Washington County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Washington County: 4.
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.

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Aug 25, 2017Tropical Storm, Washington$150 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Slow moving Tropical Storm Harvey brought heavy rains and flooding to portions of Brazos, Burleson, Austin, Grimes, Washington and Madison Counties. Moderate to major lowland flooding occurred along rivers and numerous creeks and tributaries. This includes the Brazos at San Felipe, Davison Creek, etc.

2. May 26, 2016Flash Flood$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flood waters inundated homes and there were numerous water rescues in the town of Brenham and around the county. Sections of Highway 36 were impassable due to water over the roadway from Brenham and Somerville. FM 2935 at New Year's Creek was closed due to flooding. All of FM 390 from Burton eastward to FM 105, as well as SH 36 at Highway 290, was closed. There were four fatalities in Washington County. Over 20 inches of rain was measured at one gauge. Damages are estimated.

3. Feb 15, 2021Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Washington$5.6 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Bitter cold air and wind overspread SE Texas behind and Arctic front on Valentines Day with wind chill indices below zero for much the period from Sunday night to Tuesday morning. Increased power demand, wind and ice led to widespread power outages. Bursting pipes caused many to be without water as well.

4. Aug 1, 1998Drought, Washington$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.

5. May 16, 2024Thunderstorm Wind$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Trees were downed by strong thunderstorm winds in Washington County. A possible funnel cloud was sighted as the derecho moved through the area, but this was not confirmed by any photo or video evidence. County EM investigated the area, did not find any associated damage where the funnel was sighted. Approximately 70 roads closed due to downed trees. We also had several thousand meters without power. Some citizens that had structural damage to homes and barns.

6. Dec 13, 2000Ice Storm, Washington$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A storm system combined with cold air at the surface led to 1/2 to 1 inch ice accumulation generally north of a line from Columbus to Navasota to Huntsville to Groveton. Precipitation fell mostly in the form of freezing rain, with sleet occurring in heavier thunderstorms. Most accumulation was on trees and power lines, with numerous trees and power lines downed. Heaviest icing occurred in Burleson, Brazos, and Washington counties. SH 36 bridge between Burleson and Washington counties was closed with icing reported on FM 3058 and FM 166 in Burleson County. The ice storm caused numerous power outages with most of the city of Brenham without power for over a 12 hour period.

7. Aug 7, 2022Wildfire, Washington$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   On August 7th, The Texas A&M Forest Service was requested to the Burns Creek Fire in Washington County. The fire began in the area of the 6600 block of FM 1948, and is moved north toward Lake Sommerville.

8. Sep 7, 1998Tropical Storm, Washington$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Synoptic Situation...On Monday September 7 (Labor Day) a tropical disturbance in the western Gulf of Mexico was increasing the pressure gradient along the Texas coast. A weak cold front had pushed south to near the Red River by Tuesday evening. At 4pm Tuesday the disturbance was upgraded to a Tropical Depression located about 250 miles south of Galveston. On Wednesday morning the cold front had sagged down to a Lufkin to Dallas line with a 1022 high pressure centered over the Ohio Valley. At 4 PM the depression was upgraded to a Tropical Storm and given the name Frances. Winds along the upper Texas coast were from the ENE 20 to 30 mph with gusts nearing 40 mph. The poorly…

9. May 26, 2016Thunderstorm Wind$80,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Trailers being towed by cars and trucks were toppled along FM 50 between Brenham and Independence. The severe winds also destroyed a roof on a shed.

10. Apr 17, 2009Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Thunderstorm winds knocked down signs, toppled trees and damaged several area businesses across the city.

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

113°FSep 5, 2000

All-time low

−2°F2 times, most recently Jan 19, 1930

Warmest night

85°FJun 2, 2022

Coldest day

21°F2 times, most recently Feb 16, 2021

Wettest day

20.50 inMay 27, 2016

Snowiest day

8.3 inFeb 13, 1960

Hottest year

1990mean 71.6°F

Coldest year

1941mean 65.8°F

Wettest year

201579.18 in

Driest year

195418.79 in

Snowiest season

8.7 in1948-49

Station Brenham (USC00411048), 313 ft elevation, 1.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1897 to October 23, 2026; 97.1% 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 USC00411048.
• 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.