From tornado, to drought and severe storms, these are top weather events of SE Texas in 2023

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Even though there might not have been a standout, widespread weather event southeast Texas faced in 2023, the year was quite active and one that will be remembered for local severe weather events, including a record-smashing hot summer.

The year 2023 in Houston started warm and quiet, but that all changed the afternoon of Jan. 24. One of the strongest tornadoes to impact the region in decades touched down south of Houston. An EF-3 tornado with peak winds of 140 mph tore through southeast Harris County in the middle of the afternoon. Some of the worst damage was in Pasadena and Deer Park, where some neighborhoods and businesses are still recovering to this day. But miraculously, no one died in the storm, and only minor injuries were reported.

This major weather event was followed by two more impactful severe storms in May and June. On May 23, a downburst occurred in Conroe, killing two workers at a construction site. Those storms were severe warned at the time but quickly developed and intensified, catching many people off guard. Minor storm damage was also reported across Montgomery County.

Then, in June, another downburst occurred north of Houston. This time, even stronger. On June 21, a severe thunderstorm caused "destructive" downburst winds that topped 97 mph at Bush Intercontinental, the highest on record for the big airport. This storm also brought hail and knocked out power for days in northern Harris and southern Montgomery counties.

The severe weather came to a standstill after that, only to be replaced by a record summer heatwave that lingered for months.

The summer heat peaked in August, with Houston reaching 109 degrees not just once but twice that month. It was the hottest temperature on record in the city. High temperatures were in the triple digits for all but three days in August, which propelled the summer of 2023 to the top spot, now the warmest summer on record for Houston.

Those hot summer days were also dry. Houston didn't see a drop of rain for almost 50 days in a row from early July to last August. A flash drought followed, leading to a few local wildfires, and, most memorably, this apocalyptic mulch fire that smoldered for days at the Living Earth Facility in northwest Harris County. Flash droughts like these could continue to occur because of climate change in southeast Texas.

This summer heat all occurred locally while an active hurricane season was unfolding into September. And while southeast Texas was once again spared this season, tropical storm Harold made landfall on Aug. 22 near Corpus Christi, one of only two storms that made landfall across the Gulf Coast this season.

Locally, Houston's record-hot summer ended with the help of some much-needed rain in late September and into October. Notably, one rainstorm also produced an EF-0 tornado near Edna on Sept. 25, damaging a few homes and RVs. And seeing as Edna is on the far end of the National Weather Service's radars, the rotation in the storm was hard to see. But not anymore, though, thanks to the launch of our new 13 Alert Radar network, which has a radar in Edna.

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