Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit South Padre Island, TX

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Port Isabel, TX, 9 miles west of South Padre Island 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 44 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (15); 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, 17 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 South Padre Island CG Station, TX, 3 miles south, averaged 86°F in September and 61°F in February over 2021–2025. It averaged 80°F or warmer from May to October. Sea level at the South Padre Island tide gauge, 3 miles from South Padre Island, has risen 1.61 ± 0.09 inches per decade from 1958 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 16.1 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 98 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 42 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of South Padre Island: 27 thunderstorm wind reports, 8 floods, 4 flash floods, 2 lightning strikes and 1 heavy rain event. 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.

Flood insurance policyholders in South Padre Island's ZIP code 78597 have filed 1,135 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $10.2 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Allen in 1980: 465 claims (41% of all) and $5.2 million, then Hurricane Dolly in 2008 with 309 and Flooding in 1984 with 115. 81% 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, 378 have fewer than South Padre Island.