Sutton County, Texas

What hazards hit Sutton County most?

The most frequent records are drought records: 78 since 1998. 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 Sutton County had?

NOAA records 5 tornadoes in Sutton County from 1991 to 2007, the strongest rated F1, with 0 deaths and 0 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 5 tornadoes whose track touched Sutton County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 5, the same count); 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 Sutton County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the September 21, 2018 flash flood ($9.4 million in damage in 2025 dollars).

Very heavy rain of eight plus inches fell north of Sonora in the vicinity of thirteen uncontrolled dams north of Sonora. Sites 1-8 are on the Dry Devils River and Sites 9-13 are on Lowrey Draw. As these dams filled, flood waters overflowed the spillways into the draws. This was the first time (as far as anyone knows) the emergency spillways were activated for some of these dams. There were no breaches, these structures worked as they were meant to function. Normally these structures would help mitigate flooding in Sonora, but previous rains had already filled up many of the sites. One of the deputies saw a wall of water come down the Dry Devil's Draw just north of Sonora at about 1 PM CDT near U.S. 277. This wall of water flooded many homes located near the Dry Devil's Draw in Sonora shortly after 1 PM CDT. Flood waters even flowed over the US 277 bridge on the south side of Sonora. …
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 786511)

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 Sutton 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 Sutton County. The two busiest months are in violet.

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

Federal disaster declarations for Sutton County

FEMA's register lists 18 declarations that include Sutton County: 10 major disasters, 8 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for fire (5) and flood (4).

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 Sutton County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 44 flood or flash flood records for Sutton County from 1996 to 2025, on 32 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Sutton County ranks 1907th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $894,000 on 30 claims filed in Sutton County; the most in one year was 21 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 Sutton County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Sutton County Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $2.5 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 Sutton County

1. Val Verde County 886
2. Kimble County 385
3. Edwards County 382
4. Crockett County 338
5. Menard County 321
6. Schleicher County 259
7. Sutton County 258

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