Skip to content

NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Cambria, CA

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 Cambria, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 1 tornado has touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
0

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
0

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
1

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
0

no recorded deaths

What the records show for Cambria

The only tornado within 25 miles was an EF1 on February 7, 2024; its path came within 24 miles. Of the 705 California cities on this site, 96% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Cambria.

Compare Cambria's storm record with another city →

Tornadoes within 25 miles of Cambria

By decade

  • 2020s1
Strongest tornadoes near Cambria, California
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Feb 7, 2024EF124 mi4.87 mi0 / 0

The strongest 1 of 1, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Cambria

The Storm Prediction Center has no hail reports within 10 miles of Cambria since 1955.

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.

Weather by month in Cambria

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Hearst Castle, CA, 10 miles northwest of Cambria at 1,526 feet. September is the warmest, with an average high of 78°F and low of 60°F; December is the coolest, at 59°F and 46°F. February is the wettest at 6.2 inches of precipitation on average and August the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 29.5 inches over 38 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 15 days a year, almost all from June to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 1 nights a year. That 29.5 inches is more than at 176 of the 226 California stations used on this site (78%). Cayucos, 13 miles southeast, has its own station (Morro Bay Fire Dept, CA): 17.0 inches a year, 12.5 less than here, and a September average high of 72°F against 78°F.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Hearst Castle, CA
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. inDays ≥ 0.1"
Jan60476.06
Feb60456.27
Mar62474.86
Apr65472.04
May69520.71
Jun73550.10
Jul75570.10
Aug77580.00
Sep78600.10
Oct74561.12
Nov66502.34
Dec59466.17
Year685229.538

Averages for 1991–2020 at Hearst Castle, CA (1,526 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.

California weather by month, station by station →

Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Cambria

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 6 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Cambria: 3 flash floods and 3 thunderstorm wind reports. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $2,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 71 mph, on November 26, 1997.

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 Cambria's ZIP code 93428 have filed 37 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1983, and were paid $430,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1995: 15 claims (41% of all) and $331,000. 62% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 415 California cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 189 have fewer than Cambria.

Flood insurance claims in Cambria by named event
EventClaimsPaid
Flooding199515$331,000

San Luis Obispo County, which includes Cambria, has been named in 28 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1967, 22 of them major disasters (by incident: 10 floods, 8 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 fires). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, on April 13, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives San Luis Obispo County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for inland flooding; Relatively Low for coastal flooding, 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 $213.9 million a year, the 24th highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $109.9 million (51%), 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 Cambria