Nolan County, Texas

What hazards hit Nolan County most?

The most frequent records are hail reports: 254 since 1955. 63% 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 Nolan County had?

NOAA records 49 tornadoes in Nolan County from 1954 to 2020, the strongest rated F3, with 1 death and 101 injuries recorded in the county. That is 97th of 254 Texas counties by days with tornadoes per 1,000 square miles since 1950. 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 49 tornadoes whose track touched Nolan County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 49, the same count); along their whole tracks they killed 2 people, 1 of them in Nolan County.

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 Nolan County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the August 29, 2022 thunderstorm wind (1 death).

The Nolan County Sheriff confirmed 6 accidents on I-20 near Roscoe, with 1 fatality caused by a tanker truck rolling over. Also, several jack-knifed 18-wheelers. No tornadoes reported. but locally strong winds were reported. Also, multiple power lines were blown down nearby.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1053017)

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 Nolan 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).

Drought in the 2010s: 33 records against 7 in the decade before, 33 of them forecast-zone records. Cells marked z rose mostly through zone records. The local National Weather Service office files these once per forecast zone, so a change in how it draws its zones or splits a storm into records moves this count as much as the weather does; read it beside the Nolan County days with a record above.

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

What time of year?

63% 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 Nolan County

FEMA's register lists 20 declarations that include Nolan County: 11 major disasters, 7 emergencies and 2 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for fire (7) 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 Nolan County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 30 flood or flash flood records for Nolan County from 1996 to 2023, on 27 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Nolan County ranks 1612th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $1.1 million on 56 claims filed in Nolan County; the most in one year was 14 in 2018. 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 Nolan County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Nolan County Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $7.3 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 Nolan County

1. Taylor County 1,268
2. Jones County 886
3. Runnels County 641
4. Scurry County 625
5. Nolan County 615
6. Fisher County 535
7. Mitchell County 469
8. Coke County 403

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 Nolan CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Nolan County's FEMA declarations (CSV)20 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis