Live
Active alerts for this county
Flood Watch
Houston; Trinity; Madison; Walker; San Jacinto; Polk; Brazos; Grimes; Montgomery; Northern Liberty; Waller; Inland Harris; Southern Liberty; Coastal Harris
Wind Advisory
Houston; Trinity; Walker; San Jacinto; Polk; Northern Liberty; Southern Liberty
Houston County, Texas severe weather history spans 363 recorded events between 1951 and 2026. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 47.4% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,417 nationally and #134 in Texas.
363
Recorded events
4
Direct deaths
64
Direct injuries
$9.8M
Property damage
The record
What the Houston County, Texas severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Houston County, Texas severe weather history averages 4.8 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 101 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 36 events fall before 1990 and 327 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Houston County, Texas record is tornado, responsible for 3 direct deaths. The costliest is tornado, with $7.5M in reported property damage. In total, 6 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Houston County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 172 | 0 | $1.6M | 74 | 1971–2026 |
| Hail | 121 | 0 | $501K | 4.5 | 1966–2026 |
| Flash Flood | 34 | 0 | $236K | 0 | 1996–2021 |
| Tornado | 30 | 3 | $7.5M | F3 | 1951–2022 |
| Lightning | 4 | 1 | $34K | 0 | 1998–2020 |
| Funnel Cloud | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2010–2019 |
Decade by decade
Houston County, Texas severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
33 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 32 touched down inside it and 1 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-04-13 | EF3 | 2 | 20 | 41.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1953-05-16 | EF3 | 1 | 8 | 5.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 2012-12-25 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 9.7 mi | Touched down here |
| 1954-04-30 | EF3 | 0 | 6 | 139.9 mi | Crossed in |
| 2022-03-21 | EF2 | 1 | 10 | 19.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2019-04-13 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 6.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1961-03-26 | EF2 | 0 | 1 | 1.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2019-04-13 | EF1 | 0 | 4 | 8.9 mi | Touched down here |
| 2014-04-13 | EF1 | 0 | 1 | 0.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 2011-04-25 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Houston County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 14, 2004 | Lightning | GRAPELAND | 1 | 40 | $0 |
| Mar 22, 2022 | Tornado | MAPLETON | 1 | 10 | $5.0M |
| May 16, 1953 | Tornado | 1 | 8 | $0 | |
| Apr 13, 2019 | Tornado | CENTER | 1 | 0 | $1.0M |
| Apr 13, 2019 | Tornado | KENNARD | 0 | 4 | $300K |
| Apr 13, 2014 | Tornado | LOVELADY | 0 | 1 | $120K |
| Mar 26, 1961 | Tornado | 0 | 1 | $250K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
This EF2 tornado was flown by emergency management and noted a continuous damage track from the first point along Highway 21 until the final point north of Crockett. There were ten total injuries including three serious ones at a pair of mobile homes with occupants thrown into an adjacent field. At least 30 structures were severely damaged.
The EF-3 tornado damage mainly consisted of snapped pine trees indicative of high end EF-1 damage but much more severe EF-3 damage was discovered northeast of Weches. The most severe damage occurred to a double wide trailer that was destroyed and thrown over 150 years from its original foundation. The one female occupant of the trailer was killed. The path width was as wide as a half mile in places. The tornado continued into Cherokee County and was on the ground for more than 40 miles.
The survey discovered tornado damage with trees either uprooted or snapped along a path parallel to County Road 1170. A double wide trailer was destroyed and pushed back into a wooded area at the end of the tornado path. The four occupants of the trailer were injured. Damage scar apparent on satellite data. Aerial photographs also help define path.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
22,051
Population (ACS)
$165K
Median home value
29
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 9, 2024 | Hurricane | HURRICANE BERYL | DR |
| 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 |
| Aug 24, 2020 | Hurricane | TROPICAL STORMS MARCO AND LAURA | EM |
| Mar 25, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Houston County, Texas?
363 events are on record between 1951 and 2026, causing 4 direct deaths and $9.8M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Houston County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 172 recorded events — 47.4% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Houston County?
33 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 32 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Houston County?
29 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Houston County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Houston County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Houston County as relatively low risk, placing it in the 61 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Houston 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
- Hopkins County 508
- Howard County 608
- Hood County 481
- Hudspeth County 119
- Hockley County 640
- Hunt County 672
Cite this page
“Houston County, Texas.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/texas/houston-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.