Wharton County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Wharton County: 1.
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, Wharton$200 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Slow moving Tropical Storm Harvey produced widespread catastrophic flooding across Wharton County. Major to record flooding occurred along the Colorado and San Bernard Rivers and several other creeks and tributaries. Two tornadoes were reported.

2. Jun 20, 1996Hail$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Grapefruit sized hail fell in Egypt. 30-40% of homes with significant damage to roofs and windows. Trees snapped and many cars totalled. Significant agriculture loss (1000 acres sorgham, 2000 acres corn, and 1000 acres soybeans destroyed).

3. Nov 21, 2004Flash Flood$2.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread major flooding with evacuations in Louise with more than 200 El Campo residents being rescued by boat or high-water vehicles. Numerous roads (including two sections of Highway 59 between Wharton and El Campo and between El Campo and the Jackson County line) and bridges were flooded and impassable. Countywide, 59 homes sustained major damage and 225 homes received minor damage.

4. Sep 12, 2008Tropical Storm, Wharton$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Ike produced tropical storm force winds over the county. Moderate damage occurred in the eastern part of county with minimal damage elsewhere.

5. Aug 1, 1998Drought, Wharton$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.

6. Jun 8, 2004Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado formed just outside city limits and caused damage to shopping center roof, several homes, and overturned a pump house as it entered Wharton. A mobile home was flipped over, damage occurred to several out houses, and vehicles. Numerous trees and power lines were knocked down. Overall, six minor injuries were reported, mainly from flying glass.

7. Aug 27, 2017Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado began as a weak EF0 in East Bernard then tracked NW across SH 90 where it strengthened to EF1 snapping the trunks of several large mature oak and pecan trees. A house suffered significant brick facade damage to one side of the home. Four apartments were damaged on college street.

8. Jun 12, 2025Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF-1 tornado with 100 mph winds touched down just behind some apartments northeast of Wharton and travelled east across CR 166, CR 133, and CR 129. The most extensive damage was along Everett and Holiness Lanes, just south of CR 166. Numerous homes sustained major roof damage and a number of trees had large branches snapped. As the tornado traveled east it continued producing mostly tree damage and some minor roof damage.

9. May 8, 2005Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Trees down and roof damage across the county including El Campo and Wharton. Power lines were also downed in Wharton. Also, a barn, a hanger (including an airplane inside) and a storage building were destroyed.

10. May 2, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Roof blown off Big State Grass Farm near SH 60. Trailer overturned, carport destroyed, and trees down in El Lobo subdivision.

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 6, 2000

All-time low

3°FFeb 12, 1899

Warmest night

86°FJun 9, 1981

Coldest day

21°FDec 23, 1989

Wettest day

12.96 inJun 26, 1960

Snowiest day

10.5 inDec 25, 2004

Hottest year

1916mean 72.9°F

Coldest year

2010mean 67.7°F

Wettest year

196066.75 in

Driest year

195418.85 in

Station Danevang 1 W (USC00412266), 67 ft elevation, 15.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1896 to October 22, 2026; 94.7% 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 USC00412266.
• 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.