NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Lubbock, 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 Lubbock, Texas since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 177 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 7 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 177
- EF3 or stronger
- 7
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
26 deaths in all
What the records show for Lubbock
The strongest of the 177 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on May 11, 1970; its path passed within a mile of the city centre, and it killed 26 people. Of the 177, 28 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 52 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 54. The most recent tornado was on June 6, 2025. Lubbock has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 87% of the 753 Texas cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 392 times since 1956, with stones up to 4.5 inches (grapefruit size). Lubbock has more hail reports within 10 miles than 96% of the 753 Texas cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Lubbock
By decade
- 2020s9
- 2010s11
- 2000s32(1 EF3+)
- 1990s19
- 1980s28(1 EF3+)
- 1970s34(1 EF3+)
- 1960s29
- 1950s15(4 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 11, 1970 | F5 | in town | 8.4 mi | 26 / 500 |
| Apr 21, 1957 | F4 | 4 mi | 15.5 mi | 0 / 6 |
| Apr 21, 1957 | F4 | 23 mi | 29.2 mi | 0 / 7 |
| May 12, 2005 | F3 | 23 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 6, 1989 | F3 | 22 mi | 30 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 24, 1957 | F3 | 21 mi | 37.3 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jun 17, 1956 | F3 | 25 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 5, 2025 | EF2 | 10 mi | 3.25 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 5, 2025 | EF2 | 22 mi | 8.82 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 5, 2019 | EF2 | 20 mi | 17.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 29, 1987 | F2 | 7 mi | 8 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Apr 8, 1978 | F2 | 24 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 177, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Lubbock
The Storm Prediction Center has 392 hail reports within 10 miles of Lubbock since 1956, made on 235 separate days. Of these, 296 were 1 inch across or larger, and 49 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 4.5 inches (grapefruit size), was reported on 3 days, most recently June 23, 2023. The most recent report is from June 17, 2025. May has the most reports, 162.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Lubbock
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Lubbock, TX, 9 miles northeast of Lubbock at 3,259 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 93°F and low of 69°F; January is the coolest, at 55°F and 27°F. May is the wettest at 2.7 inches of precipitation on average and January and February the driest at 0.7 inches; the year adds up to 18.5 inches over 33 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 92 days a year, almost all from April to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 84 nights a year. Snowfall averages 7.0 inches a year, most of it in December. That 18.5 inches is more than at 24 of the 312 Texas stations used on this site (8%). Abernathy, 21 miles north, has its own station (Abernathy, TX): 19.3 inches a year, 0.8 more than here, and a July average high of 91°F against 93°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 55 | 27 | 0.7 | 1 | 1.6 |
| Feb | 60 | 31 | 0.7 | 2 | 1.4 |
| Mar | 68 | 38 | 1.1 | 2 | 0.4 |
| Apr | 76 | 46 | 1.3 | 2 | 0.1 |
| May | 84 | 57 | 2.7 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 92 | 66 | 2.6 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 93 | 69 | 2.0 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 92 | 68 | 1.7 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 85 | 60 | 2.6 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 76 | 48 | 1.5 | 3 | 0.1 |
| Nov | 64 | 36 | 0.8 | 2 | 1.0 |
| Dec | 55 | 28 | 0.8 | 2 | 2.4 |
| Year | 75 | 48 | 18.5 | 33 | 7.0 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Lubbock, TX (3,259 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 Lubbock
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 261 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Lubbock: 191 thunderstorm wind reports, 28 flash floods, 16 lightning strikes, 15 floods and 11 heavy rain events. They killed 2 people and injured 8, and the NWS estimated $530.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 115 mph, on June 5, 2025. May has had the most flash floods, 7 of 28. Of the 745 Texas cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 543 have had fewer than Lubbock.
July 1, 2017: lightning strike 4 miles from the centre of Lubbock — 1 killed, 1 injured, $45,000 damage.
NWS: “Lightning struck a house and adjacent tree in east-central Lubbock. The single story family residence became heavily consumed by fire before fire crews could respond.”
August 24, 2012: lightning strike 4 miles from the centre of Lubbock — 1 killed, 1 injured, $30,000 damage.
NWS: “Lightning struck a home in the 3900 block of 110th Street in Lubbock late this night causing a corrugated steel natural gas line in the roof to ignite. The subsequent explosion was directed into the garage of the house which at the time was occupied by two men.”
May 21, 2008: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Lubbock — 2 injured, $250,000 damage.
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 Lubbock's 13 ZIP codes have filed 337 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $2.7 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Ike in 2008: 28 claims (8% of all) and $221,000, then Early summer severe storms in 2016 with 13. The year with the most claims was 1999, with 44. 15% 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, 319 have fewer than Lubbock.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Hurricane Ike2008 | 28 | $221,000 |
| Early summer severe storms2016 | 13 | $340,000 |
Lubbock County, which includes Lubbock, has been named in 20 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1970, 11 of them major disasters (by incident: 6 hurricanes, 5 severe storms, 3 fires, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storms, on February 19, 2021. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Lubbock County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for hail and strong wind; Relatively High for tornadoes and lightning; Relatively Moderate for inland flooding and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $213.5 million a year, the 11th highest of 254 Texas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $46.8 million (22%), 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 Lubbock
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- Abernathy, TX21 mi
- Tahoka, TX25 mi
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- Hale Center, TX34 mi
- Littlefield, TX34 mi
- Brownfield, TX36 mi
- Post, TX37 mi
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