Hemphill County, Texas severe weather history spans 406 recorded events between 1954 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 57.9% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,230 nationally and #117 in Texas.
406
Recorded events
3
Direct deaths
12
Direct injuries
$4.7M
Property damage
The record
What the Hemphill County, Texas severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Hemphill County, Texas severe weather history averages 5.7 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 143 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 37 events fall before 1990 and 369 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Hemphill County, Texas record is flood, responsible for 2 direct deaths. The costliest is tornado, with $3.4M 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 Hemphill County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 235 | 0 | $18K | 4.5 | 1968–2025 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 107 | 0 | $1.1M | 100 | 1977–2025 |
| Tornado | 53 | 1 | $3.4M | F4 | 1954–2025 |
| Flash Flood | 7 | 0 | $130K | 0 | 1997–2021 |
| Flood | 3 | 2 | $8K | 0 | 2014–2024 |
| Heavy Rain | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2013–2013 |
Decade by decade
Hemphill County, Texas severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
53 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 47 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995-06-08 | EF4 | 0 | 0 | 15.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 2007-03-28 | EF3 | 1 | 1 | 7.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 1986-05-07 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 7.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2015-05-27 | EF2 | 0 | 3 | 1.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 1986-05-07 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 8.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1974-04-19 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 5.9 mi | Crossed in |
| 1973-04-13 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 90.1 mi | Crossed in |
| 1967-07-03 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2025-05-18 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.7 mi | Touched down here |
| 2023-06-22 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 10.3 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Hemphill County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 23, 2014 | Flood | CANADIAN | 2 | 0 | $0 |
| Mar 29, 2007 | Tornado | CANADIAN | 1 | 1 | $3.0M |
| Aug 20, 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | CANADIAN | 0 | 4 | $32K |
| May 27, 2015 | Tornado | CANADIAN HEMPHILL AR | 0 | 3 | $0 |
| May 15, 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | CANADIAN | 0 | 3 | $25K |
| Jun 9, 1997 | Flash Flood | CANADIAN | 0 | 1 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Reports state two female horseback riders (one 24 years old the other 6 years old) traveling along the banks went missing prior to noon on Monday June 23rd. By 7 PM that day, search and rescue crews located the still saddled horse the females were last seen riding downstream of the US 60 bridge spanning the Canadian River. Roughly 15 minutes later the remains of the 6 year old were recovered. The remains of the 24 year old female were recovered 5 days later 2 miles downstream from the US 60 bridge. Preliminary autopsy results showed the cause of death to be drowning.
This tornado developed near County Road 17 and produced some minor tree damage, with limbs and branches being blown down. The tornado then continued across open field before impacting a residence just off Highway 277, where it brought down trees and some power lines along that road. As it crossed Highway 277, it brought down about 7 power poles, and caused more impressive tree damage, snapping branches and some trees while uprooting other hardwood trees. It resulted in some minor roof damage to a shed and damaged another shed at a natural gas facility. The tornado then crossed County Road 22, just to the south of Highway 277. Here, it snapped several hardwood branches and uprooted another tree. It also lifted the lids off of two silos, one of which collapsed in on the side. The debris of the lids ended up damaging a nearby barn. The tornado then crossed open fields and Highway 277 once more before causing some minor tree branch damage along Highway 2124. The tornado likely lifted after this point.
Barns were destroyed by the high winds and a cattle trailer was blown over. Also…part of an abandoned home had been destroyed along with some metal pipes and horse trough-type things had been twisted and scattered. One had been blown up U.S. Highway 83 about two hundred yards and to the west of the highway. A couple of fairly large trees on the west side of the highway were blown down.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
3,234
Population (ACS)
$206K
Median home value
14
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 27, 2024 | Fire | SMOKEHOUSE CREEK FIRE | FM |
| 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 |
| Jul 1, 2011 | Fire | WILDFIRES | DR |
Within the county
Most affected places
- Canadian 197
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Hemphill County, Texas?
406 events are on record between 1954 and 2025, causing 3 direct deaths and $4.7M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Hemphill County?
Hail, with 235 recorded events — 57.9% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Hemphill County?
53 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 47 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Hemphill County?
14 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Hemphill County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Hemphill County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Hemphill County as very low risk, placing it in the 17 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Hemphill 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
- Hays County 449
- Henderson County 514
- Haskell County 574
- Hidalgo County 574
- Hartley County 497
- Hill County 596
Cite this page
“Hemphill County, Texas.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/texas/hemphill-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.