Garza County Natural Disasters and Weather Extremes
Hot Texas Rankings
The chance of earthquake damage in Garza County is about the same as Texas average and is much lower than the national average. The risk of tornado damage in Garza County is much lower than Texas average and is lower than the national average.
Earthquake Index, #34
| Garza County | 0.05 |
| Texas | 0.04 |
| U.S. | 1.81 |
The earthquake index value is calculated based on historical earthquake events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the earthquake level in a region. A higher earthquake index value means a higher chance of an earthquake.
Volcano Index, #1
| Garza County | 0.0000 |
| Texas | 0.0000 |
| U.S. | 0.0023 |
The volcano index value is calculated based on the currently known volcanoes using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the possibility of a region being affected by a possible volcano eruption. A higher volcano index value means a higher chance of being affected.
Tornado Index, #157
| Garza County | 111.77 |
| Texas | 208.58 |
| U.S. | 136.45 |
The tornado index value is calculated based on historical tornado events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the tornado level in a region. A higher tornado index value means a higher chance of tornado events.
Other Weather Extremes Events
A total of 9,546 other weather extremes events within 50 miles of Garza County were recorded from 1950 to 2010. The following is a break down of these events:
| Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count |
| Avalanche: | 0 | Blizzard: | 1 | Cold: | 4 | Dense Fog: | 0 | Drought: | 82 |
| Dust Storm: | 9 | Flood: | 718 | Hail: | 6,023 | Heat: | 6 | Heavy Snow: | 27 |
| High Surf: | 0 | Hurricane: | 0 | Ice Storm: | 11 | Landslide: | 0 | Strong Wind: | 83 |
| Thunderstorm Winds: | 2,384 | Tropical Storm: | 1 | Wildfire: | 5 | Winter Storm: | 28 | Winter Weather: | 46 |
| Other: | 118 | ||||||||
Volcanos Nearby
No volcano is found in or near Garza County.
Historical Earthquake Events
A total of 1 historical earthquake event that had a recorded magnitude of 3.5 or above found in or near Garza County.
| Distance (miles) | Date | Magnitude | Depth (km) | Latitude | Longitude |
| 32.5 | 1978-06-16 | 5.3 | 10 | 33.03 | -100.77 |
Historical Tornado Events
A total of 36 historical tornado events that had recorded magnitude of 2 or above found in or near Garza County.
| Distance (miles) | Date | Magnitude | Start Lat/Log | End Lat/Log | Length | Width | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage | Crop Damage | Affected County |
| 2.8 | 1961-06-05 | 2 | 33°13'N / 101°22'W | 33°09'N / 101°20'W | 5.10 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Garza |
| 9.7 | 1962-06-16 | 2 | 33°12'N / 101°32'W | 33°18'N / 101°22'W | 11.90 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Garza |
| 16.4 | 1969-05-05 | 2 | 33°09'N / 101°37'W | 33°11'N / 101°33'W | 4.70 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 3K | 0 | Lynn |
| 20.2 | 1970-05-12 | 2 | 33°15'N / 101°41'W | 33°18'N / 101°35'W | 6.80 Miles | 17 Yards | 0 | 0 | 3K | 0 | Lynn |
| 21.2 | 1981-05-07 | 2 | 33°29'N / 101°23'W | 1.50 Miles | 40 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Crosby | |
| 25.3 | 1989-06-06 | 3 | 33°37'N / 101°32'W | 33°29'N / 101°01'W | 29.00 Miles | 900 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Crosby |
| 25.4 | 1957-05-24 | 3 | 33°10'N / 101°47'W | 33°24'N / 101°40'W | 17.50 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 1 | 250K | 0 | Lynn |
| 27.0 | 1989-06-06 | 3 | 33°29'N / 101°01'W | 33°29'N / 100°59'W | 1.00 Mile | 900 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Dickens |
| 28.1 | 1957-05-24 | 3 | 33°24'N / 101°40'W | 33°43'N / 101°19'W | 29.80 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Lubbock |
| 30.7 | 1971-05-08 | 2 | 33°24'N / 101°46'W | 2.00 Miles | 67 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Lubbock | |
| 31.2 | 2005-05-12 | 3 | 33°35'N / 101°30'W | 33°39'N / 101°25'W | 6.00 Miles | 500 Yards | 0 | 0 | 300K | 200K | Crosby |
| Brief Description: F3 tornado in Ralls. A strong tornado developed approximately 9 miles to the southwest of Ralls around 8:40 PM and tracked to the northeast for six miles. Along the path of this tornado, several power poles were blown over or snapped and a few center pivots were overturned or twisted. A residence was completely destroyed with debris entirely removed from the foundation. The majority of the debris from this structure was blown to the northeast approximately 10 to 30 feet from the foundation...with other related debris dispersed over a mile away. Two pickup trucks were lifted and deposited upside down 5 to 30 feet from former locations. Trees were mud-splattered and stripped of bark with large branches completely torn off trunks. Center pivot irrigation systems were either blown over or twisted in surrounding fields...however some were left unscathed to the northeast of this tornado. Additional debris associated with this tornado was also deposited in a field across from US Highway 62/82 before dissipating. An outbreak of severe thunderstorms occurred across portions of the Texas panhandle and the South Plains of West Texas on Thursday May 12, 2005. The weather pattern on this day was highly conducive for severe thunderstorm and tornado development. A southward moving cold front early in the day became nearly stationary by afternoon as a strong flow of moisture overspread the area from the southeast. Numerous waves of severe thunderstorms developed throughout the afternoon on Thursday and continued well into the after midnight hours on Friday. During this long duration event, between the hours of 4:30 PM and 10:00 PM, several tornadoes occurred across the area. The National Weather Service in Lubbock, TX, dispatched a damage survey team to assess reports of tornadoes and associated damage. | |||||||||||
| 33.5 | 1957-04-21 | 4 | 33°26'N / 101°38'W | 33°35'N / 101°50'W | 15.50 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 6 | 2.5M | 0 | Lubbock |
| 34.7 | 1965-05-13 | 2 | 33°25'N / 101°50'W | 0.50 Mile | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Lubbock | |
| 35.1 | 1981-05-07 | 2 | 33°41'N / 101°20'W | 33°42'N / 101°18'W | 2.70 Miles | 150 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Crosby |
| 35.8 | 1981-05-07 | 2 | 33°42'N / 101°22'W | 1.00 Mile | 30 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Crosby | |
| 36.3 | 1981-05-07 | 2 | 33°40'N / 101°22'W | 33°45'N / 101°20'W | 6.10 Miles | 40 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Crosby |
| 36.7 | 2005-05-12 | 2 | 33°41'N / 101°25'W | 33°44'N / 101°23'W | 4.50 Miles | 500 Yards | 0 | 0 | 100K | 75K | Crosby |
| Brief Description: F2 tornado in Ralls. In assessing the damage from the F3 tornado, the debris field diminished in areal coverage as the tornado tracked farther to the northeast along the end of its path. Damage assessment and public accounts of the storm suggested the tornado weakened and lifted. Meanwhile, a second tornado developed. This occurrence coincided with a break in the debris field observed during the Survey. This cycle of one tornado weakening and lifting while another tornado forms to the right of the former path is typical in well-organized tornadic thunderstorms. This second tornado developed approximately 1.5 miles west of Ralls and tracked to the north and northwest before dissipating three miles north of Ralls. The tornado damaged a residence and a nearby barn. Two thousand pound bales of hay were tossed from one side of US Highway 62/82 to the other as the tornado scattered debris to the south and southwest across an adjacent field. In addition, a vehicle was overturned on the property within debris from the residence and power poles were either blown down or snapped and center pivots overturned. An outbreak of severe thunderstorms occurred across portions of the Texas panhandle and the South Plains of West Texas on Thursday May 12, 2005. The weather pattern on this day was highly conducive for severe thunderstorm and tornado development. A southward moving cold front early in the day became nearly stationary by afternoon as a strong flow of moisture overspread the area from the southeast. Numerous waves of severe thunderstorms developed throughout the afternoon on Thursday and continued well into the after midnight hours on Friday. During this long duration event, between the hours of 4:30 PM and 10:00 PM, several tornadoes occurred across the area. The National Weather Service in Lubbock, TX, dispatched a damage survey team to assess reports of tornadoes and associated damage. | |||||||||||
| 36.9 | 2005-06-12 | 2 | 33°15'N / 100°39'W | 33°14'N / 100°41'W | 2.00 Miles | 1200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 150K | 15K | Kent |
| Brief Description: The National Weather Service in Lubbock, TX conducted a damage survey in Kent County, approximately 8 miles to the northeast of Clairemont. In collaboration with the Center for Severe Weather Research in Boulder, CO and Texas Tech University meteorologists assessing the tornadoes across the county with Doppler-On-Wheels (DOW) data, a better understanding of the wind fields and tornado timing was achieved. The area of assessed damage was bounded by a triangle comprised of FM2320 to the south, FM1228 to the east, and CR112 to the west. There was a damage path characterized by tree damage across the zone. The path of the damage was oriented from a northeast-east to southwest-west direction. DOW data confirmed the large, wedge tornado initially propagated to the east and northeast, became nearly stationary, then rotate southward around the west side of the parent mesocyclone. The tornado moved to the southwest, then south and crossed FM1228 from the north/northeast to the south/southwest. The path of the tornado was between 0.6 to 0.7 miles wide. In assessing the damage, a circulatory patter was evident in a wheat field owned by a private farmer, with all of the wheat laying down to the south. Along this quadrant of the circulation, large farm equipment (tractors and cotton trailers) were tossed and mangled. An 80,000 lb box car was shaken by the tornado and the associated strong wind but was not moved from its location, however the contents inside were disturbed. The farm vehicles were tossed briefly a few times as there were scar marks and impact marks in the field as the equipment was blown to the south. The front-end of one tractor was snapped off after the second impact with the ground, as the vehicle was likely too heavy to remain airborne and was dragged and rolled by the tornadic wind and circulation. On the east side of the circulation, there were tree branches not grown in that immediate area that were stripped clean of bark. A cotton trailer (lighter than the other equipment) was lifted from its original location and was tossed to the north and mangled upon impact. The equipment was tossed approximately 3/10 of a mile within the circulation. It was evident from the damage pattern and debris, the circulation was multi-vortex in nature. The DOW measured wind speeds ranging from 45, 65 and 90 meters per second at various stages of the tornado life cycle at heights between 3 and 50 meters above ground level. | |||||||||||
| 37.5 | 1991-04-24 | 2 | 33°18'N / 100°45'W | 33°18'N / 100°35'W | 12.10 Miles | 350 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Kent |
| 40.9 | 1970-05-11 | 5 | 33°33'N / 101°54'W | 33°36'N / 101°46'W | 8.40 Miles | 1333 Yards | 26 | 500 | 250.0M | 0 | Lubbock |
| 42.6 | 1963-04-26 | 2 | 32°44'N / 100°55'W | 32°48'N / 100°36'W | 19.00 Miles | 67 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Scurry |
| 42.7 | 1967-06-01 | 2 | 33°36'N / 101°51'W | 2.00 Miles | 67 Yards | 0 | 1 | 0K | 0 | Lubbock | |
| 44.9 | 1955-05-22 | 2 | 33°50'N / 101°50'W | 33°40'N / 101°32'W | 20.70 Miles | 400 Yards | 0 | 0 | 3K | 0 | Hale |
| 44.9 | 2005-06-05 | 2 | 32°34'N / 101°18'W | 32°30'N / 101°19'W | 5.00 Miles | 1300 Yards | 0 | 0 | 80K | 0 | Borden |
| Brief Description: A significant tornado developed in southern Borden County shortly after 18:00 CST. This tornado initially formed just north of Farm to Market Road 1785 three miles west of that highway's intersection with Farm to Market Road 1205. The tornado then slowly moved southwest, and resulted in a wide swath of damage to mesquite trees, road signs, fences, and utility poles as it crossed Farm to Market Road 1785. The tornado's damaging ground circulation briefly dissipated south of Farm to Market Road 1785 in south-central Borden County. Video provided by the public and storm spotters indicated that this phase of the tornado's life cycle was characterized by a condensation funnel that reached half way to the ground with no debris visible near the ground. National Weather Service meteorologists that conducted a damage survey of the tornado's track initially concluded that the broken damage path was likely the result of two separate tornadoes. Photographic evidence, however, supports that the funnel aloft remained well-defined and that the tornado reformed about one mile north of the Borden and Howard County line. The tornado crossed a county road near the Howard County line, and left a three-quarter mile wide swath of damage to mesquite trees and fences. Large drifts of wind blown mud accumulated several feet high along barbed-wire fences on the north side of the tornadoes circulation. A tin shed also was severely damaged. The tornado then moved over plowed fields as it crossed into north-central Howard County. Damage in the Borden County segment of the tornado's path would suggest a weak category rating. This may be largely due to a lack of man made structures that were affected. More significant (F2) damage was observed along the Howard County segment of the damage path. The total path length over Borden and Howard Counties was nine miles. An outbreak of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes affected parts of west Texas during the afternoon and evening of the 5th. Thunderstorms developed along a stationary frontal boundary over the western low rolling plains and the northeastern Permian Basin during the late afternoon. These storms evolved into supercells, and one storm produced a series of tornadoes across southern Borden and northern Howard Counties. By mid evening, a small cluster of organized severe storms evolved and produced more widespread hail, damaging winds, and heavy rainfall. Damages to agricultural interests across the region were significant, and accounted for a majority of the estimated $2.2 million worth of losses reported. | |||||||||||
| 44.9 | 1965-06-08 | 2 | 32°54'N / 102°10'W | 32°54'N / 101°50'W | 19.40 Miles | 17 Yards | 0 | 8 | 25K | 0 | Dawson |
| 45.5 | 1955-05-22 | 2 | 33°48'N / 101°35'W | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Lubbock | |||
| 47.4 | 2005-06-09 | 3 | 33°52'N / 101°31'W | 33°52'N / 101°16'W | 10.00 Miles | 900 Yards | 0 | 0 | 200K | 70.0M | Floyd |
| Brief Description: The National Weather Service in Lubbock, TX conducted a damage survey in the vicinity of McCoy, TX in Floyd county. The tornado was a long-lived occurrence stretching from the Petersburg area in southeast Hale county across portions of southwest and south-central Floyd county. Significant damage resulted from a tornado impacting a grain elevator about 5 miles east of Petersburg/5 miles west of McCoy. The tornado destroyed the grain elevator, numerous power poles and center pivot irrigation systems across the area along and either side of FM 54. Numerous homes sustained roof and structural damage. One home sustained extensive roof damage as tornadic winds breached the garage and moved a pickup truck about ten inches in the driveway. The damage surveyed indicated the tornadic circulation was multi-vortex in nature. Extensive video of the tornado was captured by media and storm chasers depicting a very large, wedge tornado appearance. Another residence sustained extensive damage with a pickup truck thrown over 1/2 mile from the driveway into a field behind the home. The truck was lifted and carried through the air to the field and sustained only glass damage. The Fujita-rating for this long-lived tornado was rated F-3 based on the movement and condition of the vehicle, however the majority of the damage was rated in the F-1 and F-2 categories. | |||||||||||
| 47.5 | 1957-04-21 | 2 | 33°35'N / 101°50'W | 33°42'N / 102°00'W | 12.60 Miles | 880 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Lubbock |
| 47.8 | 2005-06-05 | 2 | 32°31'N / 101°24'W | 32°29'N / 101°27'W | 4.00 Miles | 300 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 300K | Howard |
| Brief Description: The long-lived tornado that developed in south-central Borden County crossed into Howard County east of County Road 41. The tornado's damage path narrowed as it moved over a hay field northeast of Luther. Three hundred round bales of hay, weighing 2,000 pounds each, were shredded by the tornadic winds. All of the hay bales were destroyed and the individual straws of hay served as small missiles, stripping mesquite trees of their bark in a thicket to the west. The tornado crossed County Road 41 about two miles south of the Howard and Borden County line. Chunks of asphalt, some up to six inches in diameter, were removed from the road's surface and deposited in an adjacent field. A 250 yard wide swath was cut through mesquite filled range land west of the road. Large mesquite trees were reduced to stumps that only stood a few feet tall, and were partially debarked. A railroad boxcar that was being used for storage was destroyed one mile west of County Road 41. The boxcar broke into three large pieces as it initially bounced along the earth, leaving large craters in the ground, and then was lofted. The three pieces were displaced a mile to the southwest from the boxcar's original location, near the end of the damage path. A National Weather Service damage survey team concluded that a significant rating (F2) was warranted based on the magnitude of tree and vegetation damage, and the lofting and displacement of the railroad boxcar. The tornadoes total path length across Borden and Howard Counties was nine miles, with a maximum path width of three quarters of a mile in south-central Borden County. An outbreak of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes affected parts of west Texas during the afternoon and evening of the 5th. Thunderstorms developed along a stationary frontal boundary over the western low rolling plains and the northeastern Permian Basin during the late afternoon. These storms evolved into supercells, and one storm produced a series of tornadoes across southern Borden and northern Howard Counties. By mid evening, a small cluster of organized severe storms evolved and produced more widespread hail, damaging winds, and heavy rainfall. Damages to agricultural interests across the region were significant, and accounted for a majority of the estimated $2.2 million worth of losses reported. | |||||||||||
| 47.9 | 1978-04-08 | 2 | 33°48'N / 101°41'W | 2.00 Miles | 30 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Lubbock | |
| 48.4 | 1960-05-24 | 3 | 33°45'N / 100°51'W | 33°47'N / 100°49'W | 3.30 Miles | 17 Yards | 0 | 0 | 3K | 0 | Motley |
| 48.5 | 1963-06-04 | 2 | 33°43'N / 101°51'W | 2.00 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Lubbock | |
| 49.0 | 1968-05-24 | 3 | 32°38'N / 100°46'W | 2.00 Miles | 67 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Scurry | |
| 49.1 | 1987-05-29 | 2 | 33°30'N / 102°02'W | 33°37'N / 102°01'W | 8.00 Miles | 80 Yards | 0 | 3 | 250K | 0 | Lubbock |
| 49.1 | 1994-05-12 | 2 | 32°47'N / 100°36'W | 2.00 Miles | 75 Yards | 0 | 0 | 500K | 0 | Fisher | |
| 49.9 | 1962-06-07 | 2 | 32°54'N / 100°32'W | 32°52'N / 100°30'W | 3.60 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Fisher |
* The information on this page is based on the global volcano database, the U.S. earthquake database of 1638-1985, and the U.S. Tornado and Weather Extremes database of 1950-2010.