NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Sullivan City, 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
29 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Sullivan City, Texas since 1851, 5 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Harold in 2023. Since 1950, 27 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 1 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 5
- Tropical storms
- 24
- Tornadoes
- 27
- EF3 or stronger
- 1
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for Sullivan City
The strongest storm to pass near Sullivan City was Allen in 1980, a Category 2 hurricane with 97 mph winds when its centre passed 41 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was an unnamed storm in 1880, whose centre came within 16 miles. The record near Sullivan City begins with an unnamed storm in 1854; the most recent system was Harold in 2023, a tropical storm 73 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1930s, with 4 systems. Of the 29 systems, 4 have come since 2000. Sullivan City has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 75% of the 753 Texas cities on this site. The strongest of the 27 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F3 on March 15, 1983; its path came within 21 miles. Of the 27, none had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 8 have come since 2000. September has had the most tornadoes, 8. The most recent tornado was on June 30, 2011. Of the 753 Texas cities, 95% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Sullivan City. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 20 times since 1969, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Of the 753 Texas cities, 93% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Sullivan City.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Sullivan City
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | HaroldAug 22 | 73 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2020 | HannaJul 26 | 13 mi | Tropical storm (60 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2010 | HermineSep 7 | 51 mi | Tropical storm (61 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2008 | DollyJul 24 | 34 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1999 | BretAug 23 | 65 mi | Category 1 (92 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1983 | BarryAug 29 | 53 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1980 | AllenAug 10 | 41 mi | Category 2 (97 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1978 | AmeliaJul 31 | 69 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1975 | CarolineSep 1 | 55 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1971 | FernSep 12 | 55 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1967 | BeulahSep 20 | 48 mi | Category 2 (96 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1958 | GerdaSep 20 | 71 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1958 | AlmaJun 15 | 5 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1954 | AliceJun 25 | 7 mi | Tropical storm (67 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1947 | Unnamed 1947 stormAug 2 | 34 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1944 | Unnamed 1944 stormAug 23 | 68 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1936 | Unnamed 1936 stormSep 13 | 50 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1933 | Unnamed 1933 stormSep 5 | 27 mi | Tropical storm (68 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1933 | Unnamed 1933 stormAug 5 | 62 mi | Tropical storm (54 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1931 | Unnamed 1931 stormJun 28 | 66 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1925 | Unnamed 1925 stormSep 7 | 9 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1910 | Unnamed 1910 stormSep 15 | 50 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1909 | Unnamed 1909 stormJun 30 | 19 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1887 | Unnamed 1887 stormSep 22 | 34 mi | Tropical storm (54 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1886 | Unnamed 1886 stormSep 23 | 73 mi | Category 1 (92 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1880 | Unnamed 1880 stormAug 13 | 16 mi | Category 1 (83 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1874 | Unnamed 1874 stormSep 5 | 32 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1857 | Unnamed 1857 stormSep 30 | 22 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1854 | Unnamed 1854 stormJun 26 | 10 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 1 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Sullivan City: 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 Sullivan City
By decade
- 2010s1
- 2000s7
- 1990s3
- 1980s11(1 EF3+)
- 1970s1
- 1960s3
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 15, 1983 | F3 | 21 mi | 6.1 mi | 0 / 10 |
| May 5, 1991 | F2 | 18 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 26, 1967 | F2 | 7 mi | 40.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 30, 2011 | EF1 | 25 mi | 0.4 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jul 16, 2007 | EF1 | 21 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 30, 2003 | F1 | 7 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 11 |
| May 21, 2001 | F1 | 15 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 21, 2001 | F1 | 14 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 14, 1994 | F1 | 17 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 7, 1983 | F1 | 18 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 29, 1981 | F1 | 16 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 10, 1980 | F1 | 7 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 27, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Sullivan City
The Storm Prediction Center has 20 hail reports within 10 miles of Sullivan City since 1969, made on 14 separate days. Of these, 13 were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on April 21, 2023. The most recent report is from May 17, 2024. May has the most reports, 10.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Sullivan City
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is La Joya, TX, 15 miles east of Sullivan City at 213 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 97°F and low of 75°F; January is the coolest, at 69°F and 47°F. September is the wettest at 3.5 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.8 inches; the year adds up to 20.3 inches over 31 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 60% of the year's precipitation (12.2 of 20.3 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 29 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (13); a normal September there has highs of 92°F and 3.5 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 183 days a year, almost all from February to November. Lows fall below freezing on about 2 nights a year. That 20.3 inches is more than at 40 of the 312 Texas stations used on this site (13%). Mission, 14 miles east, has its own station (Mcallen, TX): 18.8 inches a year, 1.5 less than here, and an August average high of 99°F against 97°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 69 | 47 | 0.8 | 2 |
| Feb | 74 | 51 | 0.9 | 2 |
| Mar | 79 | 57 | 1.4 | 2 |
| Apr | 85 | 63 | 1.7 | 2 |
| May | 90 | 70 | 1.9 | 2 |
| Jun | 95 | 74 | 2.0 | 3 |
| Jul | 95 | 75 | 2.2 | 3 |
| Aug | 97 | 75 | 1.2 | 2 |
| Sep | 92 | 71 | 3.5 | 5 |
| Oct | 87 | 64 | 2.2 | 3 |
| Nov | 78 | 55 | 1.1 | 2 |
| Dec | 71 | 48 | 1.4 | 2 |
| Year | 84 | 63 | 20.3 | 31 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at La Joya, TX (213 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 Sullivan City
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 31 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Sullivan City: 17 thunderstorm wind reports, 6 flash floods, 4 floods and 4 heavy rain events. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $15.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 86 mph, on April 28, 2023. Of the 745 Texas cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 91 have had fewer than Sullivan City.
July 9, 2010: flood 2 miles from the centre of Sullivan City — $8.0 million damage.
NWS: “Incredible rainfall estimated to be more than 50 inches in around 10 days' time between June 30th and July 9th across the front range and peaks of the Sierra Madre Oriental in Coahuila Province, Mexico, ultimately flowed through the entire Lower Rio Grande basin for much of the summer of 2010.”
July 10, 2010: flood 8 miles from the centre of Sullivan City — $6.9 million damage.
July 6, 2021: flash flood 3 miles from the centre of Sullivan City — $100,000 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 Sullivan City's ZIP code 78595 have filed 18 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 2001, and were paid $613,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 56% 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, 66 have fewer than Sullivan City.
Hidalgo County, which includes Sullivan City, has been named in 32 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1967, 22 of them major disasters (by incident: 15 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 Hidalgo County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for hurricanes and hail; Relatively High for tornadoes, inland flooding, strong wind, lightning and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $309.8 million a year, the 9th highest of 254 Texas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $126.7 million (41%), 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 Sullivan City
- La Joya, TX4 mi
- Penitas, TX7 mi
- Mission, TX14 mi
- Rio Grande City, TX15 mi
- Mcallen, TX20 mi
- Hidalgo, TX23 mi
- Alton, TX23 mi
- Pharr, TX24 mi
- San Juan, TX26 mi
- Edinburg, TX26 mi
- Alamo, TX28 mi
- Weslaco, TX28 mi
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