No active hurricanes threatening McAllen right now

Could the next one hit soon? 88 hurricanes have impacted the McAllen area since 1851 — set up free alerts so you'll have time to prepare when one's on the way.

88
Hurricanes affecting McAllen area
2023
Most recent
165 kt
Strongest peak winds
17 mi
Closest approach
Local note: Situated well inland on the Rio Grande plain, McAllen's chief hurricane hazard is extreme rain and inland flooding from slow-moving or tropical-storm–strength systems — recent storms such as Hurricane Hanna (2020) and Nicholas (2021) produced heavy, damaging rainfall across the region.

Coverage on this page applies broadly to the McAllen area — including Pharr, San Juan, Mission, Alamo, Edinburg, Hidalgo, Donna, Penitas. Tropical storms rarely respect city limits.

When do hurricanes typically threaten the McAllen area?

Distribution of 88 hurricanes that have come within 150 mi of McAllen, by month of closest approach.

J
F
M
A
M
18 J
11 J
27 A
29 S
3 O
N
D

Recent notable storms affecting the McAllen area

Year Name Peak Cat Peak Winds Closest Approach
2024 BERYL Cat 5 145 kt 168 mi
2024 FRANCINE Cat 2 90 kt 193 mi
2023 LIDIA Cat 4 120 kt 184 mi
2021 NICHOLAS Cat 1 65 kt 98 mi
2020 HANNA Cat 1 80 kt 26 mi
2017 HARVEY Cat 4 115 kt 134 mi
2013 INGRID Cat 1 75 kt 176 mi
2010 ALEX Cat 2 95 kt 143 mi
2008 DOLLY Cat 2 85 kt 33 mi
Hurricane-strength storms (Cat 1+) since 2008 that came within 200 miles of McAllen. 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 McAllen

Year Name Peak Cat Peak Winds Closest Approach Date of Closest
1874 UNNAMED TS 50 kt 17 mi Sep 05, 1874
1947 UNNAMED TS 45 kt 17 mi Aug 02, 1947
1854 UNNAMED Cat 1 70 kt 21 mi Jun 26, 1854
1909 UNNAMED Cat 2 85 kt 21 mi Jun 30, 1909
1925 UNNAMED TS 45 kt 22 mi Sep 07, 1925
1933 UNNAMED Cat 5 140 kt 24 mi Sep 05, 1933
1880 UNNAMED Cat 4 130 kt 26 mi Aug 13, 1880
1887 UNNAMED Cat 2 85 kt 26 mi Sep 22, 1887
2020 HANNA Cat 1 80 kt 26 mi Jul 26, 2020
1989 COSME Cat 1 75 kt 26 mi Jun 23, 1989
Showing the 10 closest of 88 total storms within 150 mi of McAllen since 1851.

If a hurricane threatens McAllen

  1. Know your evacuation zone. Look up yours by address via your state or county emergency management office (Hidalgo 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 McAllen

Historical data: NOAA HURDAT2 Atlantic and Eastern North Pacific hurricane databases. Closest-approach calculated using great-circle distance between McAllen (26.2154°N, 98.2359°W) and each 6-hourly observation. Storms are included if their center passed within 150 mi of McAllen — impacts (wind, surge, rainfall) routinely extend much further.