NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Corpus Christi, 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
41 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Corpus Christi, Texas since 1851, 21 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Harold in 2023. Since 1950, 135 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 1 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 21
- Tropical storms
- 20
- Tornadoes
- 135
- EF3 or stronger
- 1
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
1 deaths in all
What the records show for Corpus Christi
The strongest storm to pass near Corpus Christi was an unnamed storm in 1886, a Category 4 hurricane with 144 mph winds when its centre passed 44 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was Fern in 1971, whose centre came within 5 miles. The record near Corpus Christi begins with an unnamed storm in 1851; the most recent system was Harold in 2023, a tropical storm 42 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1910s, with 5 systems, 3 of them at hurricane strength. Of the 41 systems, 8 have come since 2000. Corpus Christi has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 93% of the 753 Texas cities on this site. The strongest of the 135 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F3 on October 22, 1954; its path came within 11 miles. The deadliest, an F2 on October 24, 2002, killed 1 person. Of the 135, 26 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 37 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 25. The most recent tornado was on October 13, 2022. Corpus Christi has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 71% of the 753 Texas cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 48 times since 1961, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Of the 753 Texas cities, 70% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Corpus Christi.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Corpus Christi
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | HaroldAug 22 | 42 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2021 | NicholasSep 13 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (68 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2020 | HannaJul 25 | 64 mi | Category 1 (92 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2017 | HarveyAug 26 | 36 mi | Category 3 (129 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2015 | BillJun 16 | 54 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2011 | DonJul 30 | 59 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2010 | HermineSep 7 | 42 mi | Tropical storm (53 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2003 | ClaudetteJul 15 | 58 mi | Tropical storm (70 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1999 | BretAug 23 | 55 mi | Category 2 (106 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1998 | FrancesSep 11 | 41 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1998 | CharleyAug 22 | 12 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1993 | ArleneJun 20 | 43 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1978 | AmeliaJul 31 | 37 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1971 | FernSep 11 | 5 mi | Category 1 (82 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1970 | CeliaAug 3 | 13 mi | Category 3 (129 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1968 | CandyJun 23 | 19 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1967 | BeulahSep 21 | 65 mi | Category 1 (86 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1961 | CarlaSep 11 | 72 mi | Category 4 (144 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1960 | Unnamed 1960 stormJun 24 | 18 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1958 | EllaSep 6 | 15 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1945 | Unnamed 1945 stormAug 27 | 25 mi | Category 3 (115 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1942 | Unnamed 1942 stormAug 30 | 63 mi | Category 3 (112 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1936 | Unnamed 1936 stormSep 13 | 70 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1936 | Unnamed 1936 stormJun 27 | 25 mi | Category 1 (75 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormJul 25 | 28 mi | Category 1 (81 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1931 | Unnamed 1931 stormJun 28 | 72 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1929 | Unnamed 1929 stormJun 28 | 69 mi | Category 1 (85 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1919 | Unnamed 1919 stormSep 14 | 32 mi | Category 2 (105 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1916 | Unnamed 1916 stormAug 18 | 43 mi | Category 2 (107 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1913 | Unnamed 1913 stormJun 28 | 36 mi | Tropical storm (67 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1912 | Unnamed 1912 stormOct 16 | 12 mi | Tropical storm (60 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1910 | Unnamed 1910 stormSep 14 | 57 mi | Category 2 (104 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormJun 26 | 12 mi | Tropical storm (68 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1886 | Unnamed 1886 stormSep 23 | 6 mi | Category 1 (82 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1886 | Unnamed 1886 stormAug 20 | 44 mi | Category 4 (144 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1881 | Unnamed 1881 stormAug 13 | 36 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1875 | Unnamed 1875 stormSep 16 | 11 mi | Category 3 (113 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1869 | Unnamed 1869 stormAug 17 | 31 mi | Category 1 (81 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1867 | Unnamed 1867 stormOct 3 | 72 mi | Category 2 (104 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1866 | Unnamed 1866 stormJul 15 | 61 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1851 | Unnamed 1851 stormJun 26 | 37 mi | Category 1 (75 mph) | Category 1 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Corpus Christi: 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 Corpus Christi
By decade
- 2020s3
- 2010s15
- 2000s19
- 1990s17
- 1980s11
- 1970s27
- 1960s34
- 1950s9(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 22, 1954 | F3 | 11 mi | 20.5 mi | 0 / 25 |
| Oct 24, 2002 | F2 | 4 mi | 2.5 mi | 1 / 20 |
| Aug 9, 1980 | F2 | 11 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 26, 1976 | F2 | 23 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 1 |
| May 12, 1969 | F2 | 23 mi | 4.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 9, 1968 | F2 | 12 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Sep 22, 1967 | F2 | 2 mi | 18.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 15, 1965 | F2 | 13 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 18, 1961 | F2 | 10 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 29, 1961 | F2 | 6 mi | 16 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 16, 1960 | F2 | in town | 4.7 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Oct 16, 1960 | F2 | 19 mi | 5.9 mi | 0 / 11 |
The strongest 12 of 135, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Corpus Christi
The Storm Prediction Center has 48 hail reports within 10 miles of Corpus Christi since 1961, made on 25 separate days. Of these, 32 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest size, 1.75 inches (golf ball size), was reported on 8 days, most recently June 4, 2017. The most recent report is from June 4, 2017. May has the most reports, 27.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Corpus Christi
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is C C Botanical Gardens, TX, 4 miles south of Corpus Christi at 16 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 91°F and low of 76°F; January is the coolest, at 65°F and 48°F. September is the wettest at 6.5 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 1.5 inches; the year adds up to 32.3 inches over 44 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 61% of the year's precipitation (19.7 of 32.3 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 41 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (12); a normal September there has highs of 88°F and 6.5 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 108 days a year, almost all from April to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 3 nights a year. That 32.3 inches is more than at 134 of the 312 Texas stations used on this site (43%). Portland, 12 miles northeast, has its own station (Corpus Christi NWS, TX): 31.2 inches a year, 1.1 less than here, and an August average high of 93°F against 91°F.
Water temperature at the NOAA tide station USS Lexington, Corpus Christi Bay, TX, 6 miles north, averaged 88°F in August and 58°F in January over 2021–2025. It averaged 80°F or warmer from May to October. Sea level at the Packery Channel tide gauge, 12 miles from Corpus Christi, has risen 2.41 ± 0.21 inches per decade from 1988 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 24.1 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 134 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Water °F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 65 | 48 | 1.8 | 4 | 58 |
| Feb | 69 | 52 | 1.5 | 3 | 60 |
| Mar | 75 | 58 | 2.0 | 3 | 68 |
| Apr | 79 | 64 | 1.8 | 3 | 75 |
| May | 84 | 70 | 3.7 | 4 | 82 |
| Jun | 90 | 75 | 4.1 | 4 | 87 |
| Jul | 90 | 76 | 2.3 | 3 | 87 |
| Aug | 91 | 76 | 1.8 | 3 | 88 |
| Sep | 88 | 73 | 6.5 | 8 | 86 |
| Oct | 83 | 66 | 2.7 | 4 | 81 |
| Nov | 74 | 57 | 2.3 | 3 | 72 |
| Dec | 68 | 50 | 1.8 | 3 | 66 |
| Year | 80 | 64 | 32.3 | 44 | 76 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at C C Botanical Gardens, TX (16 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station USS Lexington, Corpus Christi 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.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Corpus Christi
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 254 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Corpus Christi: 130 flash floods, 101 thunderstorm wind reports, 13 floods, 6 heavy rain events and 4 lightning strikes. They killed 1 person and injured 6, and the NWS estimated $20.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on June 2, 2010. May has had the most flash floods, 33 of 130. Of the 745 Texas cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 739 have had fewer than Corpus Christi.
September 20, 2010: flash flood 3 miles from the centre of Corpus Christi — 1 killed.
NWS: “A 35 year old male drove around a barricade at Weber Road and the flooded Oso Creek. The vehicle was swept 50 yards downstream where he drowned.”
June 2, 2010: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Corpus Christi — 6 injured, $250,000 damage.
NWS: “An NWS storm survey team concluded 80-90 mph winds occurred on NAS Corpus Christi, producing damage consistent with straight-line winds. 4 recreational vehicles were flipped and several others moved.”
March 28, 1999: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Corpus Christi — $5.5 million damage.
NWS: “5 million dollars in damage at the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi. NWS damage survey indicated a narrow band of microburst straight-line wind damage resulting in numerous large uprooted trees, hangar roof damage, downed power poles, several damaged and/or overturned planes.”
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 Corpus Christi's 17 ZIP codes have filed 4,138 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $36.4 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Allen in 1980: 788 claims (19% of all) and $5.2 million, then Hurricane Harvey in 2017 with 560 and Flooding in 1979 with 523. 52% 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, 418 have fewer than Corpus Christi.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Hurricane Allen1980 | 788 | $5.2 million |
| Hurricane Harvey2017 | 560 | $3.0 million |
| Flooding1979 | 523 | $1.5 million |
| Hurricane Hanna2020 | 44 | $1.2 million |
| Heavy rains2002 | 39 | $224,000 |
| June TS Alberto2024 | 33 | $711,000 |
Nueces County, which includes Corpus Christi, has been named in 33 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1967, 22 of them major disasters (by incident: 17 hurricanes, 5 floods, 4 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Hurricane Beryl, on July 9, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Nueces County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for hurricanes; Relatively High for tornadoes, inland flooding, strong wind, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Moderate for hail and coastal flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $186.1 million a year, the 13th highest of 254 Texas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $83.4 million (45%), is from hurricanes.
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).
Corpus Christi in the notable storm records: Hurricane Harvey (2017)
What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.
Cities near Corpus Christi
- Portland, TX12 mi
- Gregory, TX15 mi
- Ingleside, TX16 mi
- Taft, TX18 mi
- Robstown, TX18 mi
- Odem, TX20 mi
- Aransas Pass, TX20 mi
- Port Aransas, TX21 mi
- Sinton, TX24 mi
- Bishop, TX25 mi
- Rockport, TX31 mi
- Kingsville, TX33 mi
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