Rains County, Texas severe weather history spans 189 recorded events between 1954 and 2026. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 39.7% of all recorded events. It ranks #2,505 nationally and #230 in Texas.
189
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
2
Direct injuries
$2.3M
Property damage
The record
What the Rains County, Texas severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Rains County, Texas severe weather history averages 2.6 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 1990s, with 73 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 23 events fall before 1990 and 166 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Rains County, Texas record is tornado, responsible for 1 direct deaths. The costliest is tornado, with $868K 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 Rains County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 75 | 0 | $404K | 70 | 1983–2025 |
| Hail | 74 | 0 | $867K | 4.5 | 1962–2026 |
| Flash Flood | 18 | 0 | $145K | 0 | 1997–2026 |
| Tornado | 16 | 1 | $868K | F3 | 1954–2022 |
| Flood | 4 | 0 | $20K | 0 | 2009–2016 |
| Lightning | 2 | 0 | $4K | 0 | 2003–2011 |
Decade by decade
Rains County, Texas severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
16 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 13 touched down inside it and 3 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-04-29 | EF3 | 2 | 24 | 39.7 mi | Crossed in |
| 1973-12-03 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1993-10-18 | EF2 | 1 | 0 | 2.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1994-04-29 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 12.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1990-03-14 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2022-11-04 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 4.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 1992-05-11 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1988-11-15 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 1988-11-15 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 1973-03-10 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Rains County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 18, 1993 | Tornado | Emory | 1 | 0 | $500K |
| May 25, 2003 | Lightning | POINT | 0 | 2 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Emergency management reported that several county roads were flooded and some sustained culvert damage or failures, including County Roads 1495, 1325, 3425, 2350, and 1150. Additionally, a section of County Road 2300 was flooded due to a small private earthen dam being overtopped due to the locally heavy rain.
This tornado was a continuation from Van Zandt County. This tornado began nearly as the last tornado dissipated to the south and west. The parent supercell cycled another tornado about a mile to the east and northeast of the previous storm. This tornado quickly grew to a large tornado, becoming slightly less than one mile wide at its widest point. The tornado was at the strongest near Interstate 20 and FM 17 just north of Canton. The survey crews found continuous damage between Canton and Fruitvale, and then additional damage as far north as Emory, and Lake Fork. Several homes, businesses, and farm buildings were damaged or destroyed in the 40 mile continuous damage path. This tornado occurred for over an hour, and spanned most of Van Zandt, and nearly all of Rains Counties during the 80 minute track.
Wind damage across northern part of the county. The worst damage was from Highway 276 at County Road 1320 to near Elm on FM 514. Many trees were blown down, a house was damaged, a large tree was blown down onto a carport, sheds and barns were damagerd, and a chimney was blown off a house.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
12,775
Population (ACS)
$241K
Median home value
17
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 17, 2024 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | 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 |
| Feb 9, 2016 | Severe Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Rains County, Texas?
189 events are on record between 1954 and 2026, causing 1 direct deaths and $2.3M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Rains County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 75 recorded events — 39.7% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Rains County?
16 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 13 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Rains County?
17 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Rains County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Rains County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Rains County as very low risk, placing it in the 14 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Rains 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
- Presidio County 168
- Randall County 1,489
- Potter County 1,507
- Reagan County 228
- Polk County 317
- Real County 241
Cite this page
“Rains County, Texas.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/texas/rains-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.