States › Texas › Briscoe County

Briscoe County, Texas

Recorded hazard history: storm events since 1950, federal disaster declarations since 1953, flood insurance claims since 1978, and FEMA's risk index.

FIPS 48045 · 1,403 residents (2021) · 900 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 185Tornado · 50Flood · 14Wind · 186Winter · 67

Briscoe County within Texas. Dots: HailTornadoFloodWind event locations in the kept record. Boundaries: US Census Bureau.

NCEI notes that Storm Data is compiled from a variety of sources including the National Weather Service, other federal, state and local agencies, the media and the public; that property and crop damage figures are estimates; and that some events are recorded by NWS forecast zone rather than by county. FEMA notes that NFIP claim records are redacted and aggregated to protect the privacy of policyholders. NCEI storm records through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA declarations refreshed 1 Oct 2026; NFIP claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

Between 1950 and 2026, NCEI recorded 619 storm events in Briscoe County, Texas, led by damaging wind.

That is 68.8 events per 100 square miles, in line with the Texas figure of 63.3, and 4,412.0 per 10,000 residents against 56.0 statewide.

9 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 25 deaths and 85 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $2.4M and crop damage at $173M.

FEMA has designated the county in 16 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Severe Winter Storms (major disaster, 19 Feb 2021).

OpenFEMA lists no National Flood Insurance Program claims in the county.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Very Low" and its expected annual loss as "Very Low" ($5.9M a year across 18 hazards).

9events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

619events since 195025 deaths, 85 injuries recorded

16disaster declarationslast 19 Feb 2021

0NFIP flood claims$0 paid

Compared with Texas and the United States

Measure	Briscoe County	Texas	US
Recorded events since 1950	619	165,476	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	68.8	63.3	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	4,412.0	56.0	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	9	4,723	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	25	2,429	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$2.4M	$111B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	0.0	13.4	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	—	$55K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	—	24.7	16.1

County-recorded events plus zone-recorded events whose forecast zone is named for the county. State and US rows include events recorded only by forecast zone. Rates use 2021 Census population and land area.

Events by decade

Hail: 1Tornado: 3Wind: 2

Hail: 6Tornado: 5Wind: 1

Hail: 8Tornado: 6Wind: 4

Hail: 19Tornado: 11Wind: 2

Hail: 58Tornado: 4Flood: 3Wind: 10Winter: 2Drought: 10

Hail: 56Tornado: 13Flood: 3Wind: 53Winter: 24Heat: 1Drought: 24Wildfire: 1Fog: 1Other: 1

Hail: 24Tornado: 4Flood: 7Wind: 55Winter: 27Heat: 1Cold: 3Drought: 56Other: 3

Hail: 13Tornado: 4Flood: 1Wind: 59Winter: 14Heat: 1Cold: 1Drought: 12Other: 2

61950s121960s181970s321980s871990s1772000s1802010s1072020s

Recorded events in Briscoe County by decade and hazard group. HailTornadoFloodWindWinterHeatColdDroughtWildfireFogOther NCEI recorded only tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind before 1996.

Trend: 360 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 199 in the 20 years before. Reporting practice changed in 1996 and again with automated reports in the 2000s, so decade totals measure the record as much as the weather.

Events by type

Wind186

Hail185

Drought102

Winter67

Tornado50

Flood14

Other6

Cold4

Heat3

Wildfire1

Fog1

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	186	—	0.4%	detail
■ Hail	185	—	0.3%	detail
■ Drought	102	—	0.5%
■ Winter	67	—	0.8%	detail
■ Tornado	50	25	0.5%	detail
■ Flood	14	—	0.1%	detail
■ Other	6	—	0.3%
■ Cold	4	—	0.2%
■ Heat	3	—	0.0%
■ Wildfire	1	—	0.1%
■ Fog	1	—	0.4%

Hazard pages exist for hail, tornado, flood, wind and winter where the county has at least 10 recorded events. "Other" covers heavy rain, debris flow, dust, funnel clouds and similar reports.

Largest recorded events

Date	Event type	Group	Magnitude	Property damage	Crop damage	Deaths	Injuries	Geography
15 May 1957	Tornado	Tornado	F4	$250K	—	21	80	County
22 Jun 1975	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$30	—	3	—	County
17 Apr 1970	Tornado	Tornado	F4	—	—	1	4	County
1 Jul 2006	Drought	Drought	—	—	$135M	—	—	Forecast zone
1 Aug 2006	Drought	Drought	—	—	$26M	—	—	Forecast zone
9 Jul 2020	Excessive Heat	Heat	—	—	—	—	1	Forecast zone
1 Sep 2006	Drought	Drought	—	—	$9.4M	—	—	Forecast zone
21 Jun 2004	Hail	Hail	1.75 in	—	$1.0M	—	—	County
1 May 1996	Drought	Drought	—	$100K	$500K	—	—	Forecast zone
1 Jun 1996	Drought	Drought	—	$100K	$500K	—	—	Forecast zone
29 Jan 1999	Winter Storm	Winter	—	$500K	—	—	—	Forecast zone
29 May 2001	Hail	Hail	3.00 in	$200K	—	—	—	County
28 Mar 2007	Tornado	Tornado	EF2	$125K	—	—	—	County
17 Jun 2004	Hail	Hail	1.00 in	—	$120K	—	—	County
17 Jun 2004	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$100K	—	—	—	County
21 Jun 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	81 mph	$100K	—	—	—	County
30 Aug 2004	Hail	Hail	1.75 in	—	$100K	—	—	County
13 Jun 2009	Hail	Hail	4.00 in	$100K	—	—	—	County
31 May 2022	Hail	Hail	2.75 in	$100K	—	—	—	County

Ranked by deaths, then injuries, then NCEI's damage estimate. Deaths and injuries are NCEI counts (direct plus indirect); no personal details are recorded here.

Federal disaster declarations

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Programs
19 Feb 2021	DR-4586	Major disaster	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Winter Storms	Public assistance
14 Feb 2021	EM-3554	Emergency	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
25 Mar 2020	DR-4485	Major disaster	Biological	Covid-19 Pandemic	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Mar 2020	EM-3458	Emergency	Biological	Covid-19	Public assistance
9 Sep 2011	DR-4029	Major disaster	Fire	Wildfires	Public assistance
1 Jul 2011	DR-1999	Major disaster	Fire	Wildfires	Public assistance
14 Mar 2008	EM-3284	Emergency	Fire	Wildfires	Public assistance
11 Jan 2006	DR-1624	Major disaster	Fire	Extreme Wildfire Threat	Public assistance
24 Sep 2005	DR-1606	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Rita	Public assistance
21 Sep 2005	EM-3261	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Rita	Public assistance
2 Sep 2005	EM-3216	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Katrina Evacuation	Public assistance
8 Jan 2001	DR-1356	Major disaster	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Winter Ice Storm	Public assistance
1 Sep 1999	EM-3142	Emergency	Fire	Extreme Fire Hazards	Public assistance
26 Aug 1998	DR-1239	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Tropical Storm Charley	—
9 Sep 1992	DR-960	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Excessive Rain & Hail	Individual assistance
13 May 1970	DR-286	Major disaster	Tornado	Tornadoes, Windstorms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance

Declarations in which FEMA designated this county, from the OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2). DR: major disaster; EM: emergency; FM: fire management assistance. Programs show whether individual or public assistance was made available.

Flood insurance claims

OpenFEMA lists no NFIP claims with this county's code.

National Risk Index

Overall riskVery Lowscore 8.7 of 100

Expected annual loss$5.9MVery Low

Social vulnerabilityVery Low

Community resilienceVery Low

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Drought	Relatively High	$4,686,935
Hail	Relatively Low	$441,018
Tornado	Very Low	$202,380
Inland flooding	Very Low	$172,968
Wildfire	Very Low	$100,167
Cold wave	Very Low	$95,931
Strong wind	Very Low	$88,094
Heat wave	Very Low	$59,558
Winter weather	Very Low	$15,758
Lightning	Very Low	$9,346
Ice storm	Very Low	$4,282
Earthquake	Very Low	$3,749
Hurricane	Very Low	$2,279
Landslide	Very Low	$9

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 release. Ratings are FEMA's relative comparison of counties; expected annual loss is FEMA's modelled estimate of average yearly building, population and agriculture loss. See how to read the NRI.

Hurricane and tropical storm passes

No HURDAT2 track at tropical-storm strength passes within 100 miles of the county's centre point (through the 2025 season).

Questions and answers

How often does it hail in Briscoe County, TX?

NCEI records 185 hail events in Briscoe County since 1950, in 51 different years; that is about 2.4 recorded events a year. 91 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Briscoe County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 50 tornadoes in Briscoe County since 1950, 6 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 25.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Briscoe County?

19 Feb 2021: Severe Winter Storms, a major disaster declaration for severe ice storm. The county appears in 16 declarations since 1953.

How many flood insurance claims have been filed in Briscoe County, and how much was paid?

OpenFEMA lists no NFIP claims in the county.

Is Briscoe County in the National Risk Index's high-risk band?

FEMA's National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the county "Very Low" for overall risk, "Very Low" for expected annual loss, "Very Low" for social vulnerability and "Very Low" for community resilience. These ratings are FEMA's relative comparison across all US counties.

How does Briscoe County compare with the rest of Texas?

68.8 recorded events per 100 square miles against 63.3 statewide, and 0.0 NFIP claims per 1,000 residents against 13.4. The comparison table on this page shows each measure beside the state and national figures.

Provenance

Storm events: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, yearly details files through 30 Jun 2026 (public domain). Declarations: OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2, refreshed 1 Oct 2026. Flood claims: OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 as of 8 Sep 2026; NfipMultipleLossProperties v1 (2 Aug 2026); NfipResidentialPenetrationRates v1 (3 Aug 2026). Risk index: FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025. Hurricane tracks: NHC HURDAT2 through 2025. Population and area: US Census Bureau, 2021 vintage. Built 1 Oct 2026; see the methodology and corrections pages. Hazard hubs: Hail · Tornado · Flood · Wind · Winter.