Zapata County, Texas severe weather history spans 157 recorded events between 1956 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 33.1% of all recorded events. It ranks #2,669 nationally and #242 in Texas.
157
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
40
Direct injuries
$8.5M
Property damage
The record
What the Zapata County, Texas severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Zapata County, Texas severe weather history averages 2.3 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 58 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 5 events fall before 1990 and 152 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is tornado, with $5.0M in reported property damage. In total, 7 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Zapata County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 52 | 0 | $522K | 4.5 | 1993–2025 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 42 | 0 | $1.4M | 75 | 1985–2024 |
| Flash Flood | 29 | 0 | $525K | 0 | 1996–2024 |
| Heavy Rain | 17 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1996–2017 |
| Flood | 8 | 0 | $1.0M | 0 | 2010–2022 |
| Tornado | 5 | 0 | $5.0M | F2 | 1956–2005 |
| Lightning | 4 | 0 | $98K | 0 | 2004–2016 |
Decade by decade
Zapata County, Texas severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
5 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 5 touched down inside it and 0 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970-05-23 | EF2 | 0 | 20 | 4.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1970-05-23 | EF2 | 0 | 20 | 4.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1956-09-07 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2005-07-20 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2002-05-17 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Zapata County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 24, 1970 | Tornado | 0 | 20 | $2.5M | |
| May 24, 1970 | Tornado | 0 | 20 | $2.5M |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Video on social media shows several feet of fast moving water near Medina Street – a flood-prone area known as Medina Addition – with two SUVs that had been swept off the road and into a ditch. Video later shows the vehicles getting dragged out of the ditch by a tow truck. Based on the during and after videos, it is estimated that 3 to 4 feet of fast flowing water was moving across the road at the height of the flash flooding. Additional video shows people having to abandon homes during the height of the flooding and the water coming up to their waists, which supports the 3 to 4 foot estimates of fast moving water. A report of 8 of rain came in from just northwest of Zapata from this storm. The local newspaper in Zapata County later reported that at least 15 homes were affected with many of them losing their furniture, clothing, and household items.
A rapidly developing severe thunderstorm crossed the Rio Grande into Zapata County shortly after midnight on May 26. The storm produced damaging straight line winds across much of the city of Zapata, including portions of Medina Addition to the east and Sierra Shores to the south. Widespread damage was surveyed across the city with more than two dozen single wide mobile and manufactured homes having partial or total roof damage. Nearly all of the critically damaged infrastructure was of poor and older construction. More than a dozen wooden utility poles were leaning or broken, most of which had wet or rotting bases. Hundreds of healthy large tree branches were blown down, in addition to dozens of uprooted trees with shallow root systems.
Zapata County authorities and the Zapata County News (via the Emergency Management Coordinator) reported several instances of minor damage from a microburst during the late afternoon of August 24. In Falcon Heights (2 miles south-southeast of Zapata City), two anchored deer blinds were blown onto U.S. 83 from a nearby store display. In the city of Zapata, minor roof damage was reported to homes, several trees and large limbs were blown down, and power outages covered a large part of the city for 8 to 24 hours.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
13,841
Population (ACS)
$97K
Median home value
15
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 19, 2021 | Severe Ice Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR |
| Feb 14, 2021 | Severe Ice Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM |
| Jul 26, 2020 | Hurricane | HURRICANE HANNA | EM |
| Mar 25, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Aug 3, 2010 | Hurricane | HURRICANE ALEX | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Zapata County, Texas?
157 events are on record between 1956 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths and $8.5M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Zapata County?
Hail, with 52 recorded events — 33.1% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Zapata County?
5 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 5 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Zapata County?
15 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Zapata County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Zapata County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Zapata County as very low risk, placing it in the 31 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Zapata 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
- Young County 587
- Zavala County 165
- Yoakum County 238
- Wood County 510
- Wise County 951
- Winkler County 222
Cite this page
“Zapata County, Texas.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/texas/zapata-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.