Tornadoes · United States · Texas

1996 tornadoes in Texas

138 tornadoes touched down in Texas in 1996, 9 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

1995 1997 The whole country in 1996

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

F040 to 72 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
F2113 to 157 mph
Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.
F3158 to 206 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
F4207 to 260 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
F5261 to 318 mph
Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.
Unrated
The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Every tornado in Texas in 1996

January 17 9 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
January 17	9:55 PM CST	F2	Fannin	2.5	150	5	$150,000
January 17	10:33 PM CST	F1	Dallas	3.0	50	1	$750,000
January 17	10:40 PM CST	F2	Dallas	0.5	50		$750,000
January 17	10:42 PM CST	F1	Dallas	1.5	50
January 17	10:43 PM CST	F1	Dallas	1.2	50
January 17	10:47 PM CST	F0	Dallas	0.1	10
January 17	10:47 PM CST	F0	Dallas	2.0	50
January 17	10:50 PM CST	F1	Dallas	5.0	50
January 17	11:00 PM CST	F1	Kaufman	4.0	50

February 27 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
February 27	2:15 PM CST	F0	Smith	4.8	25		1	$10,000

March 5 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 5	6:12 PM CST	F0	Wood	0.5	25
March 5	6:19 PM CST	F0	Titus	0.5	25

April 12 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
April 12	7:41 PM CDT	F0	Bell	0.1	20
April 12	7:46 PM CDT	F2	Bell	1.0	250	$60,000
April 12	9:10 PM CDT	F0	Limestone	0.1	20

April 13 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 13	9:18 PM CDT	F2	Wise	0.5	75			$100,000
April 13	9:30 PM CDT	F0	Wise	0.1	20

April 19 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 19	7:30 PM CDT	F0	Coryell	0.1	20			$4,000
April 19	7:38 PM CDT	F2	Hunt	0.5	50			$150,000

April 20 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 20	4:15 PM CDT	F1	Shelby	5.0	250

April 21 10 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
April 21	8:25 PM CDT	F0	Montague	0.1	20	$10,000
April 21	8:30 PM CDT	F0	Montague	0.1	20
April 21	9:00 PM CDT	F0	Cooke	2.0	30	$10,000
April 21	9:05 PM CDT	F0	Cooke	2.0	30	$10,000
April 21	9:20 PM CDT	F0	Cooke	0.1	20
April 21	9:33 PM CDT	F0	Grayson	1.0	25	$10,000
April 21	10:07 PM CDT	F0	Grayson	0.1	20	$2,000
April 21	10:25 PM CDT	F0	Cooke	1.0	20	$10,000
April 21	10:58 PM CDT	F0	Grayson	2.0	30	$10,000
April 21	11:40 PM CDT	F0	Grayson	2.0	30	$2,000

April 22 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 22	4:46 PM CDT	F0	Harris	0.5	50			$40,000

April 28 5 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
April 28	7:00 PM CDT	F0	Limestone	0.1	20
April 28	7:10 PM CDT	F0	Henderson	0.1	20
April 28	8:10 PM CDT	F0	Freestone	0.1	20
April 28	8:22 PM CDT	F0	Freestone	0.1	20
April 28	8:22 PM CDT	F0	Anderson	0.1	20

May 9 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
May 9	6:20 PM CDT	F0	Gray	0.1	25
May 9	6:59 PM CDT	F0	Wheeler	5.0	100
May 9	7:22 PM CDT	F0	Wheeler	0.1	20
May 9	7:31 PM CDT	F0	Wheeler	0.6	75

May 10 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 10	8:10 PM CDT	F0	Irion	0.1	75
May 10	9:03 PM CDT	F1	Tom Green	5.0	1,000	$1.0 million
May 10	9:06 PM CDT	F0	Concho	0.1	80

May 13 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 13	7:20 PM CDT	F0	Mitchell	0.1	80
May 13	7:45 PM CDT	F0	Mitchell	0.1	75

May 24 8 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
May 24	3:49 PM CDT	F0	Hansford	1.0	50
May 24	3:56 PM CDT	F0	Hutchinson	0.5	30
May 24	3:57 PM CDT	F0	Ochiltree	0.6	40
May 24	4:28 PM CDT	F0	Hansford	0.6	75
May 24	4:42 PM CDT	F0	Ochiltree	0.5	50
May 24	5:33 PM CDT	F0	Carson	0.6	50
May 24	6:55 PM CDT	F0	Gray	0.5	40
May 24	8:30 PM CDT	F0	Ochiltree	0.5	50

May 25 11 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 25	4:55 PM CDT	F0	Parmer	0.1	10
May 25	5:30 PM CDT	F0	Dallam	5.0	100
May 25	5:54 PM CDT	F2	Deaf Smith	3.0	200	$150,000
May 25	6:39 PM CDT	F1	Dallam	4.0	200	$200,000
May 25	6:41 PM CDT	F1	Dawson	0.5	100
May 25	7:05 PM CDT	F0	Lynn	0.1	10
May 25	7:14 PM CDT	F0	Lynn	0.1	10
May 25	10:35 PM CDT	F0	King	0.1	10
May 25	11:55 PM CDT	F1	Dickens	17.0	20	$10,000
May 25	12:42 AM CDT	F0	King	0.1	10
May 25	12:55 AM CDT	F0	Cottle	0.1	10	$20,000

May 29 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
May 29	5:35 PM CDT	F0	Irion	0.1	75
May 29	6:29 PM CDT	F1	Irion	0.1	70
May 29	10:00 PM CDT	F0	Brown	0.1	80

May 30 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
May 30	2:56 PM CDT	F0	Jones	0.2	90
May 30	7:08 PM CDT	F0	Eastland	0.1	20
May 30	8:26 PM CDT	F0	Comanche	0.1	20

May 31 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 31	7:17 PM CDT	F0	Armstrong	0.5	50
May 31	9:13 PM CDT	F0	Donley	0.5	50

June 2 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
June 2	3:28 PM CDT	F0	Hansford	3.0	50
June 2	5:07 PM CDT	F0	Carson	0.5	50
June 2	5:32 PM CDT	F0	Carson	0.5	50
June 2	9:18 PM CDT	F0	Lubbock	0.1	10

June 3 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 3	9:25 PM CDT	F0	Haskell	0.1	25			$2,000

June 12 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 12	8:23 PM CDT	F0	Lamar	0.1	25

June 18 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 18	5:34 PM CDT	F0	Armstrong	0.5	50

June 20 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 20	7:54 PM CDT	F0	Jackson	0.3	75			$10,000

July 9 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 9	5:40 PM CDT	F0	Castro	0.1	10		3	$50,000

July 23 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 23	1:30 PM CDT	F0	Hunt	0.1	30

July 25 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 25	9:45 AM CDT	F0	Calhoun	0.3	10

August 10 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 10	6:23 PM CDT	F0	Wheeler	0.5	50

August 12 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 12	6:30 PM CDT	F0	Wharton	0.5	50			$40,000
August 12	7:20 PM CDT	F0	Jackson	0.5	50

August 23 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 23	7:30 AM CDT	F0	Cameron	5.0	30

August 24 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 24	12:05 PM CDT	F0	Cameron	0.2	20

August 26 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 26	6:28 PM CDT	F0	Jeff Davis	0.3	40

August 28 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 28	1:05 PM CDT	F0	Randall	0.2	10
August 28	1:30 PM CDT	F0	Randall	0.2	10

September 1 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 1	6:10 AM CDT	F0	Galveston	0.5	50

September 7 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 7	8:00 PM CDT	F0	Lubbock	0.1	10

September 14 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 14	10:35 PM CDT	F1	Comanche	0.5	40			$1.0 million
September 14	11:07 PM CDT	F0	Val Verde	0.5	50

September 15 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
September 15	1:15 AM CDT	F1	Uvalde	0.5	100
September 15	2:45 AM CDT	F2	Uvalde	4.0	700	1	$20,000
September 15	8:45 AM CDT	F1	Falls	0.2	30		$30,000

September 16 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 16	6:05 PM CDT	F1	Bee	2.0	25

September 17 6 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
September 17	8:00 PM CDT	F0	King	0.1	10
September 17	9:20 PM CDT	F0	Dickens	0.1	10
September 17	9:37 PM CDT	F0	King	0.1	10
September 17	10:10 PM CDT	F0	Moore	0.5	100
September 17	11:42 PM CDT	F0	Hutchinson	0.5	50
September 17	12:49 AM CDT	F0	Hansford	0.5	50

September 19 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
September 19	9:30 AM CDT	F1	Palo Pinto	0.5	40	$2,000
September 19	9:15 PM CDT	F0	Coryell	0.1	30
September 19	11:15 PM CDT	F0	Falls	0.1	30

September 20 15 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
September 20	9:40 AM CDT	F1	Live Oak	2.0	25
September 20	12:35 PM CDT	F1	Jim Wells	1.0	25
September 20	1:00 PM CDT	F0	Nueces	0.2	10
September 20	1:00 PM CDT	F0	Kleberg	0.2	10
September 20	6:40 PM CDT	F0	Lamar	0.2	35	$70,000
September 20	7:11 PM CDT	F1	Milam	0.2	35	$70,000
September 20	7:20 PM CDT	F1	Milam	0.2	35	$4,000
September 20	7:47 PM CDT	F0	Burleson	0.5	50	$500,000
September 20	7:50 PM CDT	F0	Burleson	1.0	50	$500,000
September 20	7:56 PM CDT	F0	Burleson	0.5	50	$500,000
September 20	8:09 PM CDT	F0	Burnet	0.2	30
September 20	8:34 PM CDT	F0	Washington	0.5	50	$10,000
September 20	8:58 PM CDT	F1	Travis	1.7	50	$10,000
September 20	12:25 AM CDT	F0	Lavaca	0.2	30
September 20	12:59 AM CDT	F1	DeWitt	0.5	50	$10,000

September 26 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 26	2:20 PM CDT	F0	Camp	2.0	50		1	$10,000

September 27 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 27	10:25 AM CDT	F0	Galveston	0.5	50			$30,000

October 21 8 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
October 21	8:00 AM CDT	F1	Hood	0.5	40		$40,000
October 21	9:35 AM CDT	F1	Dallas	0.5	50	7	$3.0 million
October 21	9:45 AM CDT	F0	Dallas	0.1	35	1	$120,000
October 21	11:10 AM CDT	F0	Erath	0.1	30
October 21	3:15 PM CDT	F0	Hamilton	0.1	30
October 21	3:26 PM CDT	F1	Cass	22.0	25		$40,000
October 21	3:30 PM CDT	F0	Bosque	0.1	30
October 21	3:45 PM CDT	F0	Hill	0.1	30

November 7 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
November 7	3:56 AM CST	F2	Harrison	5.0	1,760
November 7	4:12 PM CST	F0	Cooke	0.1	20

November 24 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
November 24	5:50 AM CST	F0	Jim Wells	0.1	10

November 30 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
November 30	10:27 AM CST	F0	Trinity	0.1	30		2	$30,000

December 31 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
December 31	11:00 AM CST	F0	Cameron	0.1	20

Nearby

Every tornado in Texas since 1950 Warnings in force in Texas The live radar over Texas

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.