Swisher County, Texas severe weather history spans 459 recorded events between 1953 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 50.1% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,024 nationally and #97 in Texas.
459
Recorded events
4
Direct deaths
12
Direct injuries
$39.5M
Property damage
The record
What the Swisher County, Texas severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Swisher County, Texas severe weather history averages 6.4 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 1990s, with 130 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 77 events fall before 1990 and 382 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Swisher County, Texas record is tornado, responsible for 4 direct deaths. The costliest is tornado, with $33.6M 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 Swisher County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 230 | 0 | $4.1M | 7.02 | 1962–2025 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 126 | 0 | $1.2M | 96 | 1959–2025 |
| Tornado | 75 | 4 | $33.6M | F4 | 1953–2023 |
| Flash Flood | 15 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1996–2025 |
| Flood | 5 | 0 | $500K | 0 | 2009–2018 |
| Heavy Rain | 4 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2008–2017 |
| Lightning | 2 | 0 | $50K | 0 | 1999–2004 |
| Funnel Cloud | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1997–2017 |
Decade by decade
Swisher County, Texas severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
78 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 71 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970-04-18 | EF4 | 16 | 42 | 65.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1970-04-17 | EF4 | 5 | 51 | 96.6 mi | Crossed in |
| 1980-05-28 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 6.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1980-05-28 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1957-05-15 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2002-05-05 | EF2 | 2 | 4 | 5.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2021-03-13 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 21.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2007-04-21 | EF2 | 0 | 3 | 3.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2007-04-21 | EF2 | 0 | 1 | 28.8 mi | Crossed in |
| 2002-05-05 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Swisher County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 2002 | Tornado | HAPPY | 2 | 4 | $4.0M |
| Apr 18, 1970 | Tornado | 2 | 0 | $25.0M | |
| Jun 12, 1964 | Tornado | 0 | 4 | $3K | |
| Apr 22, 2007 | Tornado | TULIA | 0 | 3 | $2.0M |
| Oct 5, 2004 | Lightning | TULIA | 0 | 1 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A slow-moving high precipitation supercell produced copious amounts of damaging hail across northern Swisher County with some hailstones as large as baseball size in Happy. A 12-mile stretch of Interstate 27 from Happy to north of Tulia was covered in hail up to six inches deep. In addition to damaging roofs of homes and businesses, intense straight line winds in the rear flank downdraft of the supercell carried hail sideways which shattered many north and west facing windows. Countless vehicles along Interstate 27 suffered broken windows and significant hail dents. It is estimated that 500 acres of winter wheat were flattened by this barrage of hail, wind and torrential rains with 40 percent of the winter wheat crop suffering lesser degrees of damage. Preliminary combined monetary losses are estimated at $4M.
A large downburst damaged several power poles across northern Swisher County and blew over a semi-trailer on Interstate 27 near Tulia. It was not known if the driver was injured or not. Also, multiple homes in and around Tulia sustained varying degrees of roof and fence damage. Large swaths of crop damage were also noted to area corn and grain fields, mostly from wind blown sand and dirt.
A severe thunderstorm resulted in a swath of damaging winds from just northeast of Tulia to Vigo Park. The West Texas Mesonet Site near Tulia initially measured a 63 MPH wind gust at 14:05 CST. As the storm and associated severe winds propagated east-northeast, at least twelve utility poles were snapped two miles west of Vigo Park. Two "substantial" barns were destroyed one quarter of a mile west of Vigo Park.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
6,937
Population (ACS)
$86K
Median home value
15
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 |
| Jul 1, 2011 | Fire | WILDFIRES | DR |
| Mar 14, 2008 | Fire | WILDFIRES | EM |
Within the county
Most affected places
- Tulia 155
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Swisher County, Texas?
459 events are on record between 1953 and 2025, causing 4 direct deaths and $39.5M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Swisher County?
Hail, with 230 recorded events — 50.1% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Swisher County?
78 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 71 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Swisher County?
15 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Swisher County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Swisher County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Swisher County as very low risk, placing it in the 37 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Swisher 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
- Sutton County 135
- Tarrant County 2,886
- Stonewall County 215
- Taylor County 1,096
- Sterling County 206
- Terrell County 211
Cite this page
“Swisher County, Texas.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/texas/swisher-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.