75
Recorded events
4
Direct deaths
11
Direct injuries
$33.6M
Property damage
Tornado in Swisher County, Texas: 75 recorded events between 1953 and 2023. The strongest on record measured F4. That places the county #135 nationally and #22 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Tornado in Swisher County, Texas: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for tornado in Swisher County is the 2000s, when 18 of the county's 75 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 Swisher County archive, tornado makes up 16.3% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #135 for this hazard and #22 within Texas, putting it in the 95.4 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jun is the peak month for tornado in Swisher County with 22 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970-04-18 | EF4 | 65.0 mi | 880 yd | Touched down here |
| 1970-04-17 | EF4 | 96.6 mi | 880 yd | Crossed in |
| 1980-05-28 | EF3 | 6.1 mi | 2,333 yd | Touched down here |
| 1980-05-28 | EF3 | 2.0 mi | 833 yd | Touched down here |
| 1957-05-15 | EF3 | 1.0 mi | 10 yd | Touched down here |
| 2002-05-05 | EF2 | 5.0 mi | 150 yd | Touched down here |
| 2021-03-13 | EF2 | 21.3 mi | 1,000 yd | Touched down here |
| 2007-04-21 | EF2 | 3.0 mi | 200 yd | Touched down here |
| 2007-04-21 | EF2 | 28.8 mi | 1,230 yd | Crossed in |
| 2002-05-05 | EF2 | 5.0 mi | 300 yd | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 2002 | HAPPY | F2 | 2 | 4 | $4.0M |
| Apr 18, 1970 | F4 | 2 | 0 | $25.0M | |
| Jun 12, 1964 | F2 | 0 | 4 | $3K | |
| Apr 22, 2007 | TULIA | EF2 | 0 | 3 | $2.0M |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 28, 2023 | VIGO PARK | EFU | $0 |
| Mar 13, 2021 | HAPPY | EF0 | $0 |
| Mar 13, 2021 | HAPPY | EF1 | $0 |
| May 7, 2019 | VIGO PARK | EFU | $0 |
| May 7, 2019 | EUNICE | EFU | $0 |
| Apr 15, 2017 | KRESS | EFU | $0 |
| Apr 16, 2009 | KRESS | EF0 | $0 |
| Sep 7, 2007 | TULIA | EF0 | $0 |
| Apr 22, 2007 | HAPPY | EF0 | $0 |
| Apr 22, 2007 | TULIA | EF1 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Swisher County
- Hail 230
- Thunderstorm Wind 126
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A large and long-tracked tornado cut a path of damage twenty-nine miles in length and at times nearly three-quarters of a mile wide across portions of Lamb, Hale, Castro and Swisher Counties between 17:57 and 18:36 CST on the 21st. Total damages from the tornado were estimated to exceed $1.2 million, and one person was injured.|The tornado was in the final stages of its life cycle as it crossed into extreme southwestern Swisher County at 18:33 CST. Storm chasers documented an extended rope-out phase before the tornado finally dissipated over cotton fields in southwestern Swisher County at 18:36 CST. |Reports in local newspapers indicated that at least one center pivot irrigation system was heavily damaged west of Kress.|Damage caused by the tornado east of Olton (Lamb County) supported an EF-2 rating with winds estimated between 110 and 120 mph.
The tornado that went through Happy dissipated over southern Randall County. Shortly after this dissipation, the same supercell produced another tornado just to the south of the previous tornado's track. This tornado was reported by a storm chaser. An NWS storm survey team found snapped power poles and downed power lines on county roads just south of Farm-to-Market Road 1075, consistent with this report.
A large tornado developed west of town. It moved eastward across open country and thus the storm survey team, made up of both NWS personnel and a Texas Tech University wind engineer, could only find damage to power poles and to fence posts. Based on storm chaser video, the large tornado weakened and finally dissipated just west of Happy.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many tornado events are on record in Swisher County, Texas?
75 tornado events are recorded in Swisher County between 1953 and 2023, causing 4 direct deaths.
What is the strongest tornado recorded in Swisher County?
The strongest tornado on record in Swisher County measured F4.
Where does the tornado data for Swisher 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 Swisher County, Texas.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/texas/swisher-county/tornado/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.