Childress County, Texas

What hazards hit Childress County most?

The most frequent records are hail reports: 216 since 1955. 64% of its hail reports since 1955 fell in April and May. The rank column places the county among Texas's counties by days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land over each hazard's complete period.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (county and forecast-zone records attributed to the county; a zone record shows its own totals on each county it covers). Days: dates with at least one record of the hazard in the county. Ranks: days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer), since 1950 for tornadoes, 1955 for hail and thunderstorm wind, 1996 for the rest.

How many tornadoes has Childress County had?

NOAA records 26 tornadoes in Childress County from 1951 to 2014, the strongest rated F2, with 0 deaths and 2 injuries recorded in the county. A tornado that crossed a county line is counted in each county it touched, with the length of its path inside the county.

Counted as whole tornadoes rather than county records, the Storm Prediction Center's database holds 27 tornadoes whose track touched Childress County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 26: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 0 people.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in Texas.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, tornado records by county (path length in the county, maximum width); ratings as published: F scale before February 1, 2007, EF scale after. Whole-track figures: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database (1950-2025). SPC severe weather database.

When was the last damaging storm in Childress County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the June 15, 2019 thunderstorm wind ($58,000 in damage in 2025 dollars).

Substantial wind damage occurred in and around Childress due to severe thunderstorm winds. At 1901 CST, the Automated Surface Observing System at the Childress Municipal Airport recorded a wind gust to 81 mph. Ten minutes later at 1911 CST, a trained spotter reported a wind gust to 87 mph five miles north of Childress on US Highway 83/62. In the city of Childress, a tractor trailer was blown over in a parking lot. Considerable damage came from the partial destruction of the Veteran's Memorial Wall in Childress as a large tree was blown over on the structure.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 826018)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database; every record of 2025-2026 is listed, earlier ones when they caused deaths, injuries or $250,000 of damage (2025 dollars), and every tornado.

The deadliest and costliest records

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths and injuries direct and indirect; damage is property plus crops as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars.

Is it getting more frequent?

Records per decade for Childress County's most frequent hazards. Counts rose everywhere after 1996, when NOAA began recording every event type, so compare decades within a hazard's complete period only (the shaded cells come before it).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records per calendar decade; zone records from the CZ_TYPE field (Z).

What time of year?

64% of its hail reports since 1955 fell in April and May. The two busiest months are in violet.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began.

Federal disaster declarations for Childress County

FEMA's register lists 14 declarations that include Childress County: 7 major disasters, 7 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for fire (5) and hurricane (3).

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), declarations through October 2, 2026; one declaration is counted once however many areas it names. OpenFEMA dataset page.

How many floods has Childress County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 11 flood or flash flood records for Childress County from 2006 to 2025, on 11 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Childress County ranks 2830th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $7,800 on 1 claim filed in Childress County; the most in one year was 1 in 1989. Claims count insured losses only: uninsured flood damage is not in this file.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026; claims by year of loss, payments in the dollars of the year paid. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk for Childress County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Childress County Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $6.4 million. These are FEMA's model estimates of future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of what happened; they can differ from the record above.

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, county table, December 2025 release. FEMA's National Risk Index map.

Counties that share a border with Childress County

1. Harmon County, OK 798
2. Hall County 725
3. Childress County 687
4. Hardeman County 686
5. Collingsworth County 592
6. Cottle County 586

Source: U.S. Census Bureau county adjacency file; NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950. The Census Bureau's adjacency file.

Next

• Tornadoes in TexasEvery Texas tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Hail in TexasThe state's hail reports, by county, year and month
• The Texas recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Childress CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Childress County's FEMA declarations (CSV)14 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis