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Clay County, Texas severe weather history spans 656 recorded events between 1954 and 2026. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 68.1% of all recorded events. It ranks #462 nationally and #42 in Texas.
656
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
44
Direct injuries
$7.8M
Property damage
The record
What the Clay County, Texas severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Clay County, Texas severe weather history averages 9.1 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 1990s, with 218 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 76 events fall before 1990 and 580 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Clay County, Texas record is thunderstorm wind, responsible for 1 direct deaths. The costliest is tornado, with $3.9M in reported property damage. In total, 7 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Clay County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 447 | 0 | $785K | 3 | 1958–2026 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 143 | 1 | $3.1M | 78 | 1955–2026 |
| Tornado | 43 | 0 | $3.9M | F4 | 1954–2026 |
| Flash Flood | 16 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1997–2025 |
| Flood | 5 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2006–2016 |
| Lightning | 1 | 0 | $10 | 0 | 1999–1999 |
| Wildfire | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2000–2000 |
Decade by decade
Clay County, Texas severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
41 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 34 touched down inside it and 7 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979-04-10 | EF4 | 42 | 1,740 | 46.9 mi | Crossed in |
| 1958-04-02 | EF3 | 1 | 14 | 16.4 mi | Crossed in |
| 1986-05-14 | EF3 | 0 | 4 | 20.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1955-04-06 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 21.7 mi | Crossed in |
| 1956-08-08 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1955-04-05 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1954-05-01 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 1.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2024-05-25 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 3.4 mi | Crossed in |
| 2024-05-25 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 3.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 2024-11-03 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 8.4 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Clay County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 1989 | Thunderstorm Wind | 1 | 0 | $0 | |
| Apr 11, 1979 | Tornado | 0 | 40 | $0 | |
| Apr 26, 1998 | Tornado | BELLEVUE | 0 | 2 | $50K |
| Aug 17, 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | JOLLY | 0 | 2 | $2.3M |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Severe thunderstorm winds blew a train car off the tracks, which in turn caused the rest of the freight train to derail. In all, 30 cars and 2 engines were derailed. One train car smashed into two automobiles and a tractor trailer that were parked on a parallel highway. The 2 occupants of one of the automobiles were treated for minor injuries. Damage to the train and track was estimated at $2,000,000.
The side of a metal barn was blown out. Numerous trees blown onto roofs. A 140 foot broadband tower was blown over. Several older metal barns were also blown over. Several trees were downed. One large tree was blown on top of a house. A barn door and the roof of another home sustained damage.
A damage survey conducted by a National Weather Service meteorologist revealed a 6.5 mile tornado track across northern Clay County. The tornado began around 20:50 CST about 6 miles southwest of Charlie, TX, moved northeast, and lifted about 2 miles north of Charlie. Downed power poles and several trees on Ratt Road marked the beginning of the damage, with increasing damage through a pecan grove along Highway 171. Damage to a barn and over 1000 trees in the grove was rated at F1. Farther northeast along the track of the tornado, two homes and at least 3 barns/garages also sustained F1 damage along Linville and T-Bone Roads. The roof of a house on T-Bone Road was completely blown off, probably because the garage door had been left open. The heaviest damage from this tornado was along a three mile path from the pecan grove on Highway 171 to the houses on Linville and T-Bone Roads. Path width ranged from 50 to 100 yards.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
10,495
Population (ACS)
$172K
Median home value
21
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 17, 2024 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Feb 19, 2021 | Severe Ice Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR |
| Feb 14, 2021 | Severe Ice Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM |
| Mar 25, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| May 29, 2015 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS AND FLOODING | DR |
Within the county
Most affected places
- Henrietta 140
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Clay County, Texas?
656 events are on record between 1954 and 2026, causing 1 direct deaths and $7.8M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Clay County?
Hail, with 447 recorded events — 68.1% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Clay County?
41 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 34 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Clay County?
21 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Clay County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Clay County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Clay County as very low risk, placing it in the 14 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Clay County, Texas severe weather history data come from?
Every figure is drawn from United States federal public-domain records: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events for the event archive, NOAA SPC SVRGIS for mapped tornado paths, FEMA for disaster declarations and risk ratings, and the U.S. Census for population context. Dates are shown in UTC and recent entries may still be revised by NOAA.
Nearby
Neighbouring counties
- Childress County 441
- Cochran County 266
- Cherokee County 574
- Coke County 269
- Chambers County 227
- Coleman County 506
Cite this page
“Clay County, Texas.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/texas/clay-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.