NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Ponder, 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 October 26, 2026

3 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Ponder, Texas since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Carla in 1961. Since 1950, 143 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 4 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes: 0
Tropical storms: 3
Tornadoes: 143
EF3 or stronger: 4

What the records show for Ponder

None of the 3 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Ponder; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1900, a tropical storm with 53 mph winds when its centre passed 27 miles away. The record near Ponder begins with an unnamed storm in 1900; the most recent system was Carla in 1961, a tropical storm 1 mile away. Of the 753 Texas cities on this site, 73% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Ponder. The highest rating among the 143 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3 or EF3, reached 4 times; the most recent, on May 25, 2024, came within 20 miles. Of the 143, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 64 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 37. The most recent tornado was on August 28, 2025. Ponder has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 76% of the 753 Texas cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 247 times since 1974, with stones up to 4 inches (softball size). Ponder has more hail reports within 10 miles than 90% of the 753 Texas cities.

Compare Ponder's storm record with another city →

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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Ponder

Tropical systems that passed within 75 miles of Ponder, Texas, newest first
Year	Storm	Closest	Strength when closest	Peak
1961	CarlaSep 13	1 mi	Tropical storm (40 mph)	Category 4
1902	Unnamed 1902 stormJun 28	47 mi	Tropical storm (40 mph)	Category 1
1900	Unnamed 1900 stormSep 9	27 mi	Tropical storm (53 mph)	Category 4

Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Ponder: 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 Ponder

By decade

2020s13(1 EF3+)
2010s26
2000s25
1990s18
1980s12
1970s23
1960s17(2 EF3+)
1950s9(1 EF3+)

Strongest tornadoes near Ponder, Texas
Date	Rating	Distance	Path	Killed / injured
May 25, 2024	EF3	20 mi	47.27 mi	7 / 80
Jun 12, 1966	F3	19 mi	3.6 mi	0 / 0
May 4, 1960	F3	22 mi	7.4 mi	0 / 12
Apr 2, 1957	F3	18 mi	0.1 mi	0 / 1
Dec 13, 2022	EF2	14 mi	9.71 mi	0 / 2
May 24, 2011	EF2	7 mi	1.52 mi	0 / 0
Oct 12, 2001	F2	16 mi	9 mi	0 / 1
Oct 12, 2001	F2	18 mi	2.5 mi	0 / 1
Apr 13, 1996	F2	21 mi	0.5 mi	0 / 0
Apr 26, 1994	F2	24 mi	16 mi	0 / 8
Apr 28, 1991	F2	25 mi	0.5 mi	0 / 0
Apr 25, 1990	F2	19 mi	0.2 mi	0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 143, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Ponder

The Storm Prediction Center has 247 hail reports within 10 miles of Ponder since 1974, made on 125 separate days. Of these, 170 were 1 inch across or larger, and 35 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 4 inches (softball size), was reported on 2 days, most recently May 10, 2021. The most recent report is from November 24, 2025. April has the most reports, 95.

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.

Weather by month in Ponder

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Denton Municipal Airport, TX, 6 miles east of Ponder at 642 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 96°F and low of 73°F; January is the coolest, at 56°F and 32°F. May is the wettest at 4.5 inches of precipitation on average and July the driest at 1.8 inches; the year adds up to 35.7 inches over 49 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 104 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 52 nights a year. That 35.7 inches is more than at 161 of the 312 Texas stations used on this site (52%). Justin, 7 miles south, has its own station (Fort Worth Alliance Airport, TX): 36.7 inches a year, 1.0 more than here, and a July average high of 97°F against 96°F.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Denton Municipal Airport, TX
Month	High °F	Low °F	Precip. in	Days ≥ 0.1"
Jan	56	32	1.9	3
Feb	60	36	2.5	4
Mar	68	45	3.1	4
Apr	75	51	3.4	5
May	83	61	4.5	7
Jun	91	69	3.7	5
Jul	96	73	1.8	3
Aug	96	73	2.4	3
Sep	88	64	2.7	4
Oct	78	53	4.2	5
Nov	66	42	2.7	3
Dec	57	34	2.8	4
Year	76	53	35.7	49

Averages for 1991–2020 at Denton Municipal Airport, TX (642 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.

Texas weather by month, station by station →

Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Ponder

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 198 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Ponder: 151 thunderstorm wind reports, 32 flash floods, 8 lightning strikes, 6 floods and 1 heavy rain event. They killed 1 person and injured 10, and the NWS estimated $10.4 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on August 10, 2001. Of the 745 Texas cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 580 have had fewer than Ponder.

July 9, 2017: flood 8 miles from the centre of Ponder — 1 killed.
March 4, 2004: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Ponder — 10 injured, $500,000 damage.
April 22, 1997: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Ponder — $2.0 million 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

Denton County, which includes Ponder, has been named in 24 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1974, 12 of them major disasters (by incident: 6 severe storms, 5 fires, 5 hurricanes, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding, on May 17, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Denton County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for tornadoes and hail; Relatively High for inland flooding, strong wind and heat waves; Relatively Moderate for lightning; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $354.7 million a year, the 7th highest of 254 Texas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $145.3 million (41%), is from tornadoes.

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 Ponder

All Texas cities →All hurricanes since 1851 →Compare Ponder with another place →

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