Zavala County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

Costliest events since 1996

1. Oct 28, 1996Flood, Zavala$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rainfall of up to 13 inches on the headwaters of the Nueces River on the evening of the 27th and the morning of the 28th caused the river to rise rapidly. The Nueces finally crested just south of Uvalde at around 20 feet, where flood stage is 11 feet. This was the highest reading since 1962. As it moved southward into Zavala County near 1200CST on the 28th, flow was measured at 200,000 cfs. The river crested near Crystal City at 31 feet. Many homes had to be evacuated, with damage reported to nearly 40 home and mobile homes. The flood wave moved into Dimmit County near 1200CST on the 29th. The river crested near Asherton at just over 29 feet, where flood stage is 20 feet. Damage…

2. Jul 16, 2026Flood$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Repeated heavy rainfall from recurring thunderstorms accumulated into a flood wave that moved downstream the Nueces River with rises near Crystal City beginning in the early morning hours of July 16 and cresting on July 17. Waters did not return to near pre-flood levels until about July 21.||Water began overtopping the Averhoff Reservoir dam early on July 16. Several water rescues occurred in the Crystal City area on July 17. Flooding spanned across extensive portions of FM1025 and the FM582 bridge. Over a hundred homes were damaged in the region. Flooding impacted the Chula Vista, primarily due to rises on the Espantosa Slough. Some homes experienced significant damage along…

3. Apr 4, 2004Hail$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A line of strong thunderstorms had stuck Crystal City near 1240 pm CST. Although individual storms were moving toward the northeast, the line appeared to be moving to the southeast. The downburst winds were all discharged toward the southwest, as all damage around Crystal City area was blown in that direction. Damage was severe in Crystal City. Leaves had been shredded from trees and plastered onto the sides of the cars and houses, and streets were covered with the shredded leaves. Homes had damage to their outside walls, roofs, and windows. What was shocking was to see the piles of semi-melted hail still as high as 2 feet in some of the drifts created by the flooding. In spite of…

4. Jul 15, 2003Tropical Storm, Zavala$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   High winds from former Hurricane Claudette, now Tropical Storm Claudette, struck southern Zavala County just before midnight. The winds were unofficially estimated at 40 to 50 mph. They blew down trees and caused some minor damage to roofs in Crystal City.

5. Aug 23, 1998Flood, Zavala$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding along the headwaters of the Frio River was devastating, but campers had been removed in advance from the camps, preventing the need for dangerous last-minute rescues. Still, the flooding covered the entire camping area of Garner State Park in northeast Uvalde County. Water was reported to be five to six feet deep in some of the park building. Parts of some park structures were destroyed by the flood and washed downstream. Picnic tables and debris were strewn everywhere. Steel signs were bent to the ground. Without this timely evacuation, lives almost surely would have been lost. Flow in the camping area was several feet deep and moving very fast.Over twenty homes were…

6. Aug 18, 1998Flood, Zavala$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Leona River which begins just north of the city of Uvalde responded to the rainfall with a rapid rise as it moved south of the Uvalde-Zavala County line. It flooded several homes near Batesville, with additional evacuations and rescues required around the town.

7. Jun 4, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$60,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wind damage was reported to the roofs of numerous buildings in LaPryor.

8. Apr 7, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorm winds knocked over trees, and blew down tree limbs in and around the LaPryor area.

9. Sep 24, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorm winds blew the roof off a school, and also knocked down several trees.

10. Mar 19, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Trees were blown down and windows were broken in the northeast part of Zavala County from Batesville to the Uvalde and Frio County lines.

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

114°F2 times, most recently Jun 22, 2023

All-time low

10°FDec 23, 1989

Warmest night

86°FSep 12, 1912

Coldest day

27°FJan 31, 1951

Wettest day

11.48 inOct 14, 2013

Snowiest day

3.0 inNov 24, 1957

Hottest year

1962mean 74.0°F

Coldest year

1976mean 68.1°F

Wettest year

197141.21 in

Driest year

20198.27 in

Snowiest season

3.0 in1957-58

Station Carrizo Springs 3S (USC00411486), 613 ft elevation, 18.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1912 to October 22, 2026; 94.4% 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 USC00411486.
• 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.