Pecos County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jun 5, 1999Hail$1.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This supercell storm was active for over 4 hours in Pecos County alone while travelling parallel to I-10. The intense rotating updraft collapsed over Sheffield sending grapefruit hailstones in 60+ mph outflow winds. Almost every north and west facing windows were broken in town. The hailstones also knocked holes in wood siding of some houses. Power lines were knocked down, and power was out for about 6 hours.

2. Jun 7, 2009Hail$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Mesa Vineyard lost eighty percent of their grapes due to hail damage.

3. Apr 10, 2001High Wind, Pecos$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong non-convective winds took between a third and a half of the roof off of the Pecos County Civic Center in Fort Stockton. Local law enforcement reported that a DPS building in Fort Stockton also suffered significant damage, and that moderate to heavy damage affected half the buildings in Fort Stockton. The winds also downed numerous powerlines.

4. Jun 2, 2025Thunderstorm Wind$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Approximately 50 homes were reported to have minor roof damage and 20 power poles were broken due to severe winds and hail in the city of Fort Stockton. The time of occurrence is estimated from radar. The cost of damages and maximum wind gust is also estimated.

5. May 10, 2002Hail$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail up to the size of softballs produced widespread damage on the north and east side of Fort Stockton. The KOA campground east of Ft. Stockton was significantly damaged. Wind blown hail stones drove holes into the north facing sides of mobile homes. There were numerous broken car and house windows in and near the city of Ft. Stockton. Witnesses reported the duration of large hail to be just under an hour. An NWS damage survey estimated damage to be in the range of a half a million dollars.

6. Jun 13, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The local newspaper and the Red Cross reported significant roof damage to fourteen homes and a funeral home. In addition...numerous reports of downed power poles and tree damage were received.

7. May 10, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$315,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A thunderstorm moved across Pecos County and produced wind damage in Fort Stockton. There were multiple trees uprooted, leaning power poles, snapped power lines, and peeled or separated roofs at several homes, apartment buildings, and businesses on the south side of Fort Stockton. The storm survey results estimated peak wind speeds to be between 70 to 80 mph. The cost of damage is a very rough estimate.

8. Aug 10, 2019Thunderstorm Wind$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A thunderstorm moved across Pecos County and produced wind damage near Fort Stockton. An emergency manager reported three RVs blown over at an RV park along US 285 about a half mile south of Fort Stockton. The cost of damage is a very rough estimate.

9. Oct 10, 2022Flash Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   There were several water rescues in Fort Stockton. Schools and hospitals were flooded in town.

10. Apr 22, 2025Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Pecos County Emergency Manager reports multiple power lines down, affecting approximately 2,200 customers. Wind and hail damage caused minor roof damage and roof leaks. Wind speeds were estimated to be approximately 80 mph. The time and amount of property damage are estimates.

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°FJun 26, 2023

All-time low

5°FFeb 15, 2021

Warmest night

85°FJun 21, 2023

Coldest day

16°F3 times, most recently Feb 15, 2021

Wettest day

4.06 inAug 24, 2010

Hottest year

2024mean 70.4°F

Coldest year

1997mean 64.8°F

Wettest year

200424.29 in

Driest year

20112.77 in

Station Fort Stockton Pecos County Airport (USW00023091), 3,011 ft elevation, 7.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1996 to October 26, 2026; 99.1% 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 USW00023091.
• 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.