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Storms That Hit

NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Anthem, AZ

Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.

Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated

No tropical storm or hurricane has passed within 75 miles of Anthem, Arizona since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 24 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
0

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
0

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
24

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
0

no recorded deaths

What the records show for Anthem

The highest rating among the 24 tornadoes within 25 miles is F2, reached 2 times; the most recent, on January 17, 1993, came within 17 miles. Of the 24, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 5 have come since 2000. February has had the most tornadoes, 5. The most recent tornado was on November 29, 2019. Anthem has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 75% of the 134 Arizona cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 12 times since 1990, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Anthem has more hail reports within 10 miles than 55% of the 134 Arizona cities.

Compare Anthem's storm record with another city →

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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Anthem

By decade

  • 2010s4
  • 2000s1
  • 1990s8
  • 1980s3
  • 1970s5
  • 1960s3
Strongest tornadoes near Anthem, Arizona
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Jan 17, 1993F217 mi2.1 mi0 / 0
Jun 21, 1972F215 mi13.5 mi0 / 3
May 23, 1992F124 mi0.5 mi0 / 0
Jan 6, 1992F124 mi1.2 mi0 / 0
Aug 9, 1984F114 mi0.5 mi0 / 0
Sep 5, 1981F119 mi1 mi0 / 0
Oct 18, 1971F118 mi0.5 mi0 / 0
Jul 20, 1968F123 mi0.1 mi0 / 3
Sep 8, 1961F119 mi11.8 mi0 / 2
Nov 29, 2019EF015 mi8.85 mi0 / 0
Nov 29, 2019EF011 mi10.09 mi0 / 0
Sep 23, 2019EF04 mi1.03 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 24, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Anthem

The Storm Prediction Center has 12 hail reports within 10 miles of Anthem since 1990, made on 10 separate days. Of these, 8 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on July 25, 1990. The most recent report is from October 12, 2025. October has the most reports, 5.

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.

Radar-estimated hail days in Anthem since 2019 →

Weather by month in Anthem

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Carefree, AZ, 9 miles east of Anthem at 2,530 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 103°F and low of 76°F; December is the coolest, at 64°F and 41°F. January is the wettest at 1.8 inches of precipitation on average and June the driest at 0.1 inches; the year adds up to 12.7 inches over 23 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 153 days a year, almost all from April to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 6 nights a year. That 12.7 inches is more than at 49 of the 76 Arizona stations used on this site (64%). Peoria, 16 miles southwest, has its own station (Youngtown, AZ): 8.3 inches a year, 4.4 less than here, and a July average high of 105°F against 103°F.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Carefree, AZ
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. inDays ≥ 0.1"
Jan65421.83
Feb68441.63
Mar74481.62
Apr82530.51
May91610.21
Jun101700.10
Jul103761.32
Aug102761.33
Sep97701.22
Oct86601.02
Nov74490.82
Dec64411.32
Year845812.723

Averages for 1991–2020 at Carefree, AZ (2,530 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.

Arizona weather by month, station by station →

Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Anthem

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 138 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Anthem: 79 flash floods, 37 thunderstorm wind reports, 15 heavy rain events and 7 floods. They killed 2 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $13.8 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 92 mph, on September 11, 1997. August has had the most flash floods, 23 of 79. Of the 130 Arizona cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 125 have had fewer than Anthem.

  • August 9, 2005: flash flood 7 miles from the centre of Anthem — 2 killed, $300,000 damage.

  • July 31, 2012: flash flood 5 miles from the centre of Anthem — 1 injured, $10.0 million damage.

    NWS: “Isolated strong thunderstorms developed across the northern portions of the greater Phoenix area during the afternoon hours on July 31st. During the late afternoon the storms congealed and intensified in the Anthem area, and they produced excessive rainfall which led to episodes of flash flooding.”

  • August 19, 2014: flash flood 2 miles from the centre of Anthem — $2.0 million damage.

    NWS: “Widespread showers and thunderstorms developed across the northern portion of the greater Phoenix metropolitan area during the morning hours on August 19th, and they continued to intensify and move to the northeast into the early afternoon hours.”

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, events whose starting point is on record, 1996 to June 30, 2026. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses, and NWS notes that some reports are unverified.

Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings

Flood insurance policyholders in Anthem's ZIP code 85086 have filed 21 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1990, and were paid $487,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. Of the 50 Arizona cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 13 have fewer than Anthem.

Maricopa County, which includes Anthem, has been named in 26 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1966, 13 of them major disasters (by incident: 11 fires, 9 floods, 3 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on April 4, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Maricopa County a Very High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for hail, inland flooding, strong wind and heat waves; Relatively High for lightning; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $2.20 billion a year, the highest of 15 Arizona counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $1.12 billion (51%), is from inland flooding.

Claims: FEMA, OpenFEMA Dataset FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3, summed over ZIP codes; payments in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Declarations: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, by county. Retrieved October 25, 2026. 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).

Risk ratings: FEMA, National Risk Index county table, December 2025 (v1.20), retrieved October 26, 2026; ratings compare counties nationwide, are meant for planning and are no substitute for a local risk assessment. 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).

What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.

Cities near Anthem

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