BlockBefore

Tomball, Texas

17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1916 and the latest in 1995. It stands in the Northwest Harris census division. It lies in ZIP code area 77375. The Survey maps it on the Tomball quadrangle. 12,341 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 187 feet above sea level.

Tomball within Harris County

Population over time

2 figures

Tomball grew from 10,753 to 12,341 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
201010,753
202012,341+1,588 (+15%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 17 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

53 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 53 fires within 5 miles of Tomball between 1992 and 2016, burning about 463 acres in total. None started naturally. 7 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Debris and open burning24
Arson/incendiarism7
Missing data/not specified/undetermined6
Railroad operations and maintenance6
Misuse of fire by a minor4
Power generation/transmission/distribution3
Recreation and ceremony1
Smoking1
Equipment and vehicle use1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
30 September 1992Debris and open burning2.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Servicenot named
1 September 1997Misuse of fire by a minor1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Servicenot named
18 August 2001Debris and open burning1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceCONROE - 43
13 August 2000Misuse of fire by a minor2.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceCONROE - 281
13 August 2000Misuse of fire by a minor2.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceCONROE - 284
10 August 2000Debris and open burning5.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceCONROE - 267
5 July 2000Debris and open burning1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceCONROE - 184
20 July 1996Debris and open burning3.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Servicenot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Harris County

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Tomball: 1 producer. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Perlite. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Perlite of Houston PlantPerliteProducer

Every working recorded in Harris County

Storms near this place

43 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Tomball in 43 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 18 hail, 12 thunderstorm wind, 5 tornado, 3 flash flood. The reports record 4 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
December 2005LightningTomball2 hurtTwo injuries in Tomball from phone usage during lightning event.
May 2004Tornado (F1)Tomball1 hurt, $275,000F1 tornado near Highway 149 and Graham Street caused significant townhouse roof damage. A bank and a grocery store were also damaged and a car was overturned at a local dealership. Trees were also downed.
July 1997Thunderstorm WindTomball1 hurt, $10,000Possible microburst caused an untied trailer to overturn at the 12000 block of Tomball Pkwy & Old Fulton Rd. Billboard also down in the area.
April 1996Thunderstorm WindTomball$500,000no account filed
October 2006Flash FloodTomball$100,000Flooded furniture store with six inches of water. Few Tomball area businesses and homes were reported flooded. Houston Flood Control District rain guages were measuring near four inch per hour rainfall rates.
July 2000Thunderstorm WindTomball$50,000Billboards and trees down on FM 2920 one mile south of FM 249.
April 2000HailTomball$50,000no account filed
October 2006Thunderstorm WindTomball$30,000Thunderstorm winds damaged roofs and fences, knocked down a barn under construction and downed trees. Damage occurred in the Fairfield subdivision at Highway 290 and Mason St.
April 2004HailTomball$30,000Golfball-size hail reported (Key Map 288).
November 2004Tornado (F0)Tomball$30,000Minor roof damage to Tomball Middle School and one nearby home. Several large trees uprooted at Hirsch and Turnervine Roads.
June 2008LightningTomball$25,000A lightning strike started a residential fire that engulfed a majority of the home's roof.
April 2001HailTomball$20,000no account filed
April 2015HailTomball$15,000Hen egg sized hail was reported in Tomball.
October 2001Thunderstorm WindTomball$15,000Sheriff's office reported trees and power lines down in Tomball.
March 1999Thunderstorm WindTomball$15,000Trees down
July 2000HailTomball$10,000no account filed
July 2014Thunderstorm WindTomball$7,000A severe thunderstorm downed trees and stripped part of a metal roof off of a building.
May 2006HailTomball$7,000Nickel to quarter size hail at FM 2920 and Teagle Road.
March 2005HailTomball$6,000no account filed
July 2004HailTomball$6,000no account filed
April 2005HailTomball$5,000Hail at Gleannloch Farms.
May 1997Tornado (F1)Tomball$5,000Trees blown down on Dobbin Huffsmith Rd.
May 1997Thunderstorm WindTomball$5,000Trees blown down on Grant & Mill Rd.
May 1997Thunderstorm WindTomball$5,0008 foot pine tree snapped and several large limbs blown down. Key map 329M
May 1997HailTomball$5,000no account filed
May 1997HailTomball$5,000no account filed
September 1996Thunderstorm WindTomball$5,000no account filed
August 1996Thunderstorm WindTomball$5,000no account filed
May 2006HailTomball$4,000Penny size hail.
May 2006HailTomball$4,000Nickel size hail at FM 249 and Louetta.
November 2007HailTomball$3,000Penny sized hail.
June 2025HailTomball-Broadcast media shared photos in slack of a hailstone around 1.25-1.5 inches in size.
January 2024FloodTomball-Five people were rescued from high water along FM2920 near Mueschke as a result of flooding along Spring Creek.
April 2021HailTomball-A member of the public reported hail with a diameter of 1 inch.
April 2020HailTomball-Golf ball sized hail was reported.
May 2019Tornado (EF0)Tomball-A video was taken of a brief tornado touchdown just southwest of the town of Tomball.
August 2017Flash FloodTomball-There were numerous water rescues within Houston and the surrounding suburbs. Roads and highways in and around Houston inundated and closed due to flash flooding. Some of the reported flooded roads in Pasadena were Vista Street, Shafer Street, Fairmont Drive and Strawberry Road.||Catastrophic flooding occurred on nearly every one of the 22 watersheds in Harris County. 10 out of the 19 bayous in the county reached record crests and flooding. There was widespread flooding along Buffalo Bayou and upstream and downstream of both Addicks and Barkers Reservoirs due to record level pool elevations. There was major flooding of hundreds of homes within numerous neighboring subdivisions along the San Jacinto River and the East Fork of the San Jacinto River. Lake Conroe's releases and backwater flow from Lake Houston also contributed to the widespread flooding across the northern and northeastern sectors of the county.
August 2017Flash FloodTomball-There were numerous reports of flooded homes, businesses and vehicles from Tomball to Spring in northern Harris County. Streets in and around Butera Road southwest of Stagecoach were impassable due to flooding.||Catastrophic flooding occurred on nearly every one of the 22 watersheds in Harris County. 10 out of the 19 bayous in the county reached record crests and flooding. There was widespread flooding along Buffalo Bayou and upstream and downstream of both Addicks and Barkers Reservoirs due to record level pool elevations. There was major flooding of hundreds of homes within numerous neighboring subdivisions along the San Jacinto River and the East Fork of the San Jacinto River. Lake Conroe's releases and backwater flow from Lake Houston also contributed to the widespread flooding across the northern and northeastern sectors of the county.
April 2016Thunderstorm WindTomball-Four large pine trees were downed by severe thunderstorm winds.
July 2014HailTomball-Nickel size hail occurred at the corner of SH 249 and FM 2920.
July 2004Funnel CloudTomball-Funnel spotted by a pilot west of David Wayne Hooks Airport.
October 2002Tornado (F0)Tomball-Tornado spotted by public in Tomball (no damage).
July 2004Funnel CloudTomball-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Harris County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Hufsmith2.0 miles17
Treichel2.2 miles14
Waldenwood2.2 miles17
Albury Manor2.6 miles17
Wimbledon Country3.2 miles17
Pinewood Place3.4 miles17
Willow Forest3.4 miles17
Three Lakes East3.7 miles17

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on TomballAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q684434The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1348633. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.