Potter County, Texas: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Potter County, Texas has a Relatively Moderate natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 90.5 out of 100, higher than about 90% of US counties, with winter storms, hail and tornadoes scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $63 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 18 federal disaster declarations that included Potter County since 1989, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is FM-5634-TX (Stinky Fire, declared 18 May 2026). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 43 tornadoes touching Potter County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for Texas All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 118,502 Buildings worth $22 billion Area 931 sq mi Risk rank in Texas 23 of 254 FIPS 48375
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter weather | Very High | 99.8 | $2.1 million | about 11 a year | 204 |
| Hail | Very High | 99.6 | $20 million | about 8.4 a year | 319 |
| Tornado | Relatively High | 97.7 | $15 million | about once every 1.3 years | 25 |
| Strong wind | Relatively High | 97.4 | $3.2 million | about 3.3 a year | 124 |
| Drought | Relatively High | 95.5 | $2.0 million | about 102 a year | 2,800 |
| Wildfire | Relatively Moderate | 95.1 | $2.6 million | about once every 132 years | — |
| Lightning | Relatively High | 92.7 | $1.1 million | about 49 a year | 209,980 strikes |
| Cold wave | Relatively High | 91.9 | $5.9 million | about 2.5 a year | 48 |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | 79.1 | $1.1 million | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Ice storm | Relatively Moderate | 79.0 | $273,770 | about once every 2.8 years | 25 |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 70.9 | $690,312 | about 2 a year | 30 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Low | 68.0 | $8.8 million | about 2 a year | 57 |
| Landslide | Very Low | 26.5 | $163 | about once every 3.8 years | — |
| Hurricane | No Rating | 0.0 | — | — | 0 |
| Avalanche | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Coastal flooding | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Tsunami | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Volcanic activity | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
Score: FEMA's percentile among US counties that face the hazard (higher = more risk). Expected loss: FEMA's modelled average yearly loss to buildings, people (as a statistical value) and crops. How often: FEMA's annualised frequency of the hazard in the county; for some hazards it counts event-days, so it is a rough guide, not a forecast. "Not Applicable" means FEMA does not model that hazard here.
Federal disaster declarations 18
Most common: Fire 8, Hurricane 5, Severe Ice Storm 3, Severe Storm 2.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 1 | Severe Storm |
| 1990s | 2 | Fire, Severe Storm |
| 2000s | 9 | Hurricane ×5, Fire ×3, Severe Ice Storm |
| 2010s | 3 | Fire ×3 |
| 2020s | 3 | Severe Ice Storm ×2, Fire |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Potter County
- Severe Winter Storms (2021, DR-4586-TX): 254 Texas counties designated.
- Severe Winter Storm (2021, EM-3554-TX): 254 Texas counties designated.
- Extreme Wildfire Threat (2006, DR-1624-TX): 254 Texas counties designated.
Named storms in its declarations: Hurricane Ike (2008), Hurricane Gustav (2008), Hurricane Rita (2005), Hurricane Katrina (2005), Tropical Storm Charley (1998).
Not counted above: 2 COVID-19 ("Biological") declarations — in 2020 every US county was included. Texas also had 101 statewide declarations with no county list.
Tornado record since 1950 43
| Tornadoes touching the county | 43 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F3 ×1 |
| Peak month | June (17) |
| Deadliest | 21 Jun 1972, F2, 4.1 mi path, 0 killed, 5 injured |
| Longest path | 24 May 1957, F2, 70.1 mi path |
| Most recent | 3 Jun 2023, EF0, 0.2 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 6 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 25 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 4 | 10 | 6 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 1 |
Deaths and injuries are for each tornado's whole path, which can run beyond this county. F-scale ratings before February 2007, Enhanced Fujita (EF) after.
How Potter County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potter County (this page) | — | Relatively Moderate | 90.5 | Winter weather |
| Randall County | 48 km | Relatively Moderate | 86.8 | Winter weather |
| Moore County | 49 km | Relatively Low | 61.9 | Drought |
| Carson County | 49 km | Very Low | 25.2 | Drought |
| Oldham County | 64 km | Very Low | 9.7 | Drought |
| Armstrong County | 69 km | Very Low | 20.0 | Drought |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Texas, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively High 77.2 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively Low 21.8 |
| Community risk factor | 1.43 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $63 million |
FEMA scales expected losses up where social vulnerability is high (people who may find it harder to prepare, evacuate or recover) and down where community resilience is high. A factor above 1 raises the risk score. For social vulnerability a high rating is worse; for resilience a high rating is better.
Prepare for Potter County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Texas · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Winter weather: Power outages now · Carbon monoxide in winter
- Hail: Weather alerts for Texas
- Tornado: Is there a tornado warning now?
- Your property's flood zone: FEMA Flood Map Service Center ↗ — this page cannot tell you that.
- Official preparedness guidance: Ready.gov ↗ and your county emergency management office.
What this page shows, and what it misses
FEMA's National Risk Index rates a whole county against every other US county; it is a planning-level estimate for nationwide comparison, not a flood-zone map and not a substitute for a local risk assessment or the risk to one home. Declarations are presidential disaster, emergency and fire management declarations that named this county; state declarations and SBA or USDA designations are not included. Tornadoes are counted when the county is one of up to four listed on the track; 670 tornadoes that crossed a state line carry no county list in NOAA's file and are left out.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Risk Index Dataset: National Risk Index Counties - v1.20.0 (December 2025). Retrieved from https://services.arcgis.com/XG15cJAlne2vxtgt/ArcGIS/rest/services/National_Risk_Index_Counties/FeatureServer/0/query on November 2, 2026, 1:20 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), OpenFEMA Dataset: Disaster Declarations Summaries - v2, retrieved from https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v2/DisasterDeclarationsSummaries on November 2, 2026, 1:21 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Tornado records: NOAA/NWS Storm Prediction Center, Severe Weather Database, tornadoes 1950–2025 (https://www.spc.noaa.gov/wcm/data/1950-2025_actual_tornadoes.csv, downloaded 2 November 2026). Public domain; not endorsed by NOAA. Compiled by Global Incident Tracker.
Questions about Potter County
What natural disasters is Potter County, Texas most at risk from?
Potter County, Texas has a Relatively Moderate natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 90.5 out of 100, higher than about 90% of US counties, with winter storms, hail and tornadoes scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $63 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Potter County had?
OpenFEMA lists 18 federal disaster declarations that included Potter County since 1989, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is FM-5634-TX (Stinky Fire, declared 18 May 2026). Another 101 Texas declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Potter County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 43 tornadoes touching Potter County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 21 Jun 1972, F2, 4.1 mi path, 0 killed, 5 injured (deaths and injuries are for the whole path).
Is the National Risk Index a flood zone map?
No. The National Risk Index is a planning-level estimate for a whole county, built for nationwide comparison. It does not tell you the flood zone or the risk of a single property: for that, look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center (msc.fema.gov) and ask your local floodplain manager.