Yoakum County, Texas severe weather history spans 238 recorded events between 1957 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 52.5% of all recorded events. It ranks #2,191 nationally and #188 in Texas.
238
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
1
Direct injuries
$4.9M
Property damage
The record
What the Yoakum County, Texas severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Yoakum County, Texas severe weather history averages 3.5 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 80 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 49 events fall before 1990 and 189 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is hail, with $3.8M 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 Yoakum County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 125 | 0 | $3.8M | 4 | 1961–2025 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 71 | 0 | $938K | 80 | 1957–2025 |
| Tornado | 26 | 0 | $81K | F2 | 1957–2023 |
| Flash Flood | 11 | 0 | $30K | 0 | 1999–2023 |
| Flood | 4 | 0 | $20K | 0 | 2007–2022 |
| Lightning | 1 | 0 | $16K | 0 | 2001–2001 |
Decade by decade
Yoakum County, Texas severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
25 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 25 touched down inside it and 0 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1957-05-15 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1977-04-19 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1977-04-19 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1973-03-29 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 1969-09-14 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1969-06-13 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1969-09-14 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1968-03-10 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 7.7 mi | Touched down here |
| 1961-06-07 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1957-05-15 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Yoakum County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 3, 1996 | Hail | DENVER CITY | 0 | 1 | $2.5M |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
The Yoakum County Sheriff's Office reported that baseball size hail smashed out many automobile windshields and punctured holes in the roofs of several mobile homes. Two Sheriff's Office cruisers sustained significant damage. Area gins and cotton farmers reported that more than 25,000 acres of cotton were destroyed east of Plains. No injuries were reported.
A swath of extreme winds accompanied a bowing line-shaped convective complex as it moved southward over portions of Yoakum and Terry Counties during the late evening hours of the 26th. Severe winds initiated over central Yoakum County as measured by the Texas Tech University West Texas Mesonet site near Plains where a 62 mph gust was recorded at 20:45 CST. A cattle feed lot located on the New Mexico and Texas state line in western Yoakum County measured a peak gust of 81 mph according to newspaper accounts.||Damage to utility poles, lines, and trees was widespread. Numerous power poles were snapped along Farm to Market Road 213. Some minor crop damage occurred due to sandblasting. No significant structural damage was reported.||Law enforcement officials reported damage in and near Denver City when the winds spread south across southern Yoakum County. Winds estimated up to 70 mph reportedly occurred in the city between 21:10 and 21:15 CST. A number of power poles were snapped by the winds.
Newspaper articles reported damaging thunderstorm winds up to 70 miles per hour across northern Yoakum County. The worst damage was reported near Farm to Market Road 1780 where a number of irrigation systems and utility poles were damaged.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
7,571
Population (ACS)
$183K
Median home value
12
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 |
| Jan 11, 2006 | Fire | EXTREME WILDFIRE THREAT | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Yoakum County, Texas?
238 events are on record between 1957 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths and $4.9M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Yoakum County?
Hail, with 125 recorded events — 52.5% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Yoakum County?
25 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 25 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Yoakum County?
12 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Yoakum County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Yoakum County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Yoakum County as relatively low risk, placing it in the 46 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Yoakum 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
- Wood County 510
- Young County 587
- Wise County 951
- Zapata County 157
- Winkler County 222
- Zavala County 165
Cite this page
“Yoakum County, Texas.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/texas/yoakum-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.