NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Clarendon, 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 Clarendon, Texas since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 126 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 8 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 126
- EF3 or stronger
- 8
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
42 deaths in all
What the records show for Clarendon
The highest rating among the 126 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 3 times; the most recent, on April 18, 1970, came within 5 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on May 15, 1957, killed 21 people. Of the 126, 10 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 64 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 45. The most recent tornado was on May 1, 2024. Clarendon has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 66% of the 753 Texas cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 252 times since 1957, with stones up to 4.5 inches (grapefruit size). Clarendon has more hail reports within 10 miles than 91% of the 753 Texas cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Clarendon
By decade
- 2020s8
- 2010s29(1 EF3+)
- 2000s27(2 EF3+)
- 1990s20
- 1980s21(1 EF3+)
- 1970s12(2 EF3+)
- 1960s3
- 1950s6(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 15, 1957 | F4 | 22 mi | 17 mi | 21 / 80 |
| Apr 18, 1970 | F4 | 5 mi | 65 mi | 16 / 42 |
| Apr 17, 1970 | F4 | 15 mi | 96.6 mi | 5 / 51 |
| Nov 16, 2015 | EF3 | 24 mi | 31.86 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 28, 2007 | EF3 | 21 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Mar 28, 2007 | EF3 | 11 mi | 3.35 mi | 0 / 2 |
| May 11, 1982 | F3 | 25 mi | 15 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 15, 1957 | F3 | 8 mi | 10.2 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Mar 13, 2021 | EF2 | in town | 13.22 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 22, 2016 | EF2 | 25 mi | 6.59 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 16, 2015 | EF2 | 24 mi | 10.42 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 21, 2007 | EF2 | 19 mi | 12.38 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 126, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Clarendon
The Storm Prediction Center has 252 hail reports within 10 miles of Clarendon since 1957, made on 130 separate days. Of these, 180 were 1 inch across or larger, and 28 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4.5 inches (grapefruit size), fell on June 14, 2009. The most recent report is from July 24, 2025. May has the most reports, 104.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Clarendon
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Clarendon, TX, 3 miles south of Clarendon at 2,700 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 95°F and low of 67°F; January is the coolest, at 53°F and 24°F. May is the wettest at 3.5 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 0.7 inches; the year adds up to 22.7 inches over 39 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 89 days a year, almost all from April to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 105 nights a year. Snowfall averages 3.5 inches a year, most of it in February and December. That 22.7 inches is more than at 63 of the 312 Texas stations used on this site (20%). Memphis, 27 miles southeast, has its own station (Memphis, TX): 22.3 inches a year, 0.4 less than here, and a July average high of 96°F against 95°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 53 | 24 | 0.8 | 2 | 0.7 |
| Feb | 56 | 27 | 0.7 | 2 | 0.8 |
| Mar | 65 | 34 | 1.4 | 3 | 0.7 |
| Apr | 73 | 43 | 2.1 | 3 | 0.0 |
| May | 82 | 53 | 3.5 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 90 | 63 | 3.0 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 95 | 67 | 2.1 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 94 | 65 | 2.9 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 86 | 58 | 2.4 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 75 | 45 | 2.1 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 62 | 33 | 0.9 | 2 | 0.5 |
| Dec | 53 | 25 | 0.8 | 2 | 0.8 |
| Year | 74 | 45 | 22.7 | 39 | 3.5 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Clarendon, TX (2,700 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 Clarendon
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 82 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Clarendon: 65 thunderstorm wind reports, 8 flash floods, 5 heavy rain events and 4 floods. They killed 1 person and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $265,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 86 mph, on June 25, 2022. Of the 745 Texas cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 138 have had fewer than Clarendon.
August 12, 2013: heavy rain event 4 miles from the centre of Clarendon — 1 killed, 2 injured.
NWS: “Heavy rain over Donley County indirectly caused a fatal car wreck around 3 pm CST 2 miles east of Clarendon (Donley County). S.”
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
Donley County, which includes Clarendon, has been named in 18 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1970, 9 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 fires, 3 hurricanes, 3 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storms, on February 19, 2021. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Donley County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for hail; Relatively Low for tornadoes and strong wind; Very Low for hurricanes, inland flooding, lightning and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $6.6 million a year, the 178th highest of 254 Texas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $737,000 (11%), is from hail.
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 Clarendon
- Memphis, TX27 mi
- Panhandle, TX37 mi
- Pampa, TX39 mi
- Shamrock, TX40 mi
- Wellington, TX40 mi
- Wheeler, TX52 mi
- Childress, TX54 mi
- Tulia, TX55 mi
- Borger, TX56 mi
- Amarillo, TX56 mi
- Canyon, TX57 mi
- Hollis, OK60 mi
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