Zapata County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jul 14, 2010Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Incredible rainfall estimated to be more than 50 inches in around 10 days' time between June 30th and July 9th across the front range and peaks of the Sierra Madre Oriental in Coahuila Province, Mexico, ultimately flowed through the entire Lower Rio Grande basin for much of the summer of 2010. The rare and extreme event ultimately led to increasing water levels at both Amistad International Reservoir (northwest of Del Rio, TX) and Falcon International Reservoir (adjacent to Zapata County), the result of inflow from Mexican tributaries and upstream reservoirs along the Rio Salado and Rio Conchos in Nuevo Leon and Coahuila State, Mexico. ||At Falcon International Reservoir, where…

2. May 14, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Damage from the microburst was first surveyed about 2 miles west of the center of town along and near Farm to Market (FM) Highway 496. In the neighborhood of Falcon Mesa, along FM 3074, numerous barrel tiles were torn from the roof; in the same neighborhood, numerous large limbs from ebony and live oak trees were blown down, and minor damage to roofs was noted at other homes. Similar tree and roof damage was noted at another neighborhood along Oak Street, just south of the Zapata Cemetary.||Farther east along FM 496, several large fiberglass storage tanks were rolled, and damaged beyond repair, at a facility between FM 3074 and the Zapata County cemetary. On the same property, a…

3. May 23, 2022Flash Flood$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Video on social media shows several feet of fast moving water near Medina Street - a flood-prone area known as Medina Addition - with two SUVs that had been swept off the road and into a ditch. Video later shows the vehicles getting dragged out of the ditch by a tow truck. Based on the during and after videos, it is estimated that 3 to 4 feet of fast flowing water was moving across the road at the height of the flash flooding. Additional video shows people having to abandon homes during the height of the flooding and the water coming up to their waists, which supports the 3 to 4 foot estimates of fast moving water. A report of 8 of rain came in from just northwest of Zapata from…

4. May 25, 2020Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A rapidly developing severe thunderstorm crossed the Rio Grande into Zapata County shortly after midnight on May 26. The storm produced damaging straight line winds across much of the city of Zapata, including portions of Medina Addition to the east and Sierra Shores to the south. Widespread damage was surveyed across the city with more than two dozen single wide mobile and manufactured homes having partial or total roof damage. Nearly all of the critically damaged infrastructure was of poor and older construction. More than a dozen wooden utility poles were leaning or broken, most of which had wet or rotting bases. Hundreds of healthy large tree branches were blown down, in…

5. Aug 1, 2000Drought, Zapata$180,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe drought conditions persisted across Zapata county. According to the USDA, Farm Service Agency, Zapata county received a disaster declaration primarily for damages and losses to livestock. Meanwhile, the rest of deep south Texas continued in a moderate drought. An average of 1 to 3 inches of rain fell for the month across deep south Texas. Much of this rainfall was spotty across Zapata county. However, yearly departure from normals continued to be well below normal and ranged from 4 to 8 inches below normal through August. It appeared that the bulk of the rain fell across the eastern part of deep south Texas. The Falcon Lake Reservoir remained steady at 252.21 feet which is…

6. May 14, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Damaging winds associated with a severe thunderstorm completely blew a roof off of a medical clinic in Zapata. The winds also destroyed a mobile home and damaged canopies at a gas station.

7. Aug 21, 2016Flash Flood$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Zapata County Emergency Manager reported flash flooding across Zapata County with six known swift water rescues in and near the city of Zapata. At least two vehicles were submerged, one in fast flowing water and another with water up to the door handles. Standing water levels reached three feet on some roads, and creeks that exceeded their banks left between one and two feet of fast flowing water nearby. The Zapata County Sheriffs Office reported a foot and a half of water over Highway 83 in Zapata.

8. Aug 24, 2019Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Zapata County authorities and the Zapata County News (via the Emergency Management Coordinator) reported several instances of minor damage from a microburst during the late afternoon of August 24. In Falcon Heights (2 miles south-southeast of Zapata City), two anchored deer blinds were blown onto U.S. 83 from a nearby store display. In the city of Zapata, minor roof damage was reported to homes, several trees and large limbs were blown down, and power outages covered a large part of the city for 8 to 24 hours.

9. May 1, 2004Lightning$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A home burned to the ground after being struck by lightning.

10. Mar 26, 2007Flash Flood$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    An upper level low pressure system moved across central and southern Texas this day and helped spawn severe thunderstorms across Zapata and Jim Hogg counties. The storms produced large hail, damaging winds and flash flooding of streets and arroyos.

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.

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.
• 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.