NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Friona, 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 Friona, Texas since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 111 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 6 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 111
- EF3 or stronger
- 6
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
1 deaths in all
What the records show for Friona
The strongest of the 111 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on April 17, 1970; its path came within 17 miles, and it killed 1 person. Of the 111, 10 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 31 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 36. The most recent tornado was on April 25, 2025. Friona has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 54% of the 753 Texas cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 71 times since 1959, with stones up to 4.5 inches (grapefruit size). Of the 753 Texas cities, 54% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Friona.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Friona
By decade
- 2020s3
- 2010s13(1 EF3+)
- 2000s15
- 1990s26(1 EF3+)
- 1980s17
- 1970s11(2 EF3+)
- 1960s18(2 EF3+)
- 1950s8
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 17, 1970 | F4 | 17 mi | 130 mi | 1 / 13 |
| Apr 14, 2017 | EF3 | 20 mi | 3.55 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 2, 1995 | F3 | 2 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 12 |
| Apr 19, 1971 | F3 | 24 mi | 6.1 mi | 0 / 24 |
| May 21, 1963 | F3 | 25 mi | 5.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 11, 1960 | F3 | in town | 1 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jun 2, 1995 | F2 | 25 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Mar 27, 1992 | F2 | 13 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 10, 1991 | F2 | 14 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jul 27, 1980 | F2 | 25 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 1 |
| May 16, 1969 | F2 | 16 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 19, 1967 | F2 | 7 mi | 0.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 111, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Friona
The Storm Prediction Center has 71 hail reports within 10 miles of Friona since 1959, made on 55 separate days. Of these, 53 were 1 inch across or larger, and 16 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4.5 inches (grapefruit size), fell on June 27, 1992. The most recent report is from May 6, 2025. May and June have the most reports, 27 each.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Friona
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Friona, TX, in Friona at 4,010 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 91°F and low of 63°F; January is the coolest, at 51°F and 22°F. August is the wettest at 3.1 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 0.5 inches; the year adds up to 19.3 inches over 37 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 69 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 118 nights a year. Snowfall averages 13.0 inches a year, most of it in December. That 19.3 inches is more than at 30 of the 312 Texas stations used on this site (10%). Farwell, 19 miles southwest, has its own station (Muleshoe #1, TX): 18.3 inches a year, 1.0 less than here, and a July average high of 92°F against 91°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 51 | 22 | 0.7 | 2 | 2.5 |
| Feb | 56 | 25 | 0.5 | 2 | 2.4 |
| Mar | 64 | 32 | 1.2 | 3 | 1.4 |
| Apr | 72 | 38 | 1.0 | 3 | 0.5 |
| May | 80 | 49 | 2.1 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 89 | 59 | 2.5 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 91 | 63 | 2.6 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 90 | 62 | 3.1 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 84 | 55 | 2.0 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 73 | 42 | 2.0 | 3 | 0.6 |
| Nov | 60 | 31 | 0.8 | 2 | 1.9 |
| Dec | 51 | 24 | 0.8 | 2 | 3.7 |
| Year | 72 | 42 | 19.3 | 37 | 13.0 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Friona, TX (4,010 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 Friona
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 75 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Friona: 72 thunderstorm wind reports, 2 floods and 1 flash flood. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $830,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on July 3, 2016.
July 3, 2016: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Friona — $550,000 damage.
NWS: “A Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet measured two severe wind gusts during a downburst. The first gust of 77 mph occurred at 845 PM CST followed by a gust to 67 mph at 850 PM CST.”
July 17, 2009: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Friona — $100,000 damage.
NWS: “A complex of severe thunderstorms, which included an embedded high-precipitation supercell, were accompanied by damaging winds over parts of Parmer County during the 17:00 CST hour of the 17th. The Texas Tech University West Texas Mesonet site near Friona initially recorded a 71 mph wind gust at 17:15 CST.”
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
Parmer County, which includes Friona, has been named in 15 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1970, 9 of them major disasters (by incident: 3 fires, 3 hurricanes, 3 ice storms, 3 severe storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storms, on February 19, 2021. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Parmer County a Relatively Moderate 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 $47.9 million a year, the 34th highest of 254 Texas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $1.4 million (3%), 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 Friona
- Farwell, TX19 mi
- Dimmitt, TX21 mi
- Hereford, TX23 mi
- Muleshoe, TX30 mi
- Clovis, NM32 mi
- Olton, TX46 mi
- Portales, NM48 mi
- Canyon, TX51 mi
- Littlefield, TX56 mi
- Tulia, TX57 mi
- Amarillo, TX62 mi
- Hale Center, TX62 mi
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