Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Refugio, TX

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Refugio 2 NW, TX, 3 miles west of Refugio at 45 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 95°F and low of 74°F; January is the coolest, at 67°F and 45°F. October is the wettest at 4.0 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.0 inches; the year adds up to 34.9 inches over 50 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 56% of the year's precipitation (19.4 of 34.9 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 34 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (11); a normal September there has highs of 91°F and 3.8 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 110 days a year, almost all from April to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 11 nights a year. Snowfall averages 0.5 inches a year, most of it in December. That 34.9 inches is more than at 152 of the 312 Texas stations used on this site (49%). Rockport, 23 miles southeast, has its own station (Rockport, TX): 36.6 inches a year, 1.7 more than here, and an August average high of 93°F against 95°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Rockport, TX, 24 miles southeast, averaged 90°F in August and 61°F in January over 2021–2025. It averaged 80°F or warmer from May to October. Sea level at the Rockport tide gauge, 24 miles from Refugio, has risen 2.38 ± 0.09 inches per decade from 1937 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 23.8 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 132 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 28 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Refugio: 13 thunderstorm wind reports, 11 flash floods, 3 floods and 1 lightning strike. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $111,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 69 mph, on May 18, 1999. July has had the most flash floods, 4 of 11. Of the 745 Texas cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 227 have had fewer than Refugio.

Flood insurance policyholders in Refugio's ZIP code 78377 have filed 42 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $684,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Harvey in 2017: 10 claims (24% of all) and $338,000. 33% 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, 143 have fewer than Refugio.