Polk County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Aug 26, 2017Flash Flood$300 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   There was high flood water on roads FM 3126 and FM 356 along the eastern shore of Lake Livingston.||The lowest homes and businesses within close vicinity of the lake, Trinity River and Long King Creek flooded. Roads along the southern end of Lake Livingston such as FM 3278 were inaccessible, FM 3128 and FM 1988 near Long King Creek were flooded. Major lowland flooding occurred on the Trinity River near Goodrich.

2. Sep 12, 2008Hurricane (Typhoon), Polk$100 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread wind damage with limbs down and trees uprooted in many|Locations. Shingle damage to roofs. Trees on homes.

3. Sep 23, 2005Hurricane (Typhoon), Polk$23.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The eye of Hurricane Rita moved ashore in extreme southwest Louisiana between Sabine Pass and Johnson's Bayou In Cameron Parish with a minimum central pressure of 937 mb and maximum sustained winds of 120 mph. Rita was a Category 3 hurricane at landfall.Two and a half weeks after Hurricane Katrina made her final and devastating landfall along the northern Gulf coast, all eyes turned to Tropical Storm Rita as she moved westward through the central Bahamas. On Tuesday, September 20th, Rita rapidly intensified while moving west through the Florida Straits into the Gulf of Mexico. Rita reached Category 2 intensity as the center passed about 50 miles south of Key West and significantly…

4. Feb 10, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$14.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Straight line wind damage across the entire county from west to east. Lake Livingston Dam measured 134 mph wind gusts before their equipment blew away. The hardest hit are was from the Tobacco Patch community to the west of the Livingston area, though major damage occurred across the majority of the county. Numerous trees/powerpoles down, 18 homes completely destroyed, 172 with major damage, 180 with moderate to minor damage. Timber industry took a large loss due to the number of downed trees. Governor George Bush Jr. declared Polk County a disaster area on 3/11/98.

5. Apr 22, 2020Tornado$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado touched down on the eastern shore of Lake Livingston, just NW of Onalaska then moved SE across the town then ESE across Polk County. Some of the most significant damage was in Paradise Acres area of Onalaska. Winds possibly reached 140 mph as the storm moved across this location, which was the only EF3 damage the NWS could confirm along the 30 mile track. The tornado killed three and injured 33 in Onalaska with 291 homes affected and 46 destroyed. It was estimated to be about 500 yards wide as it moved across the town. The tornado continued a general east-|northeastward track across rural Polk county where it snapped and uprooted numerous hardwood and softwood trees and…

6. Jun 8, 2001Tropical Storm, Polk$3.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tropical Storm Allison formed in the northwest Gulf of Mexico during the early afternoon of June 5th, 80 miles south of Galveston. Allison moved northward, making landfall on the west end of Galveston Island between midnight and 1am on the 6th, less than 12 hours after forming. As Allison moved inland it caused two to three foot tides, which had little impact on the area. On the evening of the 5th a tornado briefly touched down in Brazoria county causing damage to one home in the Manvel area. Over the next five days Allison produced record rainfall that led to devastating flooding across Southeast Texas, killing 22 people and damaging over 48,000 homes, 70,000 automobiles and…

7. May 1, 2024Flood$3.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding from numerous heavy rain events in April and early May led to significant damage.

8. Aug 1, 1998Drought, Polk$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.

9. May 1, 2004Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   75 to 100 Livingston homes and businesses damaged from flooding at FM 146 and US 59; northbound and southbound lanes of US 59 closed.

10. May 27, 2016Flash Flood$500,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Five structures damaged in the Goodrich area. Roads damaged near Corrigan and over eastern part of county.

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

111°FAug 27, 2023

All-time low

−2°F2 times, most recently Feb 2, 1951

Warmest night

82°F4 times, most recently Jun 25, 1969

Coldest day

19°FJan 10, 1962

Wettest day

7.47 inOct 16, 1994

Snowiest day

8.1 inJan 30, 1949

Hottest year

1933mean 71.3°F

Coldest year

1983mean 64.1°F

Wettest year

200479.04 in

Driest year

196326.49 in

Snowiest season

8.1 in1948-49

Station Lufkin Angelina County Airport (USW00093987), 286 ft elevation, 36.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1906 to October 26, 2026; 99.7% 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 USW00093987.
• 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.