NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Harker Heights, 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
11 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Harker Heights, Texas since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Alicia in 1983. Since 1950, 112 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 7 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 11
- Tornadoes
- 112
- EF3 or stronger
- 7
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
31 deaths in all
What the records show for Harker Heights
None of the 11 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Harker Heights; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1900, a tropical storm with 70 mph winds when its centre passed 38 miles away. The record near Harker Heights begins with an unnamed storm in 1897; the most recent system was Alicia in 1983, a tropical storm 64 miles away. None of the 11 systems has come since 2000. Harker Heights has more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than 52% of the 753 Texas cities on this site. The strongest of the 112 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on May 27, 1997; its path came within 17 miles, and it killed 27 people. Of the 112, 9 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 40 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 53. The most recent tornado was on May 1, 2025. Harker Heights has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 54% of the 753 Texas cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 153 times since 1956, with stones up to 4.5 inches (grapefruit size). Harker Heights has more hail reports within 10 miles than 79% of the 753 Texas cities.
Compare Harker Heights's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Harker Heights
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | AliciaAug 19 | 64 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1973 | DeliaSep 6 | 59 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1968 | CandyJun 24 | 4 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1961 | CarlaSep 12 | 3 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1945 | Unnamed 1945 stormAug 29 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1943 | Unnamed 1943 stormJul 29 | 52 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1932 | Unnamed 1932 stormAug 14 | 51 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 18 | 62 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormJun 27 | 23 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1900 | Unnamed 1900 stormSep 9 | 38 mi | Tropical storm (70 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1897 | Unnamed 1897 stormSep 13 | 13 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Harker Heights: 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 Harker Heights
By decade
- 2020s11(1 EF3+)
- 2010s9
- 2000s20
- 1990s20(4 EF3+)
- 1980s11(1 EF3+)
- 1970s18(1 EF3+)
- 1960s14
- 1950s9
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 27, 1997 | F5 | 17 mi | 5.1 mi | 27 / 12 |
| May 26, 1976 | F3 | 9 mi | 2 mi | 2 / 7 |
| May 17, 1989 | F3 | 18 mi | 3 mi | 1 / 28 |
| Apr 12, 2022 | EF3 | 4 mi | 16.55 mi | 0 / 23 |
| May 27, 1997 | F3 | 8 mi | 1.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 27, 1997 | F3 | 21 mi | 3.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 14, 1990 | F3 | 9 mi | 9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 6, 1955 | F2 | 18 mi | 10.1 mi | 1 / 1 |
| May 22, 2024 | EF2 | 14 mi | 2.78 mi | 0 / 30 |
| Jun 9, 2019 | EF2 | 17 mi | 1.57 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 27, 1997 | F2 | 17 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 27, 1997 | F2 | 14 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 112, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Harker Heights
The Storm Prediction Center has 153 hail reports within 10 miles of Harker Heights since 1956, made on 93 separate days. Of these, 106 were 1 inch across or larger, and 10 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 4.5 inches (grapefruit size), was reported on 3 days, most recently May 6, 2001. The most recent report is from May 1, 2025. April has the most reports, 53.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Harker Heights
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Killeen, TX, 2 miles west of Harker Heights at 815 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 97°F and low of 73°F; January is the coolest, at 60°F and 36°F. May is the wettest at 4.7 inches of precipitation on average and August the driest at 1.6 inches; the year adds up to 34.8 inches over 49 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 50% of the year's precipitation (17.5 of 34.8 inches). Highs reach 90°F on about 105 days a year, almost all from April to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 31 nights a year. That 34.8 inches is more than at 150 of the 312 Texas stations used on this site (48%). Salado, 9 miles southeast, has its own station (Stillhouse Hollow Dam, TX): 37.1 inches a year, 2.3 more than here, and an August average high of 96°F against 97°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 60 | 36 | 2.5 | 4 |
| Feb | 63 | 40 | 2.2 | 4 |
| Mar | 70 | 47 | 3.3 | 5 |
| Apr | 77 | 54 | 2.2 | 4 |
| May | 84 | 63 | 4.7 | 5 |
| Jun | 92 | 70 | 3.2 | 4 |
| Jul | 96 | 72 | 2.7 | 3 |
| Aug | 97 | 73 | 1.6 | 3 |
| Sep | 90 | 67 | 3.9 | 4 |
| Oct | 80 | 56 | 3.4 | 4 |
| Nov | 69 | 46 | 2.7 | 4 |
| Dec | 60 | 38 | 2.4 | 5 |
| Year | 78 | 55 | 34.8 | 49 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Killeen, TX (815 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 Harker Heights
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 98 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Harker Heights: 56 thunderstorm wind reports, 30 flash floods, 6 floods and 6 lightning strikes. They killed 7 people and injured 8, and the NWS estimated $2.5 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 102 mph, on March 19, 2002. May has had the most flash floods, 8 of 30. Of the 745 Texas cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 558 have had fewer than Harker Heights.
May 24, 2007: flash flood 6 miles from the centre of Harker Heights — 4 killed, $110,000 damage.
June 17, 2015: flash flood 1 mile from the centre of Harker Heights — 1 killed, $30,000 damage.
NWS: “Heavy rainfall in remnant bands from TD Bill resulted in flooding in Nolanville. An 11 year old boy was swept into a drainage culvert near Avenue H and 10th Street after losing his footing when approaching whirling high waters in the culvert.”
July 4, 2007: flood 3 miles from the centre of Harker Heights — 1 killed, $10,000 damage.
NWS: “A civilian worker's body was found in Cowhouse Creek downstream from where his vehicle was pulled from the water. The man had gone missing after a fireworks show.”
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 Harker Heights's ZIP code 76548 have filed 65 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $897,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 2010, with 15. 17% 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, 192 have fewer than Harker Heights.
Bell County, which includes Harker Heights, has been named in 23 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1974, 10 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 fires, 4 hurricanes, 3 floods, 3 severe storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding, on May 17, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Bell County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for lightning; Relatively High for tornadoes and hail; Relatively Moderate for inland flooding, strong wind and heat waves; Relatively Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $107.0 million a year, the 22nd highest of 254 Texas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $37.9 million (35%), 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.