Travis County, Texas severe weather history spans 1,181 recorded events between 1953 and 2026. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 43.9% of all recorded events. It ranks #80 nationally and #12 in Texas.
1,181
Recorded events
33
Direct deaths
204
Direct injuries
$1.2B
Property damage
The record
What the Travis County, Texas severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Travis County, Texas severe weather history averages 16.2 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 318 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 228 events fall before 1990 and 953 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Travis County, Texas record is flash flood, responsible for 24 direct deaths. The costliest is hail, with $687.9M 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 Travis County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 519 | 0 | $687.9M | 4 | 1955–2026 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 303 | 5 | $61.9M | 75 | 1956–2026 |
| Flash Flood | 243 | 24 | $133.0M | 0 | 1996–2025 |
| Tornado | 71 | 2 | $273.5M | F4 | 1953–2024 |
| Lightning | 27 | 2 | $2.4M | 0 | 1996–2021 |
| Flood | 12 | 0 | $10.5M | 0 | 2006–2022 |
| Funnel Cloud | 5 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1999–2014 |
| Heavy Rain | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2009–2009 |
Decade by decade
Travis County, Texas severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
71 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 63 touched down inside it and 8 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997-05-27 | EF4 | 1 | 5 | 5.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 1980-04-07 | EF3 | 1 | 5 | 31.7 mi | Crossed in |
| 1997-05-27 | EF3 | 0 | 15 | 9.2 mi | Crossed in |
| 1959-05-10 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 11.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1954-04-30 | EF3 | 0 | 6 | 139.9 mi | Touched down here |
| 1970-07-04 | EF2 | 1 | 4 | 1.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2022-03-21 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 34.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 2022-03-21 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 12.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1980-08-10 | EF2 | 0 | 4 | 5.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 1977-04-14 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 41.0 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Travis County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 31, 2013 | Flash Flood | OAK HILL | 4 | 0 | $100.0M |
| May 28, 1992 | Thunderstorm Wind | 4 | 0 | $0 | |
| Nov 15, 2001 | Flash Flood | COUNTYWIDE | 2 | 50 | $500K |
| Oct 30, 2015 | Flash Flood | MONTOPOLIS | 2 | 0 | $0 |
| Oct 17, 1998 | Flash Flood | COUNTYWIDE | 1 | 50 | $1.5M |
| Jun 9, 1997 | Flash Flood | COUNTYWIDE | 1 | 10 | $100K |
| May 27, 1997 | Tornado | LAKEWAY | 1 | 5 | $15.0M |
| Jul 5, 1970 | Tornado | 1 | 4 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A female was swept out of her house and drowned when Dry Creek flooded due to heavy rainfall. The husband was also swept out of the house but survived. A man was stranded in his car near Toll 130 and FM 812. He was swept away and his body was recovered the next day near McAngus Road.
Thunderstorms produced heavy rain that caused flash flooding in Austin. There were multiple water rescues around the city including one along Shoal Creek at House Park. Little Walnut Creek was out of its banks at Dottie Jordan Park where the swimming pool overflowed and water knocked down fences. The Loyola Ln. bridge over Walnut Creek was closed with water covering it. A 23 year old man died when his vehicle was swept away on Jesse Bohls Dr. near Pflugerville. 20 homes sustained major damage across Travis County for this event, while 14 business saw minor flood impacts.
Slow-moving thunderstorms produced 8-10 inches of rain over the headwaters of Cow Creek. The FM 1431 bridge across Cow Creek was destroyed with the main bridge structure collapsing and fragmenting into at least four segments. A minivan with six occupants was swept into the creek at the crossing at around 4 AM. One of the occupants, a 17-year-old girl, was able to open the car doors and get the others to safety but died in the flooding. Her sister was also swept into the creek but survived. The Emergency Manager estimated public property and infrastructure damage at $5 million across the county. There was no estimate of private property damage.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively High
FEMA NRI risk rating
1,330,015
Population (ACS)
$523K
Median home value
37
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 6, 2025 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Apr 21, 2023 | Winter Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM | 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 |
Within the county
Most affected places
- Austin 204
- Austin Mabry 118
- Oak Hill 107
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Travis County, Texas?
1,181 events are on record between 1953 and 2026, causing 33 direct deaths and $1.2B in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Travis County?
Hail, with 519 recorded events — 43.9% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Travis County?
71 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 63 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Travis County?
37 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Travis County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Travis County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Travis County as relatively high risk, placing it in the 98 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Travis 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
- Tom Green County 1,302
- Trinity County 232
- Titus County 309
- Tyler County 299
- Throckmorton County 355
- Upshur County 425
Cite this page
“Travis County, Texas.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/texas/travis-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.