Yoakum County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Jun 2, 1996Hail$2.5 million
2. Jun 2, 1996Hail$500,000
3. Dec 17, 2016High Wind, Yoakum$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   In advance of a significant Arctic front plunging south across the South Plains early this morning, strong southwest winds led to temperatures soaring into the low 70s before noon CST over the far southwest South Plains. Shortly after noon, these already strong winds ratcheted up into destructive territory as the cold front drew closer. Numerous wind gusts between 60 and 75 mph were measured for just over one hour near Plains, with a peak wind gust of 79 mph measured near Denver City accompanying the front's passage. These winds created several thick plumes of blowing dust which led to dust storm conditions and zero visibility at times.||Beside the dust storm and temperatures…

4. Jun 17, 2008Hail$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Yoakum County Sheriff's Office reported that baseball size hail smashed out many automobile windshields and punctured holes in the roofs of several mobile homes. Two Sheriff's Office cruisers sustained significant damage. Area gins and cotton farmers reported that more than 25,000 acres of cotton were destroyed east of Plains. No injuries were reported.

5. Dec 8, 2009High Wind, Yoakum$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A very dynamic storm system resulted in a variety of weather hazards and significant public impacts on the west Texas South Plains during the late hours of the 7th and through the daytime hours of the 8th. The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal described the day's weather as a plague, saying the only thing missing Tuesday (December 8th) was locusts.||Fog and drizzle became widespread during the evening of the 7th as warm air advected northward over the South Plains atop a shallow cold layer near the ground. By the late evening hours, freezing drizzle had begun to deposite a light ice glaze on many objects, including area roadways. By the morning of the 8th, travel conditions were hazardous…

6. Oct 1, 2002Hail$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wind-driven tennis ball size hail produced significant damage to at least 54 homes and a number of automobiles. At least 2000 acres of cotton were destroyed.

7. Jun 14, 1997Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorms developed over the western portions of the South Plains during the afternoon of the 14th. A deputy from the Cochran County Sheriff's Office reported a tornado briefly touched down just south of Whiteface. It destroyed a barn, snapped power lines, and toppled a 160-foot section of a 300-foot radio tower. Golfball-sized hail was also reported with this storm by the public and spotters. During the afternoon, nickel-sized hail was also reported by the public in Parmer County just west of Bovina. Golfball-sized hail was reported by a NWS cooperative observer in Lynn County 6 miles north-northeast of Wilson. During the late afternoon, storms producing very strong…

8. Jun 26, 2007Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A swath of extreme winds accompanied a bowing line-shaped convective complex as it moved southward over portions of Yoakum and Terry Counties during the late evening hours of the 26th. Severe winds initiated over central Yoakum County as measured by the Texas Tech University West Texas Mesonet site near Plains where a 62 mph gust was recorded at 20:45 CST. A cattle feed lot located on the New Mexico and Texas state line in western Yoakum County measured a peak gust of 81 mph according to newspaper accounts.||Damage to utility poles, lines, and trees was widespread. Numerous power poles were snapped along Farm to Market Road 213. Some minor crop damage occurred due to sandblasting.…

9. Apr 30, 2000Hail$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Golfball size hail broke many windows, damaged many cars, and damaged the roofs of numerous homes.

10. Jun 1, 1996Drought, Yoakum$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Despite periodic thunderstorms this month, the long drought continued across the extreme southern Texas Panhandle, the South Plains, and the Low Rolling Plains. The very dry weather adversely impacted the early cotton crop that dominates this area.

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

111°FJun 26, 1994

All-time low

−12°F2 times, most recently Feb 1, 1951

Warmest night

76°F5 times, most recently Aug 12, 2023

Coldest day

7°FFeb 15, 2021

Wettest day

6.11 inJul 5, 1960

Snowiest day

20.0 inFeb 21, 1961

Hottest year

2024mean 62.9°F

Coldest year

1968mean 56.8°F

Wettest year

197427.44 in

Driest year

20114.84 in

Snowiest season

30.5 in1960-61

Station Plains (USC00417074), 3,675 ft elevation, 11.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1946 to October 23, 2026; 90.7% 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 USC00417074.
• 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.