NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Bullhead City, 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 Bullhead City, Arizona 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 Bullhead City
The highest rating among the 5 tornadoes within 25 miles is F1, reached 3 times; the most recent, on April 21, 2001, came within 2 miles. Of the 5, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and one has come since 2000. Of the 134 Arizona cities on this site, 60% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Bullhead City. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 9 times since 2006, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Of the 134 Arizona cities, 51% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Bullhead City.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Bullhead City
By decade
- 2000s1
- 1990s3
- 1970s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 21, 2001 | F1 | 2 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 22, 1996 | F1 | 19 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 18, 1972 | F1 | 6 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Nov 22, 1996 | F0 | 23 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 22, 1996 | F0 | 14 mi | 0.1 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 Bullhead City
The Storm Prediction Center has 9 hail reports within 10 miles of Bullhead City since 2006, made on 8 separate days. Of these, 5 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest, 1.75 inches (golf ball size), fell on September 23, 2019. The most recent report is from May 6, 2025.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Bullhead City
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Bullhead City, AZ, 2 miles northeast of Bullhead City at 531 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 111°F and low of 81°F; December is the coolest, at 64°F and 44°F. February is the wettest at 1.2 inches of precipitation on average and June the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 5.5 inches over 12 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 186 days a year, almost all from March to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 2 nights a year. That 5.5 inches is more than at 7 of the 76 Arizona stations used on this site (9%). Mohave Valley, 16 miles south, has its own station (Needles Airport, CA): 4.2 inches a year, 1.3 less than here, and the same July average high, 111°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 65 | 45 | 1.0 | 2 |
| Feb | 70 | 47 | 1.2 | 2 |
| Mar | 79 | 51 | 0.8 | 2 |
| Apr | 87 | 57 | 0.1 | 1 |
| May | 96 | 66 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Jun | 107 | 73 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Jul | 111 | 81 | 0.2 | 1 |
| Aug | 109 | 81 | 0.5 | 1 |
| Sep | 103 | 73 | 0.2 | 1 |
| Oct | 89 | 61 | 0.5 | 1 |
| Nov | 74 | 51 | 0.4 | 1 |
| Dec | 64 | 44 | 0.5 | 1 |
| Year | 88 | 61 | 5.5 | 12 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Bullhead City, AZ (531 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 Bullhead City
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 99 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Bullhead City: 49 flash floods, 44 thunderstorm wind reports, 4 lightning strikes, 1 flood and 1 heavy rain event. They killed 0 people and injured 13, and the NWS estimated $4.4 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on July 1, 2015. July has had the most flash floods, 12 of 49. Of the 130 Arizona cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 112 have had fewer than Bullhead City.
August 9, 2012: thunderstorm wind 4 miles from the centre of Bullhead City — 8 injured, $10,000 damage.
September 4, 2009: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Bullhead City — 4 injured, $500,000 damage.
January 21, 2010: flash flood 3 miles from the centre of Bullhead City — 1 injured, $25,000 damage.
NWS: “Rocks were washed onto Bullhead Parkway south of Adobe Road. The loose rocks contributed to a vehicle rollover.”
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 Bullhead City's 2 ZIP codes have filed 45 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $169,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 1983, with 21. 18% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 50 Arizona cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 27 have fewer than Bullhead City.
Mohave County, which includes Bullhead City, has been named in 15 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1977, 9 of them major disasters (by incident: 4 floods, 4 severe storms, 3 fires, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on April 4, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Mohave County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for lightning; Relatively High for inland flooding and heat waves; Relatively Moderate for strong wind; Relatively Low for hail; Very Low for tornadoes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $104.9 million a year, the 6th highest of 15 Arizona counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $73.6 million (70%), 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 Bullhead City
- Laughlin, NV3 mi
- Fort Mohave, AZ7 mi
- Mohave Valley, AZ16 mi
- Golden Valley, AZ20 mi
- Needles, CA21 mi
- Kingman, AZ35 mi
- Lake Havasu City, AZ45 mi
- Boulder City, NV61 mi
- Henderson, NV67 mi
- Parker, AZ72 mi
- Las Vegas, NV78 mi
- North Las Vegas, NV89 mi
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