NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Burlington, 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 Burlington, Washington since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 3 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 3
- 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 Burlington
The strongest of the 3 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F2 on May 13, 1986; its path came within 23 miles. The most recent tornado was on May 18, 2005. Of the 226 Washington cities on this site, 73% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Burlington.
Compare Burlington's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Burlington
By decade
- 2000s2
- 1980s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 13, 1986 | F2 | 23 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 18, 2005 | F1 | 20 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 5, 2004 | F0 | 18 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 3 of 3, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Burlington
The Storm Prediction Center has no hail reports within 10 miles of Burlington since 1955.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Burlington
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Sedro-Woolley, WA, 5 miles east of Burlington at 60 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 75°F and low of 53°F; December is the coolest, at 45°F and 34°F. November is the wettest at 7.0 inches of precipitation on average and July the driest at 1.3 inches; the year adds up to 48.7 inches over 111 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 1 days a year. Lows fall below freezing on about 46 nights a year. Snowfall averages 5.7 inches a year, most of it in December. That 48.7 inches is more than at 60 of the 86 Washington stations used on this site (70%). La Conner, 10 miles southwest, has its own station (Whidbey Island NAS, WA): 19.9 inches a year, 28.8 less than here, and an August average high of 70°F against 75°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 46 | 35 | 6.2 | 13 | 0.6 |
| Feb | 49 | 35 | 4.1 | 10 | 0.2 |
| Mar | 53 | 38 | 4.8 | 12 | 0.4 |
| Apr | 58 | 41 | 4.2 | 10 | 0.0 |
| May | 65 | 47 | 3.5 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 69 | 51 | 2.6 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 75 | 53 | 1.3 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 75 | 53 | 1.6 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 70 | 49 | 2.9 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 60 | 43 | 5.0 | 10 | 0.1 |
| Nov | 50 | 39 | 7.0 | 15 | 0.7 |
| Dec | 45 | 34 | 5.5 | 13 | 3.7 |
| Year | 59 | 43 | 48.7 | 111 | 5.7 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Sedro-Woolley, WA (60 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.
Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings
Flood insurance policyholders in Burlington's ZIP code 98233 have filed 130 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $3.4 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from 2025-12-AtmosphericRiver in 2025: 45 claims (35% of all) and $2.6 million, then Flooding in 1990 with 22. 54% 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, 99 have fewer than Burlington.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-12-AtmosphericRiver2025 | 45 | $2.6 million |
| Flooding1990 | 22 | $203,000 |
Skagit County, which includes Burlington, has been named in 29 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1971, 25 of them major disasters (by incident: 12 floods, 11 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 1 coastal storm). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, on April 7, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Skagit County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for coastal flooding; Relatively Moderate for inland flooding; Relatively Low for lightning and heat waves; Very Low for tornadoes, hail and strong wind. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $80.9 million a year, the 14th highest of 39 Washington counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $34.0 million (42%), 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 Burlington
- Bow, WA6 mi
- Mount Vernon, WA6 mi
- Sedro Woolley, WA8 mi
- La Conner, WA10 mi
- Anacortes, WA13 mi
- Stanwood, WA18 mi
- Bellingham, WA19 mi
- Oak Harbor, WA19 mi
- Camano Island, WA22 mi
- Arlington, WA23 mi
- Coupeville, WA25 mi
- Maple Falls, WA26 mi
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