76
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
11
Direct injuries
$53.4M
Property damage
Tornado in Hockley County, Texas: 76 recorded events between 1955 and 2025. The strongest on record measured F4. That places the county #131 nationally and #20 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Tornado in Hockley County, Texas: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for tornado in Hockley County is the 1960s, when 21 of the county's 76 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the Hockley County archive, tornado makes up 11.9% of all recorded severe weather across 9 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #131 for this hazard and #20 within Texas, putting it in the 95.6 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jun is the peak month for tornado in Hockley County with 30 recorded events, while Jan is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
| Date | Scale | Path length | Max width | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970-04-17 | EF4 | 30.0 mi | 880 yd | Crossed in |
| 1957-04-21 | EF4 | 29.2 mi | 880 yd | Touched down here |
| 1956-06-17 | EF3 | 1.0 mi | 20 yd | Touched down here |
| 2025-06-05 | EF2 | 3.3 mi | 968 yd | Touched down here |
| 2025-06-05 | EF2 | 8.8 mi | 1,936 yd | Touched down here |
| 2022-05-23 | EF2 | 7.6 mi | 1,420 yd | Touched down here |
| 2013-06-19 | EF2 | 5.2 mi | 350 yd | Touched down here |
| 1980-06-17 | EF2 | 45.0 mi | 200 yd | Touched down here |
| 1969-06-10 | EF2 | 0.1 mi | 10 yd | Touched down here |
| 1965-10-17 | EF2 | 0.2 mi | 20 yd | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 18, 1970 | F4 | 0 | 4 | $25.0M | |
| Apr 21, 1957 | F4 | 0 | 4 | $2.5M | |
| Jun 6, 2025 | SMYER | EF1 | 0 | 2 | $0 |
| Jun 9, 1970 | 0 | 0 | 1 | $0 |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 7, 2025 | ARNETT | EFU | $0 |
| Jun 7, 2025 | SUNDOWN | EFU | $0 |
| Jun 7, 2025 | SUNDOWN | EFU | $0 |
| Jun 6, 2025 | SMYER | EF2 | $0 |
| Jun 6, 2025 | SMYER | EF1 | $0 |
| Jun 5, 2025 | WHITHARRAL | EF2 | $0 |
| Jun 5, 2025 | PETTIT | EFU | $0 |
| Jun 5, 2025 | PEP | EFU | $0 |
| Apr 30, 2025 | ROUNDUP | EFU | $0 |
| May 24, 2022 | COBLE | EF2 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Hockley County
- Hail 313
- Thunderstorm Wind 190
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Newspaper articles indicated that local law enforcement officials and the public witnessed a tornado just west of Levelland around 22:00 CST. Radar imagery depicted strong evidence of a tornado at the time of the sightings. Fire department officials reported downed power lines in the area of the tornado's path.
Storm spotters and an off-duty NWS employee observed a seven minute tornado over rural land about seven miles southeast of Levelland. Although this tornado did destroy a small roof extension attached to an outbuilding, the construction of the roof was of low quality and therefore the tornado was assigned an EF0 rating.
A cyclic tornadic supercell produced several tornadoes over a period of approximately two hours. An NWS storm survey revealed that this supercell produced nine separate tornadoes. This tornado was the fifth tornado. Numerous storm chasers documented a brief, small tornado in an open field. Wooden power poles were blown down at the intersection of Farm to Market Roads 597 and 303, approximately two miles south of Pep. Maximum winds were estimated at 85 mph.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many tornado events are on record in Hockley County, Texas?
76 tornado events are recorded in Hockley County between 1955 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths.
What is the strongest tornado recorded in Hockley County?
The strongest tornado on record in Hockley County measured F4.
Where does the tornado data for Hockley County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Tornado in Hockley County, Texas.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/texas/hockley-county/tornado/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.