No active hurricanes threatening Galveston right now

Could the next one hit soon? 122 hurricanes have impacted the Galveston area since 1851 — set up free alerts so you'll have time to prepare when one's on the way.

122
Hurricanes affecting Galveston area
2024
Most recent
155 kt
Strongest peak winds
0 mi
Closest approach
Local note: Galveston's low-lying barrier island position and history of direct hurricane strikes make storm surge the dominant threat, with Hurricane Harvey (2017) and multiple major storms since 2017 underscoring the city's vulnerability to devastating surge and flooding.

Coverage on this page applies broadly to the Galveston area — including Texas City, La Marque, Hitchcock, Port Bolivar, Bacliff, Santa Fe, Dickinson, Kemah. Tropical storms rarely respect city limits.

When do hurricanes typically threaten the Galveston area?

Distribution of 122 hurricanes that have come within 150 mi of Galveston, by month of closest approach.

J
F
M
A
M
18 J
21 J
29 A
45 S
9 O
N
D

Recent notable storms affecting the Galveston area

Year Name Peak Cat Peak Winds Closest Approach
2024 BERYL Cat 5 145 kt 73 mi
2024 FRANCINE Cat 2 90 kt 158 mi
2021 NICHOLAS Cat 1 65 kt 22 mi
2020 DELTA Cat 4 120 kt 83 mi
2020 LAURA Cat 4 130 kt 96 mi
2020 MARCO Cat 1 65 kt 151 mi
2020 HANNA Cat 1 80 kt 153 mi
2019 BARRY Cat 1 65 kt 142 mi
2017 HARVEY Cat 4 115 kt 66 mi
2008 IKE Cat 4 125 kt 6 mi
2008 GUSTAV Cat 4 135 kt 177 mi
2007 HUMBERTO Cat 1 80 kt 28 mi
Hurricane-strength storms (Cat 1+) since 2007 that came within 200 miles of Galveston. Includes storms whose center stayed offshore or hit nearby cities — wind, surge, and rainfall impacts extend far beyond the storm's path.

All-time closest approaches to Galveston

Year Name Peak Cat Peak Winds Closest Approach Date of Closest
1863 UNNAMED TS 60 kt 0 mi Sep 29, 1863
1895 UNNAMED TS 35 kt 0 mi Oct 07, 1895
1938 UNNAMED TS 50 kt 0 mi Oct 17, 1938
1898 UNNAMED TS 50 kt 6 mi Sep 28, 1898
2008 IKE Cat 4 125 kt 6 mi Sep 13, 2008
1947 UNNAMED Cat 1 70 kt 9 mi Aug 24, 1947
1980 DANIELLE TS 50 kt 10 mi Sep 06, 1980
1871 UNNAMED TS 50 kt 12 mi Jun 09, 1871
1989 JERRY Cat 1 75 kt 14 mi Oct 16, 1989
1940 UNNAMED TS 45 kt 18 mi Sep 24, 1940
Showing the 10 closest of 122 total storms within 150 mi of Galveston since 1851.

If a hurricane threatens Galveston

  1. Know your evacuation zone. Look up yours by address via your state or county emergency management office (Galveston County and surrounding areas).
  2. Set up alerts ahead of time. During an active storm, watches and warnings change every six hours. Email or text alerts from TropicalInfo give you the official NHC update the moment it's posted, with a plain-language summary.
  3. Prep your supplies before the storm is named. Stores empty out within hours of a watch. The 72-hour rule: water, food, batteries, fuel, medications, important documents. Our alerts can notify you of a storm long before it makes the news — giving you more time to get what you need before the panic-buying starts.
  4. Follow the cone, not the line. The forecast track is a best estimate — the cone shows where the center is likely to go. Impacts extend hundreds of miles from the center.

Set up free location-based alerts for Galveston

Historical data: NOAA HURDAT2 Atlantic and Eastern North Pacific hurricane databases. Closest-approach calculated using great-circle distance between Galveston (29.2983°N, 94.7930°W) and each 6-hourly observation. Storms are included if their center passed within 150 mi of Galveston — impacts (wind, surge, rainfall) routinely extend much further.