survey. Time estimated from radar.

8. Feb 14, 2021Cold/Wind Chill, Coastal Nueces County$6.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Freezing temperatures affected the area from the 14th until 18th. Long duration cold spell led to power outages and issues with water pressure. Damages to homes occurred when frozen pipes burst.

9. Mar 28, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$5.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A severe thunderstorm produced an estimated 5.5 million dollars in damage at the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi. NWS damage survey indicated a narrow band of microburst straight-line wind damage resulting in numerous large uprooted trees, hangar roof damage, downed power poles, several damaged and/or overturned planes. Navy official instrumentation located farther away from the narrow band of damage reported a peak wind of 68 mph.

10. Jan 9, 2011Tornado$5.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    A National Weather Service (NWS) storm survey team determined a tornado, that touched down 4 miles southeast of Alice International Airport in Jim Wells county continued northeast for 21.5 miles. It travelled through the northwest side of Robstown and ended near Five Points in Calallen. The tornado was strongest from the west-southwest side of Robstown to its end point near Calallen, where wind speeds of up to 100 mph and a width of 200 yards were estimated. ||Damage to high voltage power lines, poles, large trees, and signs were observed along the path length. In addition, two large sheds, a barn and a tractor were destroyed southwest of Robstown. On the northwest side of…

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 5, 2000

All-time low

13°FDec 23, 1989

Warmest night

85°F2 times, most recently Jun 4, 2024

Coldest day

26°FJan 30, 1951

Wettest day

9.86 inJul 2, 2007

Snowiest day

2.3 inDec 24, 2004

Hottest year

2024mean 75.9°F

Coldest year

1968mean 69.6°F

Wettest year

199148.07 in

Driest year

201112.06 in

Station Corpus Christi (USW00012924), 142 ft elevation, 6.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 26, 2026; 100.0% 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 USW00012924.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Tide gauges NOAA CO-OPS high tide flooding counts, 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.