NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Lufkin, 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
24 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Lufkin, Texas since 1851, 2 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Beryl in 2024. Since 1950, 81 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 5 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 2
- Tropical storms
- 22
- Tornadoes
- 81
- EF3 or stronger
- 5
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
1 deaths in all
What the records show for Lufkin
The strongest storm to pass near Lufkin was an unnamed storm in 1879, a Category 1 hurricane with 75 mph winds when its centre passed 39 miles away. The record near Lufkin begins with an unnamed storm in 1865; the most recent system was Beryl in 2024, a tropical storm 30 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1940s, with 5 systems. Of the 24 systems, 5 have come since 2000. Lufkin has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 62% of the 753 Texas cities on this site. The highest rating among the 81 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3 or EF3, reached 5 times; the most recent, on December 23, 2009, came within 1 mile. The deadliest, an EF1 on January 10, 2020, killed 1 person. Of the 81, 11 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 19 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 19. The most recent tornado was on May 30, 2024. Of the 753 Texas cities, 68% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Lufkin. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 121 times since 1958, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Lufkin has more hail reports within 10 miles than 70% of the 753 Texas cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Lufkin
Of the 24 tracks on the map, 16 were moving north as they passed Lufkin, 4 northwest and 3 northeast. The unnamed 1879 storm, the strongest pass, was heading north; its centre passed 39 miles east of Lufkin. None made landfall within 75 miles of Lufkin; 19 of the 24 were hurricanes at their peak, 2 at their closest to the city. In the last 30 seasons (1996–2025), 5 came near Lufkin: 1.7 a decade, against 1.3 a decade from 1851 to 1995.
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | BerylJul 8 | 30 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 5 |
| 2019 | BarryJul 14 | 75 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2017 | CindyJun 22 | 55 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2008 | IkeSep 13 | 32 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2005 | RitaSep 24 | 37 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1989 | JerryOct 16 | 65 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1987 | Unnamed 1987 stormAug 10 | 59 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1986 | BonnieJun 26 | 30 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1959 | DebraJul 26 | 55 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormOct 4 | 9 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1947 | Unnamed 1947 stormSep 20 | 53 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1942 | Unnamed 1942 stormAug 22 | 72 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1941 | Unnamed 1941 stormSep 24 | 13 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1940 | Unnamed 1940 stormAug 9 | 13 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1938 | Unnamed 1938 stormAug 15 | 69 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1918 | Unnamed 1918 stormAug 7 | 30 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1891 | Unnamed 1891 stormJul 6 | 6 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormJul 6 | 55 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1886 | Unnamed 1886 stormOct 13 | 62 mi | Category 1 (74 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1882 | Unnamed 1882 stormSep 15 | 34 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1879 | Unnamed 1879 stormAug 23 | 39 mi | Category 1 (75 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1875 | Unnamed 1875 stormSep 18 | 66 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1871 | Unnamed 1871 stormJun 10 | 22 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1865 | Unnamed 1865 stormSep 14 | 72 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Category 2 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Lufkin: a hurricane's worst winds sit within a few dozen miles of its centre, and inland cities are usually past that.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Lufkin
By decade
- 2020s4
- 2010s7
- 2000s8(2 EF3+)
- 1990s15(1 EF3+)
- 1980s13
- 1970s15(1 EF3+)
- 1960s13(1 EF3+)
- 1950s6
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 23, 2009 | EF3 | 1 mi | 4.06 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Mar 30, 2002 | F3 | 12 mi | 49 mi | 0 / 6 |
| Jan 19, 1990 | F3 | 6 mi | 13 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Mar 20, 1974 | F3 | 6 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 11, 1965 | F3 | 20 mi | 42.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 23, 2004 | F2 | 15 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 6, 2003 | F2 | 10 mi | 27.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 4, 1999 | F2 | 22 mi | 22.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 17, 1989 | F2 | 7 mi | 31 mi | 0 / 14 |
| Dec 10, 1983 | F2 | 20 mi | 8 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Dec 10, 1983 | F2 | 10 mi | 18 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Mar 30, 1976 | F2 | 19 mi | 26.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 81, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Lufkin
The Storm Prediction Center has 121 hail reports within 10 miles of Lufkin since 1958, made on 80 separate days. Of these, 70 were 1 inch across or larger, and 5 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 2.75 inches (baseball size), was reported on 2 days, most recently May 27, 1997. The most recent report is from May 9, 2024. April has the most reports, 35.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Lufkin
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Lufkin Angelina Co Airport, TX, 7 miles south of Lufkin at 288 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 93°F and low of 72°F; January is the coolest, at 60°F and 38°F. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 49% of the year's precipitation (24.4 of 50.2 inches); the other six months are wetter. September has brought the most of the 24 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (7); a normal September there has highs of 89°F and 3.9 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 104 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 28 nights a year. That 50.2 inches is more than at 272 of the 312 Texas stations used on this site (87%). Pollok, 11 miles northwest, has its own station (Lufkin 11 NW, TX): 50.1 inches a year, 0.1 less than here, and a July average high of 92°F against 93°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 60 | 38 | 4.7 | 6 |
| Feb | 64 | 42 | 3.9 | 6 |
| Mar | 71 | 48 | 4.2 | 6 |
| Apr | 78 | 54 | 3.7 | 5 |
| May | 85 | 63 | 4.6 | 6 |
| Jun | 90 | 69 | 4.2 | 6 |
| Jul | 93 | 72 | 3.3 | 5 |
| Aug | 94 | 71 | 3.8 | 5 |
| Sep | 89 | 66 | 3.9 | 5 |
| Oct | 80 | 55 | 4.7 | 5 |
| Nov | 69 | 45 | 4.5 | 5 |
| Dec | 61 | 39 | 4.7 | 6 |
| Year | 78 | 55 | 50.2 | 66 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Lufkin Angelina Co Airport, TX (288 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 Lufkin
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 172 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Lufkin: 106 thunderstorm wind reports, 61 flash floods, 4 floods and 1 lightning strike. They killed 3 people and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $3.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 92 mph, on September 2, 2000. May has had the most flash floods, 20 of 61. Of the 745 Texas cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 695 have had fewer than Lufkin.
April 13, 2019: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Lufkin — 2 killed, 2 injured.
May 21, 2013: lightning strike 1 mile from the centre of Lufkin — 1 killed.
NWS: “A woman was struck by lightning and killed outside an eating establishment during the nighttime hours of May 21st. She was standing outside adjacent to the restaurant holding an umbrella when she was struck.”
February 10, 1998: thunderstorm wind 1 mile from the centre of Lufkin — $2.5 million damage.
NWS: “Winds were recorded at the Lufkin Airport. Reports of 150 power poles were toppled with numerous trees across homes and vehicles.”
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 Lufkin's 2 ZIP codes have filed 306 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $5.2 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Early summer storms in 2015: 20 claims (7% of all) and $333,000. The year with the most claims was 2004, with 55. 12% 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, 313 have fewer than Lufkin.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Early summer storms2015 | 20 | $333,000 |
Angelina County, which includes Lufkin, has been named in 23 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1989, 13 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 hurricanes, 4 severe storms, 3 fires, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Hurricane Beryl, on July 9, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Angelina County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for strong wind and lightning; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes and heat waves; Relatively Low for hurricanes, hail and inland flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $23.4 million a year, the 81st highest of 254 Texas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $9.5 million (41%), 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 Lufkin
- Diboll, TX10 mi
- Pollok, TX11 mi
- Huntington, TX14 mi
- Nacogdoches, TX21 mi
- Corrigan, TX24 mi
- Zavalla, TX25 mi
- Groveton, TX27 mi
- Alto, TX28 mi
- Cushing, TX34 mi
- San Augustine, TX36 mi
- Garrison, TX36 mi
- Colmesneil, TX37 mi
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