Shelby County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Feb 10, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$8.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous reports of downed trees and power lines throughout the area. Every customer in the area lost power for several days. Property damage in the region resulted climbed to over 1 million dollars while over 6 million dollars damaged occurred in private timber loss.

2. Jan 11, 2020Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF-1 tornado with estimated maximum winds near 100 mph touched down just west of Highway 7 on the southwest side of Center and continued on an east-northeast path for roughly 6 miles. The tornado cut through a few neighborhoods on the south side of Center, where numerous trees were snapped or uprooted across the path through the town, resulting in roof and structural damage to many homes as trees fell through them. The most extensive damage occurred in the Lakewood subdivision just off of Highway 7, where one minor injury occurred as a fallen pine tree heavily damaged the roof of a home. In addition, a handful of other homes farther east along Ballard Street sustained…

3. Sep 13, 2008Tropical Storm, Shelby$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tropical storm force winds resulted in widespread trees and power lines downed throughout the county. Power outages were widespread as well with numerous residents without power during the height of the storm and well after the storm. A home was hit by fallen trees on County Road 1021 and a mobile home was crushed by a tree on FM. 138. Another tree fell across a mobile home in Joaquin, Texas but no injuries were reported.

4. Jul 8, 2024Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF-1 tornado with estimated maximum winds near 110 mph touched down on County Road 2625 about 1.5 miles southeast of Shelbyville, and tracked northwest across CR 2100 and FM 417 where it snapped and uprooted numerous hardwood and softwood trees. The significant damage to trees continued to the north as the tornado tore through the Sardis community, south of FM 414 on County Roads 3051, 3054, and 3057. A number of homes also sustained damage to their roofs from a combination of the estimated 110 mph winds produced by the tornado and trees falling on homes. The tornado continued to track to the northwest, where it produced significant tree damage along CR 3505 and 3046 north of…

5. Jul 14, 2014Lightning$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Center Fire Department was dispatched to a house fire at 1134 CR 2230 in Center Texas at 5:30pm. The caller reported lightning struck the house and ignited a fire. Upon arrival on scene, the Center Fire Department reported the flames were in the attic of the home and spreading quickly. The fire department called in the assistance of the Shelbyville Volunteer Fire Department for the need of another tanker truck.|Firefighters fought the blaze as the storm continued to rage and lightning could be seen as well as thunder being heard. Rain poured down but failed to help extinguish any of the fire due to heavy winds blowing and fueling the flames. ||The fire department did lose a…

6. Dec 23, 2009Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several homes and metal outbuildings were damaged closer to the Timpson, Texas area. A travel trailer and barn was completely destroyed. Numerous trees snapped along the path as well. This tornado continued into southern Panola County, Texas.

7. Jul 8, 2024Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF-1 tornado with estimated maximum winds near 110 mph touched down in the town of Timpson, where a business lost nearly half of its roof, and a nearby recreational vehicle was also destroyed. City Hall also sustained damage, and two cars were thrown near the intersection of Highway 59 and 84. Numerous hardwood and softwood trees were also snapped in town, before tracking northwest while remaining just north of Highway 84. Several trees were snapped here, before the tornado lifted just after crossing FM 1970 just north of CR 4843.

8. May 11, 2015Thunderstorm Wind$130,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An NWS Storm survey team determined that storm damage on the southwest side of Center, Texas was consistent with that of straight line wind damage. Scattered trees were downed on mainly the west side of town near FM. 138. Five homes suffered moderate to major damage.

9. Jan 7, 2010Cold/Wind Chill, Shelby$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Bitterly cold temperatures swept into the region during the evening hours of January 7th with a hard freeze being observed nearly through the morning hours of January 10th. During this period of time...overnight and early morning low temperatures were well into the teens with daytime high temperatures struggling to make it to the freezing mark. The cold temperatures froze water pipes of many homes throughout the county. Some city and county water lines burst as well resulting in many residents either without water for a short period of time or with reduced water pressure.

10. Jan 31, 1999Flood, Shelby$60,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Heavy rains upstream on the Sabine River in extreme northeast Texas led to river flooding where about 20 homes were flooded from Juaquin Texas to Logansport Louisiana as the river crested at 33.2 feet. Toledo Bend rose to 173.60 feet, some eight inches above full pool stage. The high water resulted in the Sabine River Authority having to open the gates completely at the dam with releases of 116,000 cfs. This flooding is mostly due to backwater flooding from very high pool stages on Toledo Bend.

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°F2 times, most recently Sep 5, 2000

All-time low

1°F2 times, most recently Dec 24, 1989

Warmest night

81°F6 times, most recently Aug 27, 2023

Coldest day

18°FJan 8, 1996

Wettest day

9.25 inApr 14, 1991

Snowiest day

9.0 inFeb 12, 2010

Hottest year

1967mean 67.9°F

Coldest year

1983mean 62.2°F

Wettest year

199177.47 in

Driest year

196324.66 in

Snowiest season

13.0 in2020-21

Station Carthage (USC00411500), 305 ft elevation, 25.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1951 to October 23, 2026; 86.1% 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 USC00411500.
• 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.