NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Sour Lake, 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
51 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Sour Lake, Texas since 1851, 14 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Nicholas in 2021. Since 1950, 101 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 3 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 14
- Tropical storms
- 37
- Tornadoes
- 101
- EF3 or stronger
- 3
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for Sour Lake
The strongest storm to pass near Sour Lake was Laura in 2020, a Category 4 hurricane with 137 mph winds when its centre passed 67 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was an unnamed storm in 1879, whose centre came within 6 miles. The record near Sour Lake begins with an unnamed storm in 1863; the most recent system was Nicholas in 2021, a tropical storm 48 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1980s, with 8 systems, one of them at hurricane strength. Of the 51 systems, 9 have come since 2000. Sour Lake has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 87% of the 753 Texas cities on this site. The highest rating among the 101 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 3 times; the most recent, on January 1, 1999, came within 7 miles. Of the 101, 4 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 24 have come since 2000. October has had the most tornadoes, 19. The most recent tornado was on May 8, 2023. Of the 753 Texas cities, 53% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Sour Lake. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 22 times since 1983, with stones up to 3.5 inches. Of the 753 Texas cities, 92% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Sour Lake.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Sour Lake
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | NicholasSep 14 | 48 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2020 | LauraAug 27 | 67 mi | Category 4 (137 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2017 | HarveyAug 30 | 59 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2017 | CindyJun 22 | 39 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2008 | IkeSep 13 | 39 mi | Category 2 (102 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2008 | EdouardAug 5 | 22 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2007 | HumbertoSep 13 | 30 mi | Category 1 (85 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2005 | RitaSep 24 | 27 mi | Category 1 (85 mph) | Category 5 |
| 2003 | GraceAug 31 | 70 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1989 | JerryOct 16 | 30 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1989 | ChantalAug 1 | 28 mi | Tropical storm (71 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1989 | AllisonJun 27 | 53 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1987 | Unnamed 1987 stormAug 10 | 5 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1986 | BonnieJun 26 | overhead | Tropical storm (66 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1983 | AliciaAug 18 | 72 mi | Category 1 (94 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1982 | ChrisSep 11 | 43 mi | Tropical storm (61 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1980 | DanielleSep 5 | 52 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1979 | ClaudetteJul 25 | 12 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1978 | DebraAug 29 | 56 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1974 | CarmenSep 9 | 66 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1973 | Unnamed 1973 stormSep 12 | 10 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1970 | FeliceSep 16 | 43 mi | Tropical storm (64 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1963 | CindySep 17 | 20 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1959 | DebraJul 25 | 41 mi | Tropical storm (54 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1957 | BerthaAug 10 | 9 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1957 | AudreyJun 27 | 47 mi | Category 3 (117 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1954 | BarbaraJul 29 | 31 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormOct 4 | 45 mi | Tropical storm (60 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1947 | Unnamed 1947 stormAug 25 | 68 mi | Tropical storm (72 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1943 | Unnamed 1943 stormJul 27 | 45 mi | Category 2 (99 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1942 | Unnamed 1942 stormAug 21 | 38 mi | Tropical storm (68 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1941 | Unnamed 1941 stormSep 24 | 59 mi | Tropical storm (64 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1940 | Unnamed 1940 stormSep 24 | 46 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1940 | Unnamed 1940 stormAug 8 | 5 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1938 | Unnamed 1938 stormOct 17 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1938 | Unnamed 1938 stormAug 15 | 57 mi | Tropical storm (61 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormAug 27 | 66 mi | Category 1 (81 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1918 | Unnamed 1918 stormAug 6 | 51 mi | Category 1 (90 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1898 | Unnamed 1898 stormSep 28 | 4 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1897 | Unnamed 1897 stormSep 13 | 16 mi | Category 1 (79 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1895 | Unnamed 1895 stormOct 7 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1891 | Unnamed 1891 stormJul 6 | 42 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormJul 6 | 69 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1886 | Unnamed 1886 stormOct 13 | 48 mi | Category 1 (85 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1886 | Unnamed 1886 stormJun 14 | 30 mi | Category 2 (98 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1882 | Unnamed 1882 stormSep 15 | 10 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1879 | Unnamed 1879 stormAug 23 | 6 mi | Category 1 (93 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1875 | Unnamed 1875 stormSep 18 | 18 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1871 | Unnamed 1871 stormJun 9 | 40 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1865 | Unnamed 1865 stormSep 13 | 57 mi | Category 1 (85 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1863 | Unnamed 1863 stormSep 29 | 38 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Tropical storm |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Sour Lake: 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 Sour Lake
By decade
- 2020s2
- 2010s5
- 2000s17
- 1990s19(1 EF3+)
- 1980s14(1 EF3+)
- 1970s29
- 1960s13(1 EF3+)
- 1950s2
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 1, 1999 | F3 | 7 mi | 5.5 mi | 0 / 5 |
| Jan 31, 1983 | F3 | 15 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Sep 12, 1961 | F3 | 19 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 24, 2023 | EF2 | 9 mi | 2.05 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 1, 1999 | F2 | 8 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 5, 1994 | F2 | in town | 2 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Apr 23, 1981 | F2 | 10 mi | 13.4 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Oct 22, 1979 | F2 | 13 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 28, 1974 | F2 | 20 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 28, 1974 | F2 | 17 mi | 16.7 mi | 0 / 3 |
| May 26, 1973 | F2 | 15 mi | 6.2 mi | 0 / 3 |
| May 26, 1973 | F2 | 17 mi | 14.7 mi | 0 / 4 |
The strongest 12 of 101, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Sour Lake
The Storm Prediction Center has 22 hail reports within 10 miles of Sour Lake since 1983, made on 17 separate days. Of these, 15 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 3.5 inches, fell on April 15, 2023. The most recent report is from March 15, 2024. April has the most reports, 6.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Sour Lake
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Beaumont Rsch Ctr, TX, 9 miles southeast of Sour Lake at 27 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 93°F and low of 74°F; January is the coolest, at 62°F and 42°F. June is the wettest at 7.6 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 3.6 inches; the year adds up to 62.1 inches over 72 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 58% of the year's precipitation (36.0 of 62.1 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 51 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (18); a normal September there has highs of 89°F and 6.6 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 12 nights a year. That 62.1 inches is more than at 305 of the 312 Texas stations used on this site (98%). Lumberton, 14 miles northeast, has its own station (Lumberton, TX): 63.3 inches a year, 1.2 more than here, and the same August average high, 93°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 62 | 42 | 4.8 | 6 |
| Feb | 66 | 46 | 3.6 | 5 |
| Mar | 72 | 53 | 3.9 | 5 |
| Apr | 78 | 59 | 3.7 | 5 |
| May | 85 | 67 | 5.1 | 5 |
| Jun | 90 | 73 | 7.6 | 8 |
| Jul | 92 | 74 | 5.4 | 8 |
| Aug | 93 | 74 | 6.4 | 7 |
| Sep | 89 | 69 | 6.6 | 7 |
| Oct | 81 | 60 | 5.3 | 5 |
| Nov | 71 | 51 | 4.7 | 5 |
| Dec | 64 | 44 | 5.0 | 6 |
| Year | 79 | 59 | 62.1 | 72 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Beaumont Rsch Ctr, TX (27 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 Sour Lake
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 38 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Sour Lake: 19 flash floods, 18 thunderstorm wind reports and 1 lightning strike. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $3.7 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 63 mph, on January 24, 2023. May has had the most flash floods, 5 of 19. Of the 745 Texas cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 414 have had fewer than Sour Lake.
May 29, 1996: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Sour Lake — 1 injured, $1.1 million damage.
October 31, 2015: flash flood 2 miles from the centre of Sour Lake — $2.0 million damage.
NWS: “Heavy rain moved into Hardin County early during the morning of the 31st. Flooding of roadways with water at least 2 feet deep was reported in Silsbee by 6:15 AM.”
April 29, 2024: flash flood 10 miles from the centre of Sour Lake — $250,000 damage.
NWS: “Heavy rain flooded the roadways between Silsbee and Evadale and also between Saratoga and Thicket. Mill Creek also reached major flood stage and flooded many roads and several homes.”
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 Sour Lake's ZIP code 77659 have filed 836 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $102.9 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Harvey in 2017: 433 claims (52% of all) and $90.6 million, then Flooding in 1994 with 182 and Tropical Storm Allison in 2001 with 56. 93% 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, 359 have fewer than Sour Lake.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Hurricane Harvey2017 | 433 | $90.6 million |
| Flooding1994 | 182 | $6.6 million |
| Tropical Storm Allison2001 | 56 | $1.1 million |
| Tropical Storm Imelda2019 | 34 | $1.2 million |
| Tropical Storm Paul2006 | 16 | $857,000 |
| Hurricane Rita2005 | 11 | $90,000 |
Hardin County, which includes Sour Lake, has been named in 32 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1973, 21 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 hurricanes, 6 fires, 6 severe storms, 5 floods). The latest major disaster declaration was Hurricane Beryl, on July 9, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Hardin County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for lightning; Relatively Moderate for hurricanes and tornadoes; Relatively Low for inland flooding, strong wind and heat waves; Very Low for hail and coastal flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $27.1 million a year, the 69th highest of 254 Texas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $11.0 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 Sour Lake
- Lumberton, TX14 mi
- Kountze, TX16 mi
- Beaumont, TX17 mi
- Silsbee, TX22 mi
- Liberty, TX22 mi
- Winnie, TX23 mi
- Vidor, TX24 mi
- Nederland, TX28 mi
- Dayton, TX29 mi
- Port Neches, TX30 mi
- Warren, TX31 mi
- Groves, TX33 mi
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