59
Recorded events
2
Direct deaths
46
Direct injuries
$141.7M
Property damage
Tornado in Bowie County, Texas: 59 recorded events between 1950 and 2025. The strongest on record measured F4. That places the county #257 nationally and #48 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Tornado in Bowie County, Texas: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for tornado in Bowie County is the 1980s, when 14 of the county's 59 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 Bowie County archive, tornado makes up 6.9% of all recorded severe weather across 7 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #257 for this hazard and #48 within Texas, putting it in the 91.3 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
May is the peak month for tornado in Bowie County with 18 recorded events, while Jun 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971-03-12 | EF4 | 5.1 mi | 880 yd | Touched down here |
| 1999-05-04 | EF3 | 71.5 mi | 50 yd | Crossed in |
| 1982-04-02 | EF3 | 52.0 mi | 233 yd | Crossed in |
| 2022-11-04 | EF3 | 15.7 mi | 800 yd | Touched down here |
| 1977-11-01 | EF3 | 5.9 mi | 50 yd | Touched down here |
| 1954-04-30 | EF3 | 111.6 mi | 1,760 yd | Touched down here |
| 1950-02-12 | EF2 | 8.0 mi | 833 yd | Touched down here |
| 2018-01-21 | EF2 | 7.1 mi | 560 yd | Touched down here |
| 2008-04-10 | EF2 | 5.5 mi | 200 yd | Touched down here |
| 2003-05-14 | EF2 | 78.3 mi | 100 yd | Crossed in |
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 12, 1950 | F2 | 1 | 8 | $25K | |
| Mar 13, 1971 | F4 | 1 | 5 | $0 | |
| May 4, 1999 | DE KALB | F3 | 0 | 22 | $125.0M |
| Apr 24, 1973 | F2 | 0 | 8 | $2.5M | |
| Apr 2, 1982 | F3 | 0 | 2 | $250K | |
| Apr 10, 2008 | RED SPGS | EF2 | 0 | 1 | $1.0M |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 4, 2025 | DALBY SPGS | EF1 | $500K |
| Mar 4, 2025 | HODGSON | EF1 | $50K |
| Jul 8, 2024 | WAKE VLG | EF1 | $75K |
| May 25, 2024 | DANIELS CHAPEL | EF1 | $0 |
| Nov 5, 2022 | BASSETT | EF3 | $7.0M |
| May 16, 2020 | WAMBA | EF1 | $20K |
| May 16, 2020 | REDWATER | EFU | $0 |
| Jan 22, 2018 | LIBERTY HILL | EF0 | $50K |
| Jan 22, 2018 | COLLEGE HILL | EF2 | $2.5M |
| May 10, 2016 | BEAVERDAMS | EF1 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Bowie County
- Thunderstorm Wind 364
- Hail 323
- Flash Flood 83
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
This tornado moved directly through the downtown district of De Kalb and across a high school. Numerous homes and businesses were severely damaged or destroyed. The high school suffered severe damage. Sirens sounded 15 minutes prior to arrival of the storm. The damage resulted in a Presidential Disaster Declaration. This tornado moved from Red River county, TX across Bowie county, TX into Little River county, AR.
An EF1 tornado touched down 4 miles southwest of Hooks, Texas at the Red River Army Depot. Trees were downed and snapped. An outbuilding was destroyed, and a security guard shelter was pushed over. The intermittent tornado then moved northeast and crossed Interstate 30 where it knocked trees down on a house and damaged and destroyed several campers at a camper sale store on the interstate. Some of the main building was also damaged.
A violent thunderstorm moved rapidly southeast across McCurtain County, OK into Bowie County, TX and Cass County, TX. This thunderstorm also produced a strong microburst in McCurtain County southwest of Idabel, OK and again southeast of Maud, TX, located in Bowie County. Numerous trees and limbs were snapped or pushed over along the entire track. Several homes, mobile homes, barns, garages, and outbuildings were either damaged or destroyed. The primary damage from this event occurred southeast of Maud, TX and was also associated with a microburst with wind speeds approaching 100 mph. The microburst occurred along the east side of the tornado track.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many tornado events are on record in Bowie County, Texas?
59 tornado events are recorded in Bowie County between 1950 and 2025, causing 2 direct deaths.
What is the strongest tornado recorded in Bowie County?
The strongest tornado on record in Bowie County measured F4.
Where does the tornado data for Bowie 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 Bowie County, Texas.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/texas/bowie-county/tornado/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.