Hidalgo County, Texas

What hazards hit Hidalgo County most?

The most frequent records are drought records: 232 since 1996. 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 Hidalgo County had?

NOAA records 43 tornadoes in Hidalgo County from 1955 to 2025, the strongest rated F3, with 0 deaths and 23 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 41 tornadoes whose track touched Hidalgo County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 43: 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 Hidalgo County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the June 15, 2026 flash flood ($5.0 million in damage in 2025 dollars).

Torrential rainfall the began just before the morning commute would soon add up to notable flash flooding across Weslaco, parts of Mercedes, and extending westward to the east side of Donna and southward to near US 281 (Progreso). Rainfall totals of near 7 inches were recorded along IH-2 near the Mid-Valley Airport, in just over two hours. Flash flooding included numerous streets, including the frontage road, with 2-3 feet of water as well as several properties with water incursion into them. Some of the reports included: *Numerous social media reports and news media coverage of flooding along the I-2 frontage road in Weslaco near North Republic St and North Texas Blvd. *The IH-2 frontage road was closed (eastbound) between Westgate and Texas Boulevard (Exits 157 to 155). *A city disaster declaration was issued by the Mayor of Weslaco due to the extensive nature of the flooding.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1355131)

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

A damage figure marked "step" is a record from before 1993: NOAA then filed damage by category, and the figure is the category as entered, in the dollars of that year, not an estimate of the loss.

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 Hidalgo 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?

Records by month in Hidalgo County. The two busiest months are in violet.

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

Federal disaster declarations for Hidalgo County

FEMA's register lists 32 declarations that include Hidalgo County: 22 major disasters, 10 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for hurricane (15) and flood (5).

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 Hidalgo County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 116 flood or flash flood records for Hidalgo County from 1997 to 2026, on 69 days, with 4 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Hidalgo County ranks 104th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $118 million on 4,405 claims filed in Hidalgo County; the most in one year was 843 in 2020. 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 Hidalgo County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Hidalgo County Relatively High overall, with an expected annual loss of $310 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 Hidalgo County

1. Cameron County 1,120
2. Hidalgo County 1,069
3. Willacy County 694
4. Starr County 575
5. Kenedy County 488
6. Brooks County 458

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
• Drought in TexasThe state's drought records, 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 Hidalgo CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Hidalgo County's FEMA declarations (CSV)32 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis