NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Burns, OR
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 Burns, Oregon since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 4 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 4
- 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 Burns
The highest rating among the 4 tornadoes within 25 miles is F0 or EF0, reached 4 times; the most recent, on June 27, 2023, came within 16 miles. Of the 149 Oregon cities on this site, 76% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Burns. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 3 times since 2001, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Burns has more hail reports within 10 miles than 55% of the 149 Oregon cities.
Compare Burns's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Burns
By decade
- 2020s1
- 2000s2
- 1990s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 27, 2023 | EF0 | 16 mi | 2.13 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 9, 2001 | F0 | 5 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 9, 2001 | F0 | 5 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 15, 1997 | F0 | 2 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 4 of 4, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Burns
The Storm Prediction Center has 3 hail reports within 10 miles of Burns since 2001. Of these, one was 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest, 1.75 inches (golf ball size), fell on July 20, 2001. The most recent report is from July 3, 2009.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Burns
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Burns Municipal Airport, OR, in Burns at 4,140 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 89°F and low of 49°F; December is the coolest, at 36°F and 16°F. December is the wettest at 1.5 inches of precipitation on average and July and August the driest at 0.3 inches; the year adds up to 10.5 inches over 35 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 31 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 207 nights a year. That 10.5 inches is more than at 9 of the 77 Oregon stations used on this site (12%).
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 37 | 16 | 1.3 | 5 |
| Feb | 42 | 20 | 1.0 | 4 |
| Mar | 51 | 26 | 1.0 | 4 |
| Apr | 58 | 30 | 0.9 | 4 |
| May | 68 | 37 | 1.3 | 4 |
| Jun | 77 | 43 | 0.7 | 2 |
| Jul | 89 | 49 | 0.3 | 1 |
| Aug | 87 | 46 | 0.3 | 1 |
| Sep | 78 | 37 | 0.4 | 1 |
| Oct | 63 | 28 | 0.8 | 2 |
| Nov | 47 | 22 | 1.0 | 3 |
| Dec | 36 | 16 | 1.5 | 5 |
| Year | 61 | 31 | 10.5 | 35 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Burns Municipal Airport, OR (4,140 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 Burns
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 9 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Burns: 4 floods, 4 thunderstorm wind reports and 1 heavy rain event. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $1.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 60 mph, on May 25, 2018.
March 25, 2025: flood 6 miles from the centre of Burns — $1.0 million damage.
NWS: “Hundreds of homes were impacted by flood waters, many with major damage and some were uninhabitable. Numerous residents were evacuated during the height of the flooding with some sheltering in hotels and Red Cross mass care facilities.”
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 Burns's ZIP code 97720 have filed 34 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1981, and were paid $209,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 1984, with 13. Of the 77 Oregon cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 42 have fewer than Burns.
Harney County, which includes Burns, has been named in 8 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 3 of them major disasters (by incident: 2 biological emergencies, 2 fires, 1 coastal storm, 1 drought). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 28, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Harney County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Low for lightning; Very Low for tornadoes, hail, inland flooding, strong wind and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $6.5 million a year, the 32nd highest of 36 Oregon counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $2.7 million (41%), 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 Burns
- Hines, OR15 mi
- John Day, OR56 mi
- Vale, OR87 mi
- Prineville, OR100 mi
- Baker City, OR100 mi
- Homedale, ID101 mi
- Nyssa, OR102 mi
- Parma, ID102 mi
- Wilder, ID103 mi
- Ontario, OR103 mi
- Fruitland, ID106 mi
- Marsing, ID106 mi
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