Lightning in Texas

Events

1,001

Deaths

82

Injuries

291

Damage

$103 million

• Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Texas, May 23 to 24, 201514 deaths · $220 million · EF1 · 50 eventsAn upper level shortwave trough moved around the longwave low over the Four Corners region. This upper distubance interacted with a surface boundary moving northward as a warm front from South Texas into a very moist airmass.
• Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Texas, May 16, 20249 deaths · $75 million · EF1 · 53 eventsOn the evening of May 16, a derecho moved into SE TX. This resulted in extensive wind damage across much of the Greater Houston area, including much of Downtown Houston. Maximum wind gusts were estimated to have reached over 100 mph.
• Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Texas, April 27 to 30, 20168 deaths · $2.9 million · EF0 · 45 eventsA warm front and a dry line combined to produce another round of severe weather across the region. Three tornadoes occurred on April 29th producing relatively minor damage equivalent to EF-0 damage.
• Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Texas, May 23 to 28, 20156 deaths · 9 injured · $38 million · EF2 · 111 eventsFor several days, a stalled cold front, combined with abundant moisture from the Gulf of Mexico combined to produce widespread rain and thunderstorms in Texas.
• Flash Flooding and Flooding in Texas, October 30 to 31, 20137 deaths · $102 million · 16 eventsProlonged flow from the Gulf of Mexico produced a deep moist layer at the surface with precipitable water values two standard deviations above the mean on area soundings.
• Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Texas, April 24 to 27, 20264 deaths · 7 injured · $8.9 million · EF2 · 155 eventsFrom April 24 to April 27, daily thunderstorms developed during the late afternoon and evening, triggered by a dryline and a meandering frontal boundary.
• Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Texas, March 27 to 30, 20255 deaths · $158 million · EF0 · 20 eventsSeveral rounds of showers and thunderstorms pummeled the Lower Rio Grande Valley, especially during the afternoon and overnight hours of March 27th into early on March 28th, resulting in historic seasonal rainfall and widespread flash and areal flooding across the RGV.
• Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Texas, March 29 to 31, 20074 deaths · 2 injured · $22 million · EF1 · 79 eventsAn upper low pressure system situated to the west brought large scale lift to north Texas. Southerly winds brought deep rich moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. These and other factors caused numerous thunderstorms to develop.
• Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Texas, December 29, 20062 deaths · 32 injured · $6.7 million · F2 · 38 eventsA rare winter tornado outbreak occurred on December 29 over portions of North Texas, spawning almost two dozen tornadoes. Very high shear and low instability created an environment favorable for tornadoes.
• Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Texas, October 16 to 17, 20064 deaths · 1 injured · $2.7 million · F0 · 26 eventsThe combination of very deep tropical moisture with a slow-moving warm front and the approach of a strong upper level trough resulted in excessive rainfall across Harris and various surrounding counties.
• Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Texas, March 7 to 11, 20163 deaths · 4 injured · $3.1 million · EF1 · 100 eventsThis was a multi-day severe weather and flood event. It started with a large-scale upper level low pressure system which deepened over the Four-Corners region. Moisture and instability increased in advance of this system.
• Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Texas, May 1 to 3, 20073 deaths · 4 injured · $2.7 million · EF0 · 86 eventsA split in the upper levels of the atmosphere steered several southern stream impulses into north Texas, producing flash flooding, strong winds, and a few tornadoes. The most impressive of these events was a derecho which moved through North Texas on May 2.
• Tornado and Hail in Texas, June 9, 20192 deaths · 6 injured · $11 million · EF2 · 52 eventsAnother complex of storms moved south from Oklahoma into North Texas, producing widespread wind damage from the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex southward through a good portion of the region during the afternoon of Sunday June 9.
• Flash Flooding and Hail in Texas, April 23 to 24, 20193 deaths · 1 injured · $961,000 · 1.5 in hail · 20 eventsStorms which developed along a slow-moving cold front produced pockets of wind damage along with areas of flooding across the region Tuesday night into Wednesday.
• Tornadoes and Hail in Texas, October 20 to 21, 20193 injured · $2.0 billion · EF3 · 71 eventsThunderstorms erupted across the DFW Metroplex as a strong upper level system and a cold front impacted the region on the evening of October 20 through the early morning hours of October 21st.
• Flash Flooding and Lightning Strike in Texas, September 6 to 8, 20183 deaths · $125,000 · 10 eventsA slow-moving storm system and a very moist airmass led to periods of heavy rain and flooding across North and Central Texas Thursday through the weekend.
• Tornadoes and Hail in Texas, April 13, 20191 death · 4 injured · $1.6 million · EF3 · 12 eventsA storm system moving eastward across the state produced several tornadoes, some wind damage and large hail.
• Tornadoes and Hail in Texas, May 24, 20111 death · 1 injured · $4.5 million · EF2 · 129 eventsThree rounds of thunderstorms affected north Texas with 10 tornadoes confirmed. The atmosphere was highly unstable on this day and a High Risk was issued by the Storm Prediction Center for the northwestern counties of north Texas while a Moderate Risk covered much of the rest of…
• Flash Flooding and Flooding in Texas, August 18, 20122 deaths · 8 injured · $836,000 · 52 kt wind · 19 eventsNumerous showers and thunderstorms produced heavy rainfall over the Dallas/Fort Worth area; resulting in flash flooding in Dallas, Tarrant, and southern Denton County. Rainfall rates up to 2 in 30 minutes were measured during the event.
• Lightning Strike in Texas, September 14, 20041 death · 40 injured · 4 eventsSpotted at FM 2546 and Hwy 71.
• Damaging Winds and Lightning Strike in Texas, January 2, 20172 deaths · $554,000 · 71 kt wind · 20 eventsA shortwave trough and a Pacific Cold Front moved across the Southern Plains during the first days of 2017.
• Flash Flooding and Flooding in Texas, January 24 to 25, 20122 deaths · $411,000 · 87 kt wind · 21 eventsRich low level moisture combined with increasing warm air advection and a very slow moving upper level low resulted in a heavy rainfall event that began during the afternoon of the 24th and ended from west to east during the day on the 25th.
• Flash Flooding and Flooding in Texas, September 1 to 4, 20202 deaths · $590,000 · 13 eventsAn upper level trough moved very slowly from the Rockies into the Plains during the first week of September, resulting in several days of showers and thunderstorms. Many storms became strong with gusty winds and hail, but the primary result was heavy rain and flooding.
• Tornado and Hail in Texas, April 23 to 24, 20101 death · 9 injured · $1.8 million · EF1 · 53 eventsA linear mesoscale convective system developed in Lampasas County and moved northeast through north Texas on the night of Friday, April 23rd into the early morning hours of the 24th.
• Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Texas, May 2 to 31, 19995 injured · $7.1 million · F1 · 258 eventsLightning started a fire that destroyed a house.

Lightning everywhereEvery kind of event in Texas

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24.