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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Artesia, CA

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 Artesia, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 62 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
62

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
0

no recorded deaths

What the records show for Artesia

The highest rating among the 62 tornadoes within 25 miles is F2, reached 5 times; the most recent, on March 1, 1983, came within 18 miles. Of the 62, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 15 have come since 2000. January has had the most tornadoes, 12. The most recent tornado was on March 13, 2025. Artesia is tied for the most tornadoes within 25 miles among the 705 California cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 3 times since 2000, with stones up to 1 inch (quarter size). Of the 705 California cities, 44% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Artesia.

Compare Artesia's storm record with another city →

Tornadoes within 25 miles of Artesia

By decade

  • 2020s5
  • 2010s2
  • 2000s8
  • 1990s19
  • 1980s12
  • 1970s5
  • 1960s9
  • 1950s2
Strongest tornadoes near Artesia, California
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Mar 1, 1983F218 mi3.5 mi0 / 30
Nov 9, 1982F2in town10 mi0 / 0
Nov 7, 1966F218 mi0.2 mi0 / 0
Nov 7, 1966F26 mi10.3 mi0 / 10
Nov 7, 1966F213 mi0.1 mi0 / 0
Mar 22, 2023EF19 mi0.47 mi0 / 1
Jan 19, 2010EF110 mi4.62 mi0 / 0
Jan 9, 1998F18 mi1.5 mi0 / 1
Dec 21, 1997F114 mi1 mi0 / 0
Nov 11, 1997F120 mi0.2 mi0 / 0
Jan 14, 1993F18 mi1 mi0 / 0
Dec 7, 1992F110 mi0.1 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 62, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Artesia

The Storm Prediction Center has 3 hail reports within 10 miles of Artesia since 2000. Of these, one was 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest, 1 inch (quarter size), fell on March 15, 2024, the most recent report.

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

Radar-estimated hail days in Artesia since 2019 →

Weather by month in Artesia

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Long Beach Daugherty Field, CA, 5 miles southwest of Artesia at 31 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 83°F and low of 66°F; December is the coolest, at 67°F and 47°F. February is the wettest at 3.0 inches of precipitation on average and August the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 12.3 inches over 20 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 23 days a year, almost all from May to November. A night below freezing comes less than once a year on average. That 12.3 inches is more than at 69 of the 226 California stations used on this site (31%). Cerritos, under a mile east, has its own station (Fullerton Municipal Airport, CA): 11.8 inches a year, 0.5 less than here, and an August average high of 87°F against 83°F.

Sea level at the Los Angeles tide gauge, 15 miles from Artesia, has risen 0.42 ± 0.04 inches per decade from 1923 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 4.2 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 24 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Long Beach Daugherty Field, CA
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. inDays ≥ 0.1"
Jan67472.94
Feb67483.05
Mar69511.73
Apr71540.61
May73580.31
Jun76610.10
Jul81650.10
Aug83660.00
Sep82640.10
Oct78590.51
Nov73520.82
Dec67472.23
Year745612.320

Averages for 1991–2020 at Long Beach Daugherty Field, CA (31 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.

California weather by month, station by station →

Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Artesia

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 52 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Artesia: 14 thunderstorm wind reports, 13 flash floods, 13 heavy rain events, 11 floods and 1 lightning strike. They killed 1 person and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $3.7 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on April 18, 2000. January has had the most flash floods, 6 of 13. Of the 550 California cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 341 have had fewer than Artesia.

  • June 22, 2022: lightning strike 8 miles from the centre of Artesia — 1 killed.

  • March 1, 2023: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Artesia — 1 injured.

  • January 19, 2010: flash flood 8 miles from the centre of Artesia — $3.2 million damage.

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

Los Angeles County, which includes Artesia, has been named in 88 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1969, 35 of them major disasters (by incident: 61 fires, 10 floods, 8 severe storms, 3 earthquakes). The latest major disaster declaration was Wildfires and Straight-Line Winds, on January 8, 2025. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Los Angeles County a Very High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for inland flooding and lightning; Relatively High for tornadoes, coastal flooding and heat waves; Relatively Moderate for hail and strong wind. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $7.60 billion a year, the highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $2.81 billion (37%), 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 Artesia