Williamson County, Texas severe weather history spans 891 recorded events between 1954 and 2026. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 49.9% of all recorded events. It ranks #218 nationally and #27 in Texas.
891
Recorded events
35
Direct deaths
84
Direct injuries
$460.6M
Property damage
The record
What the Williamson County, Texas severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Williamson County, Texas severe weather history averages 12.4 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2020s, with 222 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 146 events fall before 1990 and 745 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Williamson County, Texas record is tornado, responsible for 29 direct deaths. The costliest is hail, with $300.3M 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 Williamson County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 445 | 0 | $300.3M | 4 | 1959–2026 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 200 | 0 | $4.0M | 100 | 1955–2025 |
| Flash Flood | 154 | 5 | $35.5M | 0 | 1996–2026 |
| Tornado | 71 | 29 | $119.6M | F5 | 1954–2022 |
| Lightning | 9 | 1 | $1.3M | 0 | 1998–2017 |
| Funnel Cloud | 7 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1996–2011 |
| Flood | 4 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2007–2020 |
| Heavy Rain | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2015–2015 |
Decade by decade
Williamson 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: 65 touched down inside it and 6 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 | EF5 | 27 | 12 | 5.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1989-05-17 | EF3 | 1 | 28 | 3.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1980-04-07 | EF3 | 1 | 5 | 31.7 mi | Touched down here |
| 2022-04-12 | EF3 | 0 | 23 | 16.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 1997-05-27 | EF3 | 0 | 15 | 9.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 1954-04-30 | EF3 | 0 | 6 | 139.9 mi | Crossed in |
| 2022-03-21 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 34.6 mi | Crossed in |
| 2017-02-20 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 9.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 2017-02-20 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 4.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 2000-03-16 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 1.5 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Williamson County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 27, 1997 | Tornado | JARRELL | 27 | 12 | $40.0M |
| Nov 15, 2001 | Flash Flood | COUNTYWIDE | 2 | 10 | $500K |
| May 17, 1989 | Tornado | 1 | 28 | $2.5M | |
| Apr 7, 1980 | Tornado | 1 | 2 | $250K | |
| May 25, 2015 | Flash Flood | HUTTO | 1 | 0 | $7.0M |
| Sep 8, 2010 | Flash Flood | GEORGETOWN MUNI ARPT | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Mar 14, 2007 | Flash Flood | LIBERTY HILL | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Jul 19, 1998 | Lightning | GEORGETOWN | 1 | 0 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Thunderstorms produced heavy rain that caused flash flooding around the county. Numerous roads were closed including Hairy Man Rd. The Bull Run Creek hike and bike trail was flooded. A 55 year old man died when his vehicle was swept away near CR 143 and Hwy 195 north of Georgetown. 38 homes were destroyed and 57 homes sustained major damage. Losses for infrastructure totaled more than 7 million dollars.
Heavy rain from Tropical Storm Hermine produced flash flooding which closed I-35 in both directions in Georgetown which caused one death. A man was found dead in a drainage field on September 14th. Police believe on September 8th at around 2am he was forced to stop his car because I-35 was closed with several feet of water over the highway. He pulled off on an exit ramp and discovered it was also flooded. Relatives said that he called them and said he couldn���t get home but was going to check the depth of the water. He got out of his vehicle and tried to walk through the flooded water to determine its depth and apparently was sucked down through a drainage culvert. The flooding also caused the evacuation of approximately 100 homes along Brushy Creek near Round Rock.
CR258, CR268, CR305 were all closed due to high water, among many others. A husband and wife were driving home in the Georgetown area near 1920 pm CST. Their vehicle stalled in high water in Berry Creek. Rescuers reached the couple and attempted to bring them to safety, both were swept downstream. The woman was successfully rescued but the man drowned.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Moderate
FEMA NRI risk rating
672,688
Population (ACS)
$447K
Median home value
26
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 |
| Mar 25, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Williamson County, Texas?
891 events are on record between 1954 and 2026, causing 35 direct deaths and $460.6M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Williamson County?
Hail, with 445 recorded events — 49.9% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Williamson County?
71 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 65 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Williamson County?
26 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Williamson County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Williamson County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Williamson County as relatively moderate risk, placing it in the 90 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Williamson 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
- Willacy County 166
- Wilson County 244
- Wilbarger County 593
- Winkler County 222
- Wichita County 1,298
- Wise County 951
Cite this page
“Williamson County, Texas.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/texas/williamson-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.