Runnels County, Texas severe weather history spans 520 recorded events between 1954 and 2026. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 57.7% of all recorded events. It ranks #809 nationally and #75 in Texas.
520
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
6
Direct injuries
$25.3M
Property damage
The record
What the Runnels County, Texas severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Runnels County, Texas severe weather history averages 7.2 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 135 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 114 events fall before 1990 and 406 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Runnels County, Texas record is flash flood, responsible for 1 direct deaths. The costliest is thunderstorm wind, with $15.8M in reported property damage. In total, 8 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Runnels County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 300 | 0 | $43K | 4.5 | 1955–2026 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 127 | 0 | $15.8M | 78 | 1960–2025 |
| Tornado | 54 | 0 | $9.2M | F3 | 1954–2024 |
| Flash Flood | 27 | 1 | $218K | 0 | 1996–2024 |
| Funnel Cloud | 4 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2006–2020 |
| Flood | 4 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2007–2018 |
| Lightning | 2 | 0 | $60K | 0 | 2005–2012 |
| Heavy Rain | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2007–2015 |
Decade by decade
Runnels County, Texas severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
57 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 56 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-05-18 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 18.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 2019-05-18 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 5.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 1982-03-14 | EF3 | 0 | 14 | 40.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1979-04-10 | EF3 | 0 | 1 | 25.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1976-04-15 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 9.9 mi | Touched down here |
| 2024-05-02 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 4.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1982-03-14 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 10.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1982-06-19 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 10.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1979-04-10 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 9.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 1976-04-15 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Runnels County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 3, 2024 | Flash Flood | MILES | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Mar 14, 1982 | Tornado | 0 | 4 | $2.5M | |
| May 12, 1965 | Tornado | 0 | 1 | $3K | |
| Apr 29, 1954 | Tornado | 0 | 1 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Very high thunderstorm winds along with baseball size hail produced widespread damage across the town of Winters. Numerous windows were broken out by the wind and hail. Numerous trees were also reported blown down by the high winds.
This long track EF-3 Tornado damaged or destroyed several homes and outbuildings. |It snapped tree trunks and even swept one home completely off its foundation. The tornado wrapped a woman in carpet and threw her for 150 feet. Thankfully, she survived with minimal injuries. This tornado was multi-vortex at times as it also remained mostly in rural areas. It even lodged a steel C-Purlin into a branch of a Mesquite tree at the Ballinger Country Club. This tornado destroyed the Ballinger High school Baseball field and threw a steel axle into the water tower and punctured it, causing all of the water to drain. This tornado affected 30 homes and destroyed six homes.
National Weather Service surveyed damage northwest of Ballinger. They found evidence of damaging straight line west winds estimated at 80 to 90 mph. These damaging winds impacted mostly rural property about 5.5 miles northwest of Ballinger to Hatchel. The swath of wind damage was about 2.5 miles wide and 5 miles long. The powerful thunderstorm winds damaged about 34 power poles, caused roof damage to a barn, destroyed a shed, removed some vinyl siding from a home, moved some hay trailers, uprooted a tree, broke numerous tree limbs, and damaged an irrigation pivot system.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
9,874
Population (ACS)
$109K
Median home value
13
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| Mar 14, 2008 | Fire | WILDFIRES | EM |
| Jun 29, 2007 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR |
Within the county
Most affected places
- Ballinger 142
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Runnels County, Texas?
520 events are on record between 1954 and 2026, causing 1 direct deaths and $25.3M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Runnels County?
Hail, with 300 recorded events — 57.7% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Runnels County?
57 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 56 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Runnels County?
13 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Runnels County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Runnels County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Runnels County as very low risk, placing it in the 26 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Runnels 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
- Rockwall County 229
- Rusk County 778
- Robertson County 204
- Sabine County 219
- Roberts County 346
- San Augustine County 187
Cite this page
“Runnels County, Texas.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/texas/runnels-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.