PlainHazard

Texas drought

Every recorded drought record since 1996 · 254 counties with a record

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 18,588 drought records in Texas from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 661 a year since 2000. The costliest was the June 1, 2011 drought ($1.6 billion in 2025 dollars). Texas ranks 1st of 51 states and territories by count and 6th of 50 per square mile.

Drought in Texas, 1996 to 2026

Drought records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026.

  • recorded, no damage figure
  • under $1 million
  • $1 million or more
  • $10 million or more
  • $100 million or more, or 10 deaths
  • $1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
  • a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
  • a year with a death
Records
18,5881996 to June 30, 2026
A year since 2000
661average
Deaths
00 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars
$15.3Bas filed
Busiest year
20221,896 records

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; deaths and damage as filed, damage in 2025 dollars. Search the record at NCEI.

Are drought records common in Texas?

Texas averages about 661 drought records a year since 2000, 1st of 51 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2022 (1,896). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Texas records 711 drought records since 1996, 6th of 50 states and territories by that measure.

  1. 1. Hawaii 2624
  2. 2. New Jersey 1205
  3. 3. Delaware 1062
  4. 4. Oklahoma 971
  5. 5. Georgia 900
  6. 6. Texas 711
  7. 7. New Mexico 528
  8. 8. Alabama 527
  9. 9. Tennessee 477
  10. 10. Iowa 466

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.

Which counties in Texas have the most drought records?

Per square mile, Rockwall County leads Texas: 68 days with a drought record since 1996, 534.5 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Willacy County has the most drought records (284 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).

  1. Rockwall County 534.5 (68)
  2. Somervell County 440.4 (82)
  3. Aransas County 317.4 (103)
  4. Rains County 300.7 (69)
  5. Delta County 299.8 (77)
  6. Camp County 296.1 (58)
  7. Willacy County 267.5 (284)
  8. Morris County 222.2 (56)
  9. Zapata County 213.3 (216)
  10. Jim Hogg County 208.6 (238)
  11. Brooks County 202.5 (195)
  12. Hood County 197.3 (83)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.

When is drought season in Texas?

Texas's drought records by month. The busiest month is August (1,978 records).

The values, month by month

Jan 1,346 · Feb 1,351 · Mar 1,659 · Apr 1,823 · May 1,618 · Jun 1,444 · Jul 1,504 · Aug 1,978 · Sep 1,685 · Oct 1,426 · Nov 1,400 · Dec 1,354 (records).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.

The costliest drought records in Texas

Texas: the most damaging storms since 1993, 2025 dollars
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2011-06-01 DroughtLubbock County · forecast zone Lubbock 0 0 $1.6B
2006-01-01 DroughtMontague County · forecast zone Montague 0 0 $1.5B
2000-11-01 DroughtParmer County · forecast zone Parmer 0 0 $883M
1998-12-01 DroughtYoakum County · forecast zone Yoakum 0 0 $815M
2001-12-01 DroughtParmer County · forecast zone Parmer 0 0 $700M
2011-07-01 DroughtLubbock County · forecast zone Lubbock 0 0 $656M
1998-12-01 DroughtAndrews County · forecast zone Andrews 0 0 $480M
2006-02-01 DroughtFannin County · forecast zone Fannin 0 0 $439M

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.

Are drought records becoming more frequent in Texas?

Texas's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.

Drought: Texas and the United States by decade (2020s to June 30, 2026)
DecadeTexasUnited StatesTexas's share
1996-991,3925,60024.9%
2000s3,14718,57116.9%
2010s7,96531,44125.3%
2020-266,08430,14720.2%

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.

The most recent drought records in Texas

The 12 most recent records, to June 30, 2026
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2026-06-01 DroughtZapata County · forecast zone Zapata 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtJim Hogg County · forecast zone Jim Hogg 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtVan Zandt County · forecast zone Van Zandt 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtHopkins County · forecast zone Hopkins 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtHenderson County · forecast zone Henderson 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtAnderson County · forecast zone Anderson 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtDelta County · forecast zone Delta 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtLamar County · forecast zone Lamar 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtWilbarger County · forecast zone Wilbarger 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtHardeman County · forecast zone Hardeman 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtFoard County · forecast zone Foard 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtKnox County · forecast zone Knox 0 0 –

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.

Federal disaster declarations for drought records in Texas

FEMA has declared 1 disaster in Texas for drought, counting its incident type and declarations that name the hazard in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); 0 were major disasters, the latest on September 10, 1993.

The 12 most recent
DeclaredNumberTitleAreas named
1993-09-10EM-3113Extreme Fire Hazard149

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

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