31 FEMA areas

Tornado Risk by City in Texas

Compare 53 cities using FEMA's relative tornado scores and annualized frequency for the county-equivalent areas shown.

Where in Texas is tornado risk lower?

In this covered set, El Paso County has the lowest FEMA relative tornado score, at 33.7/100. The directory covers selected cities and their counties, not every location in Texas. A low score does not establish that tornadoes cannot occur.

FEMA relative risk and historical annualized event frequency measure different things. Compare both below, then check flood, hurricane, heat, and wildfire exposure before choosing a place to live.

Compare lower-risk Texas places across hazards →NWS tornado safety ↗

Highest relative score

100.0/100

Harris County

Covered cities: Atascocita, Baytown, Houston, and Pasadena

Lowest relative score in this set

33.7/100

El Paso County

Covered cities: El Paso

These are relative FEMA scores for county-equivalent areas. They are not annual probabilities or property-level findings.

Texas tornado rankings

Cities sharing a FEMA area are grouped together and receive the same score.

Rank	FEMA area and cities	Rating	Score	Annualized frequency
#1	Harris County Atascocita Baytown Houston Pasadena	Very High	100.0/100	1.58 events per year
#2	Collin County Allen Frisco McKinney Plano	Very High	99.9/100	0.87 events per year
#3	Tarrant County Arlington Fort Worth	Very High	99.9/100	0.84 events per year
#4	Bexar County San Antonio	Very High	99.9/100	0.44 events per year
#5	Dallas County Carrollton Dallas Garland Grand Prairie Irving Mesquite Richardson	Very High	99.8/100	0.90 events per year
#6	Denton County Denton Lewisville	Very High	99.8/100	0.89 events per year
#7	Travis County Austin	Very High	99.8/100	0.52 events per year
#8	Montgomery County Conroe The Woodlands	Very High	99.6/100	0.89 events per year
#9	Fort Bend County Sugar Land	Very High	99.4/100	0.78 events per year
#10	Bell County Killeen Temple	Relatively High	98.9/100	0.60 events per year
#11	Lubbock County Lubbock	Relatively High	98.8/100	0.67 events per year
#12	McLennan County Waco	Relatively High	98.7/100	0.73 events per year
#13	Jefferson County Beaumont Port Arthur	Relatively High	97.9/100	0.63 events per year
#14	Gregg County Longview	Relatively High	97.9/100	0.25 events per year
#15	Brazoria County Pearland	Relatively High	97.4/100	1.06 events per year
#16	Potter County Amarillo	Relatively High	97.1/100	0.92 events per year
#17	Galveston County Galveston League City	Relatively High	97.0/100	0.31 events per year
#18	Brazos County Bryan College Station	Relatively High	95.9/100	0.32 events per year
#19	Williamson County Round Rock	Relatively High	95.8/100	0.59 events per year
#20	Nueces County Corpus Christi	Relatively High	95.5/100	0.28 events per year
#21	Hidalgo County Edinburg McAllen Mission	Relatively High	94.9/100	0.26 events per year
#22	Comal County New Braunfels	Relatively High	93.6/100	0.25 events per year
#23	Midland County Midland	Relatively High	92.8/100	0.41 events per year
#24	Wichita County Wichita Falls	Relatively Moderate	92.1/100	0.48 events per year
#25	Ector County Odessa	Relatively Moderate	86.0/100	0.39 events per year
#26	Cameron County Brownsville Harlingen	Relatively Moderate	83.5/100	0.14 events per year
#27	Taylor County Abilene	Relatively Moderate	76.9/100	0.71 events per year
#28	Webb County Laredo	Relatively Moderate	74.5/100	0.13 events per year
#29	Tom Green County San Angelo	Relatively Moderate	73.7/100	0.74 events per year
#30	Smith County Tyler	Relatively Low	46.0/100	0.70 events per year
#31	El Paso County El Paso	Relatively Low	33.7/100	0.03 events per year

FEMA annualizes recorded qualifying tornado occurrences across the FEMA geography and source period.

Preparing for tornado

Ready.gov Tornadoes ↗

For a home or move

✓Identify the lowest-floor interior room or nearby rated shelter you can reach quickly.
✓Review how garage doors, roof connections, and exterior objects could perform in severe wind with a qualified local professional.
✓Confirm that insurance documents cover wind damage and understand the deductible before storm season.

For a household plan

✓Enable Wireless Emergency Alerts and keep a battery-powered NOAA Weather Radio available.
✓Keep shoes, flashlights, and head protection in or beside the shelter location.
✓Practice reaching the shelter with children, pets, and anyone who needs mobility assistance.

Questions about tornado risk in Texas

Which covered Texas cities have the highest relative tornado risk?

Atascocita, Baytown, Houston, and Pasadena use FEMA data for Harris County, which has the highest relative tornado score in this covered set at 100.0/100. Cities sharing the same FEMA area share the same score.

Which covered Texas area has the lowest relative tornado score?

El Paso County has the lowest score in this covered set at 33.7/100. This is a relative FEMA comparison, not a declaration that every property there is safe.

Are these tornado figures city-level?

No. The city links provide geographic navigation, while the scores and frequencies cover the FEMA county-equivalent areas shown in the table. Address-level conditions require local maps and property details.

Is the FEMA relative score an annual probability?

No. The relative score compares FEMA areas on a 0–100 scale. Annualized frequency appears separately with hazard-specific units.

What part of Texas has no tornadoes?

This dataset cannot identify a tornado-free part of Texas. El Paso County has the lowest relative tornado risk score among the covered FEMA areas here, but the score is not an event probability. Compare annualized frequency separately, and keep a shelter and warning plan even in a lower-rated area.

Related state and hazard pages

Texas Hurricane

Source: FEMA National Risk Index v1.19.0, released March 2023. Hazard data covers FEMA county-equivalent areas.

FEMA source ↗Our methodology →