Van Zandt County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Van Zandt County: 6.
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.

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. May 10, 2015Tornado$40.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A NWS storm survey team found EF-3 damage in the city of Van. This tornado began near highway 64, near Edom before moving in a northerly direction. The storm crossed Interstate 20 on the southeast side of Van, before carving a destructive path over the eastern side of the city. The greatest damage was done in a housing development to the north of the public school administration building, where over 50 homes were damaged or destroyed. Two fatalities occurred with this tornado, as a married couple was apparently asleep in their mobile home when the tornado hit.

2. Apr 29, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Significant structural damage to several buildings near the intersection of Highway 19 and Highway 243. A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service in Fort Worth indicated that this damage was due to a downburst. More than forty homes and 15 businesses were damaged.

3. Jan 20, 2010Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A NWS survey team found evidence of a long track tornado in Van Zandt County. The tornado touched down near CR 859 north of Highway 64 on the northwest side of Canton and traveled approximately 15 miles in a northeast direction. Numerous structures were damaged along the track of the tornado which ended near the Silver Lake community in the extreme Northeast corner of the county. Along the damage path, a single family home lost its entire roof and part of its exterior walls. A number of large trees were uprooted and several sheds and outbuildings suffered extensive damage. A small church was destroyed in the community of Starr. A total of 150 homes suffered damage, but only one…

4. Apr 26, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Nearly 100 homes and several outbuildings were damaged across mainly the southern half of Van Zandt County from two strong supercells. These homes were damaged by either a tornado in the same region, damaging downburst winds, and/or RFD winds. It cannot be determined how many of the homes were damaged by the tornado and how many by the RFD or downburst winds. In addition, numerous trees were also knocked down and several were blocking roadways. Power lines were also down as well.

5. Apr 29, 2017Tornado$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Henderson County tornado continued into Van Zandt County. A National Weather Service damage survey crew found the start of tornado number three began in Henderson County, approximately 3 miles due south of Eustace. This tornado eventually moved into Van Zandt County, where the storm produced EF4 damage. In Henderson County, several homes suffered EF2 damage, along with a considerable amount of tree damage and damage to farm buildings. As the storm moved into Van Zandt County, the tornado grew to a mile wide at the tornado's maximum width. Over 50 homes were either damaged or destroyed, with a continuous path noted between counties.

6. Apr 29, 2017Tornado$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado began nearly as the last tornado dissipated to the south and west. The parent supercell cycled another tornado about a mile to the east and northeast of the previous storm. This tornado quickly grew to a large tornado, becoming slightly less than one mile wide at its widest point. The tornado was at the strongest near Interstate 20 and FM 17 just north of Canton. The survey crews found continuous damage between Canton and Fruitvale, and then additional damage as far north as Emory, |and Lake Fork. Several homes, businesses, and farm buildings were damaged or destroyed in the 40 mile continuous damage path. This tornado occurred for over an hour, and spanned most of…

7. May 29, 2019Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado developed near the community of Whitton, then moved northeast, damaging several homes in its path. The most extensive damage was found on Van Zandt CR 2502 and Van Zandt CR 2501, where the EF-2 determination was made. Homes experienced significant roof loss, and a manufactured home was destroyed and tossed well away from its foundation. The tornado then continued moving northeast, easily traceable from continuous tree damage along its path. This tornado then occluded and dissipated as it approached the City of Canton. Maximum winds with the tornado were estimated at 125 mph.

8. Aug 22, 2022Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Notable flooding was reported around Canton. Specifically: Streets and roads were flooded along Rollins Rd and water may have entered a few homes. The EM's office on SH 64 experienced flooding around the office, and water up to 5 deep entered the office. Outside the office, pictures show the water was at least a foot deep in some areas. The location of First Trade Days was flooded with over a foot of water in some areas.

9. Mar 4, 2004Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several houses were damaged, many RV trailers destroyed, trees, and power lines were blown down.

10. Oct 1, 2006Drought, Van Zandt$500,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Persistent drought conditions continued across portions of north Texas. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, much of the region was still experiencing extreme (D3) drought conditions. The areas which were rated exceptional drought (D4) last month had received enough rainfall to be downgraded into the D3 category this month.|Even though drought conditions were lessened by a few rain events this month, serious hydrological problems remained. For instance, as much water was used from Lake Bridgeport in one month alone as was saved through conservation efforts by north Texas over the summer. Almost every north Texas lake remained well below conservation levels. The rain events this…

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

115°FAug 18, 1909

All-time low

−3°F2 times, most recently Feb 17, 2021

Warmest night

84°FAug 23, 1912

Coldest day

13°FFeb 16, 2021

Wettest day

7.08 inJun 12, 1945

Snowiest day

10.8 inFeb 12, 2010

Hottest year

1911mean 68.2°F

Coldest year

1997mean 61.9°F

Wettest year

201572.87 in

Driest year

197223.22 in

Station Wills Point (USC00419800), 520 ft elevation, 13.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1905 to June 30, 2026; 97.7% 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 USC00419800.
• 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.