Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Smithville, TX

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Smithville, TX, in Smithville at 317 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 97°F and low of 73°F; January is the coolest, at 63°F and 39°F. May is the wettest at 4.5 inches of precipitation on average and July the driest at 1.9 inches; the year adds up to 37.2 inches over 49 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 50% of the year's precipitation (18.6 of 37.2 inches). September has brought the most of the 21 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (8); a normal September there has highs of 91°F and 3.7 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 124 days a year, almost all from April to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 34 nights a year. That 37.2 inches is more than at 183 of the 312 Texas stations used on this site (59%). Red Rock, 16 miles west, has its own station (Cedar Creek 5 S, TX): 37.8 inches a year, 0.6 more than here, and the same August average high, 97°F.

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 29 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Smithville: 17 flash floods and 12 thunderstorm wind reports. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $97,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on November 21, 2004. August has had the most flash floods, 6 of 17. Of the 745 Texas cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 375 have had fewer than Smithville.

Flood insurance policyholders in Smithville's ZIP code 78957 have filed 108 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $3.5 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Harvey in 2017: 29 claims (27% of all) and $1.4 million, then Flooding in 1998 with 21 and Early summer severe storms in 2016 with 16. 88% 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, 231 have fewer than Smithville.