Houston, TX Tornado History — 300 Tornadoes Since 1950
How many tornadoes has Houston, TX had?
Houston has had 300 tornadoes on record within 25 miles since 1950, including 12 violent (EF3+) tornadoes.
When was the most recent tornado near Houston?
The most recent tornado within 25 miles of Houston was an EF1 on November 24, 2025.
When is tornado season in Houston?
May is historically the peak month for tornadoes near Houston, with 40 on record. Spring through early summer (April–June) generally sees the highest activity across most of the central and southern United States.
At a Glance
Recent Tornado Activity Near Houston
The last 20 years of confirmed tornadoes within 25 miles — 55 total, averaging 2.8 per year over this window.
Tornadoes by Decade
Tornadoes by Enhanced Fujita Rating
F0–F5 ratings (pre-2007) are grouped with their EF equivalents. The Enhanced Fujita scale replaced the original Fujita scale in February 2007.
Tornadoes by Month
Casualties on Record Near Houston
11 fatalities have been recorded within 25 miles of Houston since 1950, across 10 events. 434 injuries have been reported across all events. 1983 was the deadliest year on record.
The deadliest single event was a F3 on February 5, 1986, which caused 2 fatalities along a 5.0-mile track.
Notable Tornadoes Near Houston
About Tornadoes in Houston
This overview was written April 23, 2026. The tornado counts and notable-event figures elsewhere on this page reflect the latest data and may differ from this summary.
Houston gets a different flavor of tornado activity than the Plains metros. Tornado Alley tornadoes are typically supercell-driven, spring-season, and afternoon-peaking. Houston tornadoes are more often associated with landfalling tropical systems, squall-line setups along stalled fronts, or the warm sector of low-amplitude winter storms — which means they spread across more months of the year and often occur after dark or with less visual warning than the photogenic Plains supercells.
The hurricane connection
Houston's tornado risk has a strong tie to Atlantic hurricane season. Tropical-cyclone tornadoes form in the outer rain bands of landfalling hurricanes and tropical storms — particularly in the right-front quadrant of the storm relative to its motion. Hurricane Harvey (August 2017), Hurricane Beryl (July 2024), and Tropical Storm Allison (June 2001) all spawned tornado swarms across the greater Houston area. These tornadoes tend to be EF0–EF2, short-lived, and embedded in heavy rain, but they account for an outsized share of warned events compared to a typical Plains city.
Notable events
The strongest tornado on record near Houston is widely considered the F3 (later reclassified) Pasadena/Deer Park tornado of November 21, 1992, which tracked through industrial sections of southeast Houston and caused significant damage to Lyondell-Bayer petrochemical facilities. The Wharton County F4 of November 23, 1992 on the Houston metro's southwest fringe is one of only a handful of F4-strength events in the broader region.
More recently, the Pearland EF2 of January 24, 2023 tracked through Pearland and the Deer Park area during a winter severe-weather setup, causing substantial damage to the same petrochemical corridor that absorbs an unusual amount of Houston's industrial-tornado risk. The Pasadena/Deer Park EF3 of January 24, 2023 was particularly notable because it occurred at night, producing a rare nocturnal-tornado fatality cluster on the Gulf Coast.
Why Houston tornadoes are dangerous despite being weaker
Houston averages fewer tornadoes per year than Oklahoma City and the strong-to-violent ones are rarer, but the population density, sprawl, and infrastructure exposure make any tornado in the metro consequential. Two specific risks compound:
- Industrial corridor exposure. The Houston Ship Channel and the Pasadena/Deer Park/Texas City petrochemical complex sit directly in the path of typical southeast-Texas storm motion. A weak tornado that hits a refinery or chemical plant can cause cascading hazards beyond the direct wind damage.
- Nocturnal tornadoes. Many Houston tornadoes — especially the tropical and squall-line varieties — occur after dark. Nocturnal tornadoes are 2.5x more deadly than daytime tornadoes because residents are asleep and visual warning is impossible.
What this means for Houston residents today
Houston-area residents face a more diverse tornado risk than Plains residents — fewer high-end events but a wider range of triggers and seasons. Practical implications: the conventional "tornado season is April–June" mental model that works in Oklahoma doesn't fit Houston, where November and tropical-cyclone season (June–November) are also active. Reliable alerting matters across more of the year than residents often expect.
Houston has fewer FEMA-rated storm shelters per capita than OKC or Wichita; most homes don't have basements (high water table). The Harris County Office of Emergency Management identifies interior bathrooms or closets on the lowest floor as the recommended shelter location for most residents during tornado warnings. Phone-call alerts that bypass Do Not Disturb are the most reliable nighttime layer for the Gulf Coast's frequent overnight tornado events.