NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Bakersfield, 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 Bakersfield, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 6 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 6
- EF3 or stronger
- 0
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for Bakersfield
The highest rating among the 6 tornadoes within 25 miles is F0 or EF0, reached 6 times; the most recent, on June 2, 2019, came within 16 miles. Of the 6, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 3 have come since 2000. Of the 705 California cities on this site, 75% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Bakersfield. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 8 times since 1995, with stones up to 1.5 inches (ping pong ball size). Bakersfield has more hail reports within 10 miles than 82% of the 705 California cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Bakersfield
By decade
- 2010s3
- 1990s3
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 2, 2019 | EF0 | 16 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 6, 2013 | EF0 | 2 mi | 0.44 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 27, 2010 | EF0 | 13 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 3, 1999 | F0 | 4 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 17, 1997 | F0 | 3 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 22, 1996 | F0 | 12 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 6 of 6, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Bakersfield
The Storm Prediction Center has 8 hail reports within 10 miles of Bakersfield since 1995. Of these, 4 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest, 1.5 inches (ping pong ball size), fell on February 17, 1997. The most recent report is from April 24, 2016.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Bakersfield
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Bakersfield 5 NW, CA, 5 miles north of Bakersfield at 470 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 97°F and low of 70°F; December is the coolest, at 59°F and 38°F. Highs reach 90°F on about 110 days a year, almost all from April to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 17 nights a year. That 6.5 inches is more than at 21 of the 226 California stations used on this site (9%). Shafter, 16 miles northwest, has its own station (Shafter 6E, CA): 7.8 inches a year, 1.3 more than here, and a July average high of 96°F against 97°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 58 | 39 | 1.3 | 4 |
| Feb | 64 | 41 | 1.3 | 3 |
| Mar | 69 | 45 | 1.2 | 3 |
| Apr | 75 | 49 | 0.6 | 2 |
| May | 83 | 57 | 0.3 | 1 |
| Jun | 91 | 64 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Jul | 97 | 70 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Aug | 96 | 69 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Sep | 91 | 64 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Oct | 80 | 54 | 0.2 | 1 |
| Nov | 67 | 44 | 0.5 | 2 |
| Dec | 59 | 38 | 1.0 | 3 |
| Year | 77 | 53 | 6.5 | 17 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Bakersfield 5 NW, CA (470 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.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Bakersfield
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 111 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Bakersfield: 91 floods, 11 heavy rain events, 8 thunderstorm wind reports and 1 lightning strike. They killed 1 person and injured 0, and the NWS estimated $18.3 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 58 mph, on September 23, 2011.
July 18, 2015: lightning strike 7 miles from the centre of Bakersfield — 1 killed.
January 2, 2011: flood 3 miles from the centre of Bakersfield — $12.7 million damage.
NWS: “7 million dollars.”
December 19, 2010: flood 6 miles from the centre of Bakersfield — $5.0 million damage.
NWS: “At 1235 PST on the 19th local officials reported widespread flooding on many city streets in Bakersfield and around Kern County. At 1205 PST on the 20th the CHP reported large rock slides on CA Highway 178 have closed the Kern Canyon Road that connects Bakersfield and Lake Isabella.”
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 Bakersfield's 10 ZIP codes have filed 63 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $361,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Pineapple Express - Southern in 1998: 11 claims (17% of all) and $108,000. 25% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 415 California cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 267 have fewer than Bakersfield.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Pineapple Express - Southern1998 | 11 | $108,000 |
Kern County, which includes Bakersfield, has been named in 40 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1967, 19 of them major disasters (by incident: 17 fires, 7 floods, 6 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Tropical Storm Hilary, on November 21, 2023. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Kern County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for inland flooding, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Low for hail and strong wind; Very Low for tornadoes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $417.0 million a year, the 16th highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $147.2 million (35%), 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 Bakersfield
- Lamont, CA10 mi
- Shafter, CA16 mi
- Arvin, CA17 mi
- Mc Farland, CA24 mi
- Taft, CA25 mi
- Wasco, CA26 mi
- Tehachapi, CA31 mi
- Delano, CA32 mi
- Richgrove, CA32 mi
- Bodfish, CA36 mi
- Lake Isabella, CA38 mi
- Earlimart, CA39 mi
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