NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Bethel, AK
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 Bethel, Alaska since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 1 tornado has touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 1
- 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 Bethel
The only tornado within 25 miles was an F0 on June 14, 2004; its path came within 18 miles. Bethel is tied for the most tornadoes within 25 miles among the 5 Alaska cities on this site.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Bethel
By decade
- 2000s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 14, 2004 | F0 | 18 mi | — | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 1 of 1, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Bethel
The Storm Prediction Center has no hail reports within 10 miles of Bethel since 1955.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Bethel
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Bethel Airport, AK, 2 miles northeast of Bethel at 102 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 64°F and low of 49°F; January is the coolest, at 13°F and 1°F. August is the wettest at 3.4 inches of precipitation on average and March the driest at 0.7 inches; the year adds up to 19.8 inches over 61 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs of 90°F are rare: fewer than one day a year on average. Lows fall below freezing on about 214 nights a year. Snowfall averages 64.0 inches a year, most of it in November. That 19.8 inches is more than at 4 of the 5 Alaska stations used on this site (80%).
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 13 | 1 | 0.8 | 2 | 9.4 |
| Feb | 20 | 7 | 0.9 | 3 | 8.1 |
| Mar | 22 | 7 | 0.7 | 3 | 8.8 |
| Apr | 37 | 21 | 0.8 | 3 | 6.0 |
| May | 52 | 34 | 1.2 | 4 | 1.9 |
| Jun | 62 | 45 | 1.8 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 64 | 49 | 2.6 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 61 | 47 | 3.4 | 10 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 53 | 39 | 2.9 | 9 | 0.5 |
| Oct | 38 | 26 | 1.8 | 6 | 3.9 |
| Nov | 24 | 13 | 1.8 | 6 | 13.2 |
| Dec | 16 | 4 | 1.1 | 3 | 12.2 |
| Year | 38 | 24 | 19.8 | 61 | 64.0 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Bethel Airport, AK (102 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 Bethel
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 7 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Bethel: 7 floods. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $10.0 million in property and crop damage.
October 11, 2025: flood 6 miles from the centre of Bethel — $10.0 million damage.
NWS: “This flooding was caused by storm surge moving upriver in the intertidal zone, not by runoff from heavy rainfall. Flooding extended from Napakiak northeast to Bethel.”
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 Bethel's ZIP code 99559 have filed 18 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1985, and were paid $75,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year.
Bethel Census Area, which includes Bethel, has been named in 20 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1989, 19 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 floods, 6 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 1 fire). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Flooding, and Remnants of Typhoon Halong, on October 22, 2025. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Bethel Census Area a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Low for lightning; Very Low for tornadoes, hail, inland flooding and strong wind. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $8.3 million a year, the 13th highest of 30 Alaska counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $759,000 (9%), 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 Bethel
- Anchorage, AK404 mi
- Jber, AK408 mi
- Eagle River, AK415 mi
- Chugiak, AK418 mi
- Blaine, WA1722 mi
- Custer, WA1727 mi
- Ferndale, WA1731 mi
- Lynden, WA1732 mi
- Everson, WA1739 mi
- Sumas, WA1739 mi
- Bellingham, WA1741 mi
- Maple Falls, WA1743 mi
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