San Saba County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within San Saba County: 0.
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. Jun 1, 2004Thunderstorm Wind$900,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorms brought strong winds to San Saba county resulting in widespread wind damage across much of the county. Tree and power lines were reported down across the county with the worst damage reported in the northern portions of the county.

2. Jun 9, 2004Flash Flood$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rains on the morning and early afternoon of the 9th produced rainfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour for several hours. Total rainfall amounts of upwards of 10 inches were reported over a 6 mile wide area from southwest San Saba county across the city of San Saba, then on into the northeastern portions of the county. The city of San Saba received the most damage with homes and businesses becoming inundated with water. Also several streets were scoured due to the fast movement of the water. The heavy rains also caused minor flooding on the San Saba river at San Saba and the Colorado river near San Saba.

3. Jun 6, 1997Flash Flood$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Very heavy rains fell over San Saba County the morning of the 6th. The northwest part of the county received the highest amounts, with ten inches of rain reported at Elk Grove. Eight inches of rain fell at Richland Springs while six and a half inches was measured in the town of San Saba. Major flooding occurred throughout San Saba County. Many residents were stranded in the floodwaters, but later rescued.

4. Mar 12, 1999Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The same thunderstorm that spawned a brief touchdown in McCulloch County produced a second tornado south of Richland Springs. A hunting cabin, two trailer homes, 2 barns, and 3 vehicles were destroyed.

5. Jun 22, 1997Flash Flood$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Up to six and a half inches of rain fell and flooding was reported throughout the county. HIghway 71 was closed.

6. Feb 20, 1997Flood, San Saba$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   River flooding occurred on the San Saba River at San Saba from mid afternoon of the 20th until 6:00 a.m. on the 21st. Flood stage is 24 feet. The crest was 28.65 feet around 8:00 a.m. on the 20th.

7. Jun 4, 2004Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The emergency manager reported that widespread wind damage occurred across San Saba county. Power lines and trees were downed across the county.

8. Nov 3, 2000Flash Flood$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A series of thunderstorms produced 6 to 8 inches of rain across much of San Saba County, causing most of the creeks and streams in the county to flood. Many roads throughout the county were flooded and impassable, including Farm Roads 45, 500, 502, 765, and 2927. After the flash flooding had subsided, extensive flooding along both the Colorado and San Saba Rivers would follow.

9. Mar 4, 2004Thunderstorm Wind$15,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A camper trailer was destroyed and many tree limbs were knocked down.

10. Jun 5, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$11,000

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

110°FAug 6, 1964

All-time low

−7°FDec 23, 1989

Warmest night

84°FSep 14, 1984

Coldest day

16°F2 times, most recently Dec 22, 1990

Wettest day

8.32 inMay 5, 2024

Snowiest day

10.0 inJan 23, 1926

Hottest year

2023mean 67.8°F

Coldest year

1976mean 62.9°F

Wettest year

199745.19 in

Driest year

195416.80 in

Station Goldthwaite 1 Wsw (USC00413614), 1,507 ft elevation, 20.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1960 to October 18, 2026; 88.1% 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 USC00413614.
• 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.