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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Bacliff, TX

Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.

Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated

59 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Bacliff, Texas since 1851, 23 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Beryl in 2024. Since 1950, 257 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 14 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
23

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
36

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
257

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
14

13 deaths in all

What the records show for Bacliff

The strongest storm to pass near Bacliff was an unnamed storm in 1932, a Category 4 hurricane with 148 mph winds when its centre passed 37 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was Jerry in 1989, whose centre crossed the city. The record near Bacliff begins with an unnamed storm in 1854; the most recent system was Beryl in 2024, a Category 1 hurricane 56 miles away. The 1940s and the 1980s were the busiest decades, with 8 systems each. Of the 59 systems, 8 have come since 2000. Bacliff has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 95% of the 753 Texas cities on this site. The highest rating among the 257 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 2 times; the most recent, on November 21, 1992, came within 23 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on September 12, 1961, killed 8 people. Of the 257, 15 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 76 have come since 2000. August has had the most tornadoes, 37. The most recent tornado was on December 28, 2024. Bacliff has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 97% of the 753 Texas cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 77 times since 1967, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Of the 753 Texas cities, 51% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Bacliff.

Compare Bacliff's storm record with another city →

Tropical storms and hurricanes near Bacliff

Tropical systems that passed within 75 miles of Bacliff, Texas, newest first
YearStormClosestStrength when closestPeak
2024BerylJul 856 miCategory 1 (74 mph)Category 5
2021NicholasSep 142 miTropical storm (44 mph)Category 1
2019ImeldaSep 1743 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
2008IkeSep 1310 miCategory 2 (106 mph)Category 4
2008EdouardAug 534 miTropical storm (51 mph)Tropical storm
2007HumbertoSep 1332 miCategory 1 (84 mph)Category 1
2003GraceAug 3115 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
2001AllisonJun 617 miTropical storm (47 mph)Tropical storm
1995DeanJul 3127 miTropical storm (41 mph)Tropical storm
1989JerryOct 16overheadCategory 1 (75 mph)Category 1
1989ChantalAug 128 miTropical storm (72 mph)Category 1
1989AllisonJun 2643 miTropical storm (52 mph)Tropical storm
1987Unnamed 1987 stormAug 1029 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
1986BonnieJun 2647 miCategory 1 (83 mph)Category 1
1983AliciaAug 1820 miCategory 2 (105 mph)Category 3
1982ChrisSep 1165 miTropical storm (60 mph)Tropical storm
1980DanielleSep 68 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
1979ClaudetteJul 2466 miTropical storm (52 mph)Tropical storm
1978DebraAug 2872 miTropical storm (51 mph)Tropical storm
1973Unnamed 1973 stormSep 1220 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1973DeliaSep 535 miCategory 1 (74 mph)Category 1
1970FeliceSep 1612 miTropical storm (60 mph)Tropical storm
1964AbbyAug 761 miTropical storm (68 mph)Tropical storm
1963CindySep 1736 miTropical storm (55 mph)Tropical storm
1959DebraJul 257 miTropical storm (63 mph)Category 1
1957BerthaAug 1047 miTropical storm (47 mph)Tropical storm
1957AudreyJun 2773 miCategory 3 (127 mph)Category 3
1949Unnamed 1949 stormOct 426 miCategory 1 (85 mph)Category 2
1947Unnamed 1947 stormAug 2512 miTropical storm (71 mph)Category 1
1945Unnamed 1945 stormAug 2861 miCategory 1 (75 mph)Category 3
1943Unnamed 1943 stormJul 279 miCategory 1 (92 mph)Category 2
1942Unnamed 1942 stormAug 2117 miTropical storm (71 mph)Category 1
1941Unnamed 1941 stormSep 2437 miCategory 1 (83 mph)Category 3
1940Unnamed 1940 stormSep 2331 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
1940Unnamed 1940 stormAug 846 miTropical storm (72 mph)Category 2
1938Unnamed 1938 stormOct 177 miTropical storm (44 mph)Tropical storm
1934Unnamed 1934 stormAug 2734 miCategory 1 (81 mph)Category 1
1932Unnamed 1932 stormAug 1437 miCategory 4 (148 mph)Category 4
1921Unnamed 1921 stormJun 2260 miTropical storm (62 mph)Category 1
1915Unnamed 1915 stormAug 1722 miCategory 3 (129 mph)Category 4
1909Unnamed 1909 stormJul 2146 miCategory 3 (112 mph)Category 3
1900Unnamed 1900 stormSep 925 miCategory 4 (130 mph)Category 4
1899Unnamed 1899 stormJun 2729 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1898Unnamed 1898 stormSep 2819 miTropical storm (58 mph)Tropical storm
1897Unnamed 1897 stormSep 1337 miCategory 1 (74 mph)Category 1
1895Unnamed 1895 stormOct 717 miTropical storm (39 mph)Tropical storm
1891Unnamed 1891 stormJul 619 miCategory 1 (77 mph)Category 1
1888Unnamed 1888 stormJul 537 miTropical storm (49 mph)Tropical storm
1888Unnamed 1888 stormJun 1769 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 1
1886Unnamed 1886 stormJun 1437 miCategory 1 (92 mph)Category 2
1882Unnamed 1882 stormSep 1566 miTropical storm (49 mph)Tropical storm
1880Unnamed 1880 stormJun 2469 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
1879Unnamed 1879 stormAug 2335 miCategory 2 (104 mph)Category 2
1875Unnamed 1875 stormSep 1753 miTropical storm (48 mph)Category 3
1871Unnamed 1871 stormJun 92 miTropical storm (55 mph)Tropical storm
1871Unnamed 1871 stormJun 422 miTropical storm (53 mph)Tropical storm
1867Unnamed 1867 stormOct 366 miCategory 2 (104 mph)Category 2
1863Unnamed 1863 stormSep 2918 miTropical storm (69 mph)Tropical storm
1854Unnamed 1854 stormSep 1846 miCategory 2 (104 mph)Category 2

Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Bacliff: a hurricane's worst winds sit within a few dozen miles of its centre, and inland cities are usually past that.

Tornadoes within 25 miles of Bacliff

By decade

  • 2020s9(2 EF3+)
  • 2010s33
  • 2000s34(1 EF3+)
  • 1990s37(1 EF3+)
  • 1980s56
  • 1970s51(2 EF3+)
  • 1960s23(6 EF3+)
  • 1950s14(2 EF3+)
Strongest tornadoes near Bacliff, Texas
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Sep 12, 1961F418 mi1 mi8 / 200
Nov 21, 1992F423 mi30 mi0 / 16
Oct 28, 1974F314 mi3.3 mi1 / 7
Feb 11, 1950F312 mi12 mi1 / 12
Dec 28, 2024EF320 mi67.88 mi0 / 2
Jan 24, 2023EF315 mi23.3 mi0 / 0
Mar 30, 2002F38 mi0.7 mi0 / 0
Mar 8, 1976F37 mi12.7 mi0 / 18
Sep 8, 1969F319 mi0.8 mi0 / 0
Aug 18, 1967F37 mi0.5 mi0 / 0
Sep 12, 1961F318 mi2 mi0 / 0
Sep 11, 1961F320 mi1 mi0 / 22

The strongest 12 of 257, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Bacliff

The Storm Prediction Center has 77 hail reports within 10 miles of Bacliff since 1967, made on 57 separate days. Of these, 47 were 1 inch across or larger, and 6 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3 inches (tea cup size), fell on May 29, 1975. The most recent report is from May 31, 2024. May has the most reports, 24.

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.

Weather by month in Bacliff

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Houston NWSO, TX, 6 miles west of Bacliff at 19 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 92°F and low of 76°F; January is the coolest, at 64°F and 46°F. September is the wettest at 7.3 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 3.0 inches; the year adds up to 60.0 inches over 69 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 59% of the year's precipitation (35.1 of 60.0 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 59 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (19); a normal September there has highs of 88°F and 7.3 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 76 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 9 nights a year. That 60.0 inches is more than at 304 of the 312 Texas stations used on this site (97%). Texas City, 8 miles south, has its own station (Galveston Scholes Field, TX): 47.2 inches a year, 12.8 less than here, and the same August average high, 92°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Eagle Point, Galveston Bay, TX, 5 miles east, averaged 89°F in August and 56°F in January over 2021–2025. It averaged 80°F or warmer from May to September. Sea level at the Eagle Point tide gauge, 5 miles from Bacliff, has risen 4.80 ± 0.27 inches per decade from 1993 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 48.0 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 142 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Houston NWSO, TX
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. inDays ≥ 0.1"Water °F
Jan64464.8656
Feb67503.0558
Mar73563.3467
Apr78614.2473
May85695.1580
Jun90756.5786
Jul92764.4688
Aug92766.6789
Sep88727.3785
Oct82635.8677
Nov73534.5567
Dec66474.5662
Year796260.06974

Averages for 1991–2020 at Houston NWSO, TX (19 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Eagle Point, Galveston Bay, TX, from NOAA Tides & Currents. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.

Texas weather by month, station by station →

Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Bacliff

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 148 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Bacliff: 92 thunderstorm wind reports, 39 flash floods, 13 lightning strikes, 3 heavy rain events and 1 flood. They killed 52 people and injured 3, and the NWS estimated $20.03 billion in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 83 mph, on April 10, 2024. May has had the most flash floods, 8 of 39. Of the 745 Texas cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 621 have had fewer than Bacliff.

  • August 26, 2017: flash flood 5 miles from the centre of Bacliff — 38 killed, $10.00 billion damage.

  • May 25, 2015: flash flood 6 miles from the centre of Bacliff — 7 killed, $25.0 million damage.

  • August 26, 2017: flash flood 4 miles from the centre of Bacliff — 6 killed, $10.00 billion damage.

    NWS: “There were numerous water rescues across western and central Galveston County. Flood waters completely inundated hundreds to thousands of homes and businesses in League City, Dickinson and Santa Fe.”

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, events whose starting point is on record, 1996 to June 30, 2026. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses, and NWS notes that some reports are unverified.

Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings

Flood insurance policyholders in Bacliff's ZIP code 77518 have filed 1,110 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $28.2 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Ike in 2008: 252 claims (23% of all) and $10.8 million, then Hurricane Harvey in 2017 with 211 and Flooding in 1981 with 114. 82% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 433 Texas cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 376 have fewer than Bacliff.

Flood insurance claims in Bacliff by named event
EventClaimsPaid
Hurricane Ike2008252$10.8 million
Hurricane Harvey2017211$11.9 million
Flooding1981114$378,000
Hurricane Alicia198393$200,000
Hurricane Chantel198993$695,000
Tropical Storm Allison200191$1.2 million

Galveston County, which includes Bacliff, has been named in 31 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1973, 20 of them major disasters (by incident: 14 hurricanes, 5 floods, 3 fires, 3 severe storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Hurricane Beryl, on July 9, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Galveston County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for lightning; Relatively High for hurricanes, tornadoes, inland flooding and coastal flooding; Relatively Moderate for strong wind and heat waves; Relatively Low for hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $198.0 million a year, the 12th highest of 254 Texas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $63.0 million (32%), is from inland flooding.

Claims: FEMA, OpenFEMA Dataset FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3, summed over ZIP codes; payments in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Declarations: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, by county. Retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

Risk ratings: FEMA, National Risk Index county table, December 2025 (v1.20), retrieved October 26, 2026; ratings compare counties nationwide, are meant for planning and are no substitute for a local risk assessment. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.

Cities near Bacliff