NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Port Isabel, 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
42 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Port Isabel, Texas since 1851, 22 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Harold in 2023. Since 1950, 44 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 1 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 22
- Tropical storms
- 20
- Tornadoes
- 44
- EF3 or stronger
- 1
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
1 deaths in all
What the records show for Port Isabel
The strongest storm to pass near Port Isabel was an unnamed storm in 1880, a Category 4 hurricane with 137 mph winds when its centre passed 9 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was an unnamed storm in 1886, whose centre crossed the city. The record near Port Isabel begins with an unnamed storm in 1854; the most recent system was Harold in 2023, a tropical storm 64 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1910s, with 5 systems, 4 of them at hurricane strength. Of the 42 systems, 7 have come since 2000. Port Isabel has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 95% of the 753 Texas cities on this site. The strongest of the 44 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F3 on May 12, 1969; its path came within 22 miles. The deadliest, an EF1 on May 13, 2023, killed 1 person. Of the 44, 8 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 18 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 11. The most recent tornado was on October 27, 2025. Of the 753 Texas cities, 91% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Port Isabel. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 3 times since 1977, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Of the 753 Texas cities, 100% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Port Isabel.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Port Isabel
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | HaroldAug 22 | 64 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2021 | NicholasSep 13 | 35 mi | Tropical storm (59 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2020 | HannaJul 25 | 46 mi | Category 1 (92 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2011 | DonJul 29 | 67 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2010 | HermineSep 7 | 24 mi | Tropical storm (64 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2008 | DollyJul 23 | 17 mi | Category 1 (91 mph) | Category 2 |
| 2003 | ErikaAug 16 | 49 mi | Tropical storm (72 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1999 | BretAug 22 | 45 mi | Category 4 (135 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1993 | ArleneJun 20 | 37 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1983 | BarryAug 28 | 46 mi | Category 1 (79 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1980 | AllenAug 10 | 3 mi | Category 3 (115 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1978 | AmeliaJul 30 | 2 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1971 | EdithSep 15 | 52 mi | Category 1 (81 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1968 | CandyJun 23 | 44 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1967 | BeulahSep 20 | 6 mi | Category 3 (121 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1960 | Unnamed 1960 stormJun 23 | 15 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1958 | GerdaSep 20 | 53 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1958 | AlmaJun 15 | 62 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1954 | AliceJun 25 | 62 mi | Category 1 (83 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1947 | Unnamed 1947 stormAug 2 | 31 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1945 | Unnamed 1945 stormAug 26 | 47 mi | Category 2 (107 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1936 | Unnamed 1936 stormSep 13 | 2 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1933 | Unnamed 1933 stormSep 5 | 1 mi | Category 3 (123 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1933 | Unnamed 1933 stormAug 5 | 21 mi | Category 1 (91 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1931 | Unnamed 1931 stormJun 27 | 32 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1925 | Unnamed 1925 stormSep 7 | 53 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1916 | Unnamed 1916 stormAug 18 | 49 mi | Category 4 (132 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1913 | Unnamed 1913 stormJun 27 | 56 mi | Category 1 (75 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1912 | Unnamed 1912 stormOct 16 | 30 mi | Category 2 (98 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1910 | Unnamed 1910 stormSep 14 | 53 mi | Category 2 (104 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1910 | Unnamed 1910 stormAug 30 | 23 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1909 | Unnamed 1909 stormJun 29 | 1 mi | Category 2 (98 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormJun 26 | 18 mi | Category 1 (77 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1895 | Unnamed 1895 stormOct 6 | 54 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1887 | Unnamed 1887 stormSep 21 | 1 mi | Category 1 (86 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1886 | Unnamed 1886 stormSep 23 | overhead | Category 2 (97 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1885 | Unnamed 1885 stormSep 18 | 59 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1880 | Unnamed 1880 stormAug 13 | 9 mi | Category 4 (137 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1874 | Unnamed 1874 stormSep 4 | 44 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1867 | Unnamed 1867 stormOct 2 | 13 mi | Category 2 (104 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1857 | Unnamed 1857 stormSep 30 | 11 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1854 | Unnamed 1854 stormJun 26 | 10 mi | Category 1 (77 mph) | Category 1 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Port Isabel: 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 Port Isabel
By decade
- 2020s5
- 2010s7
- 2000s6
- 1990s6
- 1980s5
- 1970s9
- 1960s6(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 12, 1969 | F3 | 22 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 9, 1980 | F2 | 20 mi | 4.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 12, 1969 | F2 | 20 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 13, 2023 | EF1 | in town | 0.45 mi | 1 / 11 |
| Apr 4, 1997 | F1 | 16 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 16, 1977 | F1 | 6 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 1, 1970 | F1 | 24 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 13, 1969 | F1 | 2 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 20, 1967 | F1 | 20 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 20, 1967 | F1 | 16 mi | 5.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 28, 2025 | EF0 | 3 mi | 0.14 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 26, 2020 | EF0 | 16 mi | 3.43 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 44, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Port Isabel
The Storm Prediction Center has 3 hail reports within 10 miles of Port Isabel since 1977. Of these, 2 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest, 1.75 inches (golf ball size), fell on April 30, 1977. The most recent report is from April 18, 2016.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Port Isabel
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Port Isabel, TX, 4 miles west of Port Isabel at 17 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 92°F and low of 77°F; January is the coolest, at 69°F and 52°F. September is the wettest at 6.2 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 1.2 inches; the year adds up to 29.0 inches over 39 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 66% of the year's precipitation (19.2 of 29.0 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 42 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (14); a normal September there has highs of 89°F and 6.2 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 95 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 1 nights a year. That 29.0 inches is more than at 107 of the 312 Texas stations used on this site (34%). Los Fresnos, 12 miles west, has its own station (Port Isabel Cameron Airport, TX): 23.3 inches a year, 5.7 less than here, and an August average high of 93°F against 92°F.
Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Port Isabel, TX, 3 miles southeast, averaged 87°F in September and 62°F in February over 2021–2025. It averaged 80°F or warmer from May to October. Sea level at the Port Isabel tide gauge, 3 miles from Port Isabel, has risen 1.71 ± 0.06 inches per decade from 1944 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 17.1 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 108 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Water °F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 69 | 52 | 1.5 | 4 | 63 |
| Feb | 72 | 56 | 1.2 | 3 | 62 |
| Mar | 76 | 61 | 1.7 | 2 | 69 |
| Apr | 81 | 67 | 1.6 | 2 | 75 |
| May | 86 | 73 | 2.4 | 3 | 81 |
| Jun | 90 | 76 | 3.1 | 3 | 85 |
| Jul | 91 | 77 | 2.3 | 3 | 84 |
| Aug | 92 | 77 | 1.9 | 3 | 86 |
| Sep | 89 | 74 | 6.2 | 6 | 87 |
| Oct | 85 | 69 | 3.9 | 5 | 82 |
| Nov | 78 | 61 | 1.8 | 3 | 74 |
| Dec | 71 | 54 | 1.4 | 3 | 69 |
| Year | 82 | 66 | 29.0 | 39 | 76 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Port Isabel, TX (17 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Port Isabel, TX, from NOAA Tides & Currents. 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 Port Isabel
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 55 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Port Isabel: 38 thunderstorm wind reports, 8 floods, 4 flash floods, 3 heavy rain events and 2 lightning strikes. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $90.9 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 115 mph, on May 2, 2000.
July 23, 2008: flash flood 3 miles from the centre of Port Isabel — $37.5 million damage.
NWS: “A little before noon on the 23rd, the southern and western eyewall of Huricane Dolly began to flare up, with radar data indicating reflectivity above 50 dBZ, which is indicative of blinding torrents of rain.”
July 24, 2008: flood 3 miles from the centre of Port Isabel — $37.5 million damage.
NWS: “The combination of 14 to 18 inches of rain, poor drainage issues, and the overarching fact that the flat, saturated landscape of the Lower Rio Grande River Delta drains very slowly, maintained widespread flood conditions well after the rains ended during the early morning of the 24th.”
May 16, 2020: lightning strike 6 miles from the centre of Port Isabel — $7.0 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
Flood insurance policyholders in Port Isabel's ZIP code 78578 have filed 589 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $3.3 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Allen in 1980: 263 claims (45% of all) and $1.8 million, then Hurricane Dolly in 2008 with 117 and Flooding in 1984 with 116. 85% 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, 342 have fewer than Port Isabel.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Hurricane Allen1980 | 263 | $1.8 million |
| Hurricane Dolly2008 | 117 | $800,000 |
| Flooding1984 | 116 | $114,000 |
Cameron County, which includes Port Isabel, has been named in 34 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1967, 22 of them major disasters (by incident: 16 hurricanes, 5 floods, 4 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms and Flooding, on May 21, 2025. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Cameron County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for hurricanes; Relatively High for hail, strong wind, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, inland flooding and coastal flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $165.1 million a year, the 14th highest of 254 Texas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $84.1 million (51%), is from hurricanes.
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 Port Isabel
- South Padre Island, TX6 mi
- Los Fresnos, TX12 mi
- Brownsville, TX17 mi
- Olmito, TX19 mi
- Rio Hondo, TX21 mi
- San Benito, TX24 mi
- Harlingen, TX30 mi
- Lyford, TX36 mi
- La Feria, TX36 mi
- Santa Rosa, TX38 mi
- Mercedes, TX42 mi
- La Villa, TX45 mi
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