NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Benton City, WA
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 Benton City, Washington since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 5 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 5
- 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 Benton City
The highest rating among the 5 tornadoes within 25 miles is F0 or EF0, reached 5 times; the most recent, on March 31, 2020, came within 11 miles. Of the 5, none had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 4 have come since 2000. Of the 226 Washington cities on this site, 60% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Benton City. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 3 times since 1970, with stones up to 1 inch (quarter size). Benton City has more hail reports within 10 miles than 73% of the 226 Washington cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Benton City
By decade
- 2020s1
- 2010s2
- 2000s1
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 31, 2020 | EF0 | 11 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 22, 2016 | EF0 | 15 mi | 0.15 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 13, 2014 | EF0 | 16 mi | 0.25 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 7, 2004 | F0 | 21 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 9, 1956 | F0 | 17 mi | 10.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 5 of 5, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Benton City
The Storm Prediction Center has 3 hail reports within 10 miles of Benton City since 1970. All were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest size, 1 inch (quarter size), was reported on 3 days, most recently May 28, 2019. The most recent report is from May 28, 2019.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Benton City
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Richland, WA, 11 miles east of Benton City at 373 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 89°F and low of 60°F; December is the coolest, at 40°F and 28°F. December is the wettest at 1.1 inches of precipitation on average and August the driest at 0.1 inches; the year adds up to 7.2 inches over 25 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 39 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 91 nights a year. That 7.2 inches is more than at 0 of the 86 Washington stations used on this site (0%). Prosser, 13 miles west, has its own station (Prosser, WA): 8.8 inches a year, 1.6 more than here, and a July average high of 90°F against 89°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 41 | 29 | 1.0 | 4 |
| Feb | 48 | 30 | 0.7 | 3 |
| Mar | 57 | 35 | 0.6 | 2 |
| Apr | 65 | 41 | 0.6 | 2 |
| May | 74 | 48 | 0.6 | 2 |
| Jun | 80 | 54 | 0.6 | 2 |
| Jul | 89 | 60 | 0.2 | 1 |
| Aug | 88 | 59 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Sep | 79 | 51 | 0.3 | 1 |
| Oct | 64 | 42 | 0.5 | 2 |
| Nov | 49 | 34 | 0.9 | 3 |
| Dec | 40 | 28 | 1.1 | 4 |
| Year | 64 | 43 | 7.2 | 25 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Richland, WA (373 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 Benton City
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 11 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Benton City: 8 thunderstorm wind reports and 3 floods. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 68 mph, on June 26, 2017.
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 Benton City's ZIP code 99320 have filed 27 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1980, and were paid $375,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1996: 11 claims (41% of all) and $239,000. 48% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 128 Washington cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 33 have fewer than Benton City.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1996 | 11 | $239,000 |
Benton County, which includes Benton City, has been named in 20 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 13 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 floods, 3 fires, 2 biological emergencies, 2 severe storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 22, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Benton County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate 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 $69.8 million a year, the 17th highest of 39 Washington counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $40.3 million (58%), 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 Benton City
- West Richland, WA6 mi
- Richland, WA9 mi
- Prosser, WA13 mi
- Kennewick, WA16 mi
- Pasco, WA18 mi
- Grandview, WA20 mi
- Sunnyside, WA25 mi
- Umatilla, OR25 mi
- Irrigon, OR26 mi
- Mabton, WA27 mi
- Mesa, WA28 mi
- Burbank, WA29 mi
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