NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Gainesville, 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
3 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Gainesville, Texas since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Carla in 1961. Since 1950, 127 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 13 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 3
- Tornadoes
- 127
- EF3 or stronger
- 13
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
16 deaths in all
What the records show for Gainesville
None of the 3 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Gainesville; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1900, a tropical storm with 51 mph winds when its centre passed 38 miles away. The record near Gainesville begins with an unnamed storm in 1900; the most recent system was Carla in 1961, a tropical storm 3 miles away. Of the 753 Texas cities on this site, 73% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Gainesville. The strongest of the 127 tornadoes within 25 miles was an EF4 on April 27, 2024; its path came within 20 miles, and it killed 1 person. The deadliest, an EF3 on May 25, 2024, killed 7 people. Of the 127, 17 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 41 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 38. The most recent tornado was on May 19, 2025. Gainesville has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 66% of the 753 Texas cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 181 times since 1955, with stones up to 4.5 inches (grapefruit size). Gainesville has more hail reports within 10 miles than 83% of the 753 Texas cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Gainesville
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | CarlaSep 13 | 3 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormJun 28 | 50 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1900 | Unnamed 1900 stormSep 10 | 38 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Category 4 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Gainesville: 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 Gainesville
By decade
- 2020s9(2 EF3+)
- 2010s18
- 2000s14
- 1990s31(2 EF3+)
- 1980s6(1 EF3+)
- 1970s21(3 EF3+)
- 1960s13(1 EF3+)
- 1950s15(4 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 27, 2024 | EF4 | 20 mi | 26.8 mi | 1 / 6 |
| May 25, 2024 | EF3 | 12 mi | 47.27 mi | 7 / 80 |
| May 7, 1995 | F3 | 21 mi | 34.1 mi | 3 / 6 |
| May 7, 1995 | F3 | 20 mi | 26 mi | 2 / 11 |
| Mar 13, 1953 | F3 | 22 mi | 45.3 mi | 2 / 11 |
| Apr 2, 1982 | F3 | 24 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 14, 1974 | F3 | 18 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 10, 1973 | F3 | 19 mi | 6.8 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Mar 12, 1971 | F3 | 25 mi | 5.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 12, 1966 | F3 | 23 mi | 3.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 31, 1959 | F3 | 5 mi | 6.8 mi | 0 / 16 |
| Apr 18, 1957 | F3 | 24 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 127, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Gainesville
The Storm Prediction Center has 181 hail reports within 10 miles of Gainesville since 1955, made on 110 separate days. Of these, 133 were 1 inch across or larger, and 27 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4.5 inches (grapefruit size), fell on April 21, 1996. The most recent report is from September 23, 2025. April has the most reports, 70.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Gainesville
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Gainesville 5 ENE, TX, 5 miles east of Gainesville at 870 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 94°F and low of 72°F; January is the coolest, at 53°F and 32°F. May is the wettest at 5.6 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 2.2 inches; the year adds up to 42.7 inches over 53 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 82 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 50 nights a year. Snowfall averages 2.6 inches a year, most of it in January. That 42.7 inches is more than at 229 of the 312 Texas stations used on this site (73%). Sanger, 19 miles south, has its own station (Denton Municipal Airport, TX): 35.7 inches a year, 7.0 less than here, and an August average high of 96°F against 94°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 53 | 32 | 2.2 | 4 | 1.3 |
| Feb | 58 | 35 | 2.6 | 4 | 0.3 |
| Mar | 66 | 43 | 3.7 | 5 | 0.6 |
| Apr | 74 | 51 | 3.9 | 5 | 0.0 |
| May | 80 | 60 | 5.6 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 89 | 69 | 4.6 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 94 | 73 | 2.9 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 94 | 72 | 2.8 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 87 | 65 | 3.9 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 76 | 54 | 4.4 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 64 | 43 | 3.0 | 4 | 0.1 |
| Dec | 55 | 34 | 3.1 | 4 | 0.3 |
| Year | 74 | 53 | 42.7 | 53 | 2.6 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Gainesville 5 ENE, TX (870 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 Gainesville
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 150 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Gainesville: 107 thunderstorm wind reports, 36 flash floods, 5 lightning strikes and 2 floods. They killed 1 person and injured 16, and the NWS estimated $2.5 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on May 25, 1997. May has had the most flash floods, 20 of 36. Of the 745 Texas cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 607 have had fewer than Gainesville.
May 7, 2015: flash flood 7 miles from the centre of Gainesville — 1 killed, $120,000 damage.
NWS: “A 36 year old man died when his vehicle was swept away by flood waters three-quarters of a mile south of Spring Creek Road, north of Valley View, TX. A little while later, Interstate 35 north of Valley View had to be closed due to high water.”
August 18, 2018: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Gainesville — 14 injured, $3,000 damage.
NWS: “Damage reported at the Winstar casino. Winds blew over a metal awning resulting in 14 hospitalizations.”
June 18, 2011: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Gainesville — 1 injured, $20,000 damage.
NWS: “Multiple trees were blown down due to high thunderstorm winds 2 miles east of Gainesville. One tree fell on a home and resulted in one minor injury to the occupant of the house.”
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 Gainesville's ZIP code 76240 have filed 339 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1981, and were paid $9.4 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Thunderstorms in 2007: 114 claims (34% of all) and $5.8 million, then Flooding in 1989 with 111 and Spring Storm in 2009 with 37. 80% 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, 320 have fewer than Gainesville.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorms2007 | 114 | $5.8 million |
| Flooding1989 | 111 | $1.3 million |
| Spring Storm2009 | 37 | $993,000 |
Cooke County, which includes Gainesville, has been named in 22 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1966, 15 of them major disasters (by incident: 6 severe storms, 4 floods, 3 fires, 3 hurricanes). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding, on May 17, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Cooke County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes; Relatively Moderate for hail and strong wind; Relatively Low for inland flooding, lightning and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $28.5 million a year, the 67th highest of 254 Texas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $10.2 million (36%), 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 Gainesville
- Valley View, TX10 mi
- Whitesboro, TX14 mi
- Muenster, TX14 mi
- Collinsville, TX15 mi
- Sanger, TX19 mi
- Pilot Point, TX20 mi
- Marietta, OK22 mi
- Krum, TX26 mi
- Aubrey, TX26 mi
- Gunter, TX26 mi
- Pottsboro, TX29 mi
- Sherman, TX30 mi
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