NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Canyon, 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
No tropical storm or hurricane has passed within 75 miles of Canyon, Texas since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 150 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 3 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 150
- EF3 or stronger
- 3
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
4 deaths in all
What the records show for Canyon
The strongest of the 150 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on April 17, 1970; its path came within 5 miles, and it killed 1 person. The deadliest, an F2 on May 5, 2002, killed 2 people. Of the 150, 16 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 46 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 61. The most recent tornado was on April 25, 2025. Canyon has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 79% of the 753 Texas cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 320 times since 1956, with stones up to 4.75 inches. Canyon has more hail reports within 10 miles than 94% of the 753 Texas cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Canyon
By decade
- 2020s11
- 2010s6
- 2000s29
- 1990s22
- 1980s25(1 EF3+)
- 1970s21(2 EF3+)
- 1960s29
- 1950s7
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 17, 1970 | F4 | 5 mi | 130 mi | 1 / 13 |
| May 9, 1982 | F3 | 15 mi | 8.2 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Apr 19, 1971 | F3 | 22 mi | 6.1 mi | 0 / 24 |
| May 5, 2002 | F2 | 15 mi | 5 mi | 2 / 4 |
| May 7, 1995 | F2 | 4 mi | 12 mi | 1 / 12 |
| Mar 13, 2021 | EF2 | 8 mi | 21.25 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 5, 2002 | F2 | 17 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 16, 1989 | F2 | 7 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 14, 1988 | F2 | 17 mi | 0.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 25, 1987 | F2 | 7 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 25, 1987 | F2 | 14 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 23, 1973 | F2 | 17 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 150, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Canyon
The Storm Prediction Center has 320 hail reports within 10 miles of Canyon since 1956, made on 135 separate days. Of these, 213 were 1 inch across or larger, and 36 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4.75 inches, fell on May 24, 1996. The most recent report is from October 24, 2025. June has the most reports, 112.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Canyon
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Canyon, TX, in Canyon at 3,590 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 93°F and low of 67°F; January is the coolest, at 52°F and 23°F. August is the wettest at 3.0 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 0.4 inches; the year adds up to 18.6 inches over 34 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 83 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 107 nights a year. Snowfall averages 7.6 inches a year, most of it in December. That 18.6 inches is more than at 25 of the 312 Texas stations used on this site (8%). Amarillo, 15 miles north, has its own station (Amarillo, TX): 19.9 inches a year, 1.3 more than here, and the same July average high, 93°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 52 | 23 | 0.6 | 2 | 1.8 |
| Feb | 56 | 25 | 0.4 | 1 | 0.8 |
| Mar | 65 | 33 | 1.1 | 2 | 0.8 |
| Apr | 73 | 42 | 1.0 | 2 | 0.4 |
| May | 82 | 53 | 2.3 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 90 | 62 | 2.7 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 93 | 67 | 2.3 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 91 | 65 | 3.0 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 84 | 57 | 1.9 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 74 | 44 | 2.0 | 3 | 0.4 |
| Nov | 62 | 32 | 0.7 | 2 | 1.3 |
| Dec | 52 | 24 | 0.6 | 2 | 2.1 |
| Year | 73 | 44 | 18.6 | 34 | 7.6 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Canyon, TX (3,590 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Canyon
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 182 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Canyon: 150 thunderstorm wind reports, 19 flash floods, 8 floods and 5 heavy rain events. They killed 1 person and injured 0, and the NWS estimated $11.5 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 92 mph, on May 29, 1997. June has had the most flash floods, 7 of 19. Of the 745 Texas cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 414 have had fewer than Canyon.
December 14, 2012: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Canyon — 1 killed.
NWS: “A 69 mph thunderstorm winds gusts estimated via radar caused a tractor trailer rollover accident at the intersection of McAfee Road and Washington Street in Amarillo (Randall County). The tractor trailer was traveling south along Washington Street as a line of thunderstorms moved from west to east across Amarillo.”
May 28, 2013: thunderstorm wind 1 mile from the centre of Canyon — $10.0 million damage.
NWS: “Thunderstorms formed along a dryline stretching east-northeastward across Randall and Potter Counties during the afternoon hours of the 28th. These thunderstorms would take a northeast track which allowed them to move over the dryline.”
June 8, 2025: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Canyon — $260,000 damage.
NWS: “Widespread wind damage occurred as a supercell moved from just west of Canyon and through Canyon.”
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 Canyon's ZIP code 79015 have filed 71 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $533,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 4% 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, 203 have fewer than Canyon.
Randall County, which includes Canyon, has been named in 18 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1989, 8 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 fires, 4 hurricanes, 3 ice storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storms, on February 19, 2021. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Randall County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes, hail and strong wind; Relatively Moderate for lightning; Relatively Low for inland flooding and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $70.4 million a year, the 25th highest of 254 Texas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $18.0 million (26%), is from tornadoes.
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 Canyon
- Amarillo, TX15 mi
- Hereford, TX29 mi
- Tulia, TX32 mi
- Panhandle, TX39 mi
- Dimmitt, TX39 mi
- Fritch, TX48 mi
- Friona, TX51 mi
- Plainview, TX55 mi
- Olton, TX55 mi
- Borger, TX56 mi
- Clarendon, TX57 mi
- Lockney, TX62 mi
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