NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Van Horn, 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
1 tropical system has passed within 75 miles of Van Horn, Texas since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1929. Since 1950, 1 tornado has touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 1
- Tornadoes
- 1
- EF3 or stronger
- 0
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for Van Horn
None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Van Horn; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1929, a tropical storm with 49 mph winds when its centre passed 6 miles away. Of the 753 Texas cities on this site, 87% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Van Horn. The only tornado within 25 miles was an F0 on August 1, 2002; its path came within 6 miles. Of the 753 Texas cities, 100% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Van Horn. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 10 times since 1962, with stones up to 2 inches (hen egg size). Of the 753 Texas cities, 99% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Van Horn.
Compare Van Horn's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Van Horn
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1929 | Unnamed 1929 stormJun 29 | 6 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Category 1 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Van Horn: 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 Van Horn
By decade
- 2000s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 1, 2002 | F0 | 6 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 1 of 1, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Van Horn
The Storm Prediction Center has 10 hail reports within 10 miles of Van Horn since 1962. Of these, 6 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2 inches (hen egg size), fell on June 7, 2023, the most recent report. June has the most reports, 5.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Van Horn
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Van Horn, TX, 9 miles southwest of Van Horn at 4,065 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 93°F and low of 68°F; January is the coolest, at 59°F and 30°F. July is the wettest at 2.1 inches of precipitation on average and April the driest at 0.2 inches; the year adds up to 10.4 inches over 26 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 95 days a year, almost all from April to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 70 nights a year. Snowfall averages 3.3 inches a year, most of it in December. That 10.4 inches is more than at 4 of the 312 Texas stations used on this site (1%).
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 59 | 30 | 0.5 | 2 | 0.7 |
| Feb | 64 | 34 | 0.4 | 1 | 0.6 |
| Mar | 72 | 41 | 0.3 | 1 | 0.2 |
| Apr | 79 | 48 | 0.2 | 1 | 0.0 |
| May | 87 | 57 | 0.5 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 95 | 66 | 1.1 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 93 | 68 | 2.1 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 92 | 67 | 2.0 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 86 | 61 | 1.5 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 79 | 50 | 0.9 | 2 | 0.1 |
| Nov | 68 | 38 | 0.4 | 1 | 0.5 |
| Dec | 59 | 31 | 0.5 | 2 | 1.2 |
| Year | 78 | 49 | 10.4 | 26 | 3.3 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Van Horn, TX (4,065 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 Van Horn
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 10 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Van Horn: 9 thunderstorm wind reports and 1 flash flood. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $113,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on August 17, 2020.
July 17, 1996: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Van Horn — 1 injured, $50,000 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
Culberson County, which includes Van Horn, has been named in 12 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1998, 6 of them major disasters (by incident: 4 fires, 3 hurricanes, 2 biological emergencies, 2 ice storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storms, on February 19, 2021. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Culberson County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very Low for hurricanes, tornadoes, hail, inland flooding, strong wind, lightning and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $2.8 million a year, the 226th highest of 254 Texas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $514,000 (18%), 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 Van Horn
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- Pecos, TX72 mi
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- Fabens, TX90 mi
- Carlsbad, NM94 mi
- Clint, TX95 mi
- Socorro, TX98 mi
- San Elizario, TX98 mi
- Alpine, TX101 mi
- Kermit, TX108 mi
- El Paso, TX109 mi
- Fort Bliss, TX110 mi
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