NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Cave Creek, 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 Cave Creek, Arizona since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 26 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 26
- 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 Cave Creek
The highest rating among the 26 tornadoes within 25 miles is F2, reached 2 times; the most recent, on January 17, 1993, came within 12 miles. Of the 26, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 4 have come since 2000. The most recent tornado was on November 29, 2019. Cave Creek has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 76% of the 134 Arizona cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 14 times since 1990, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Cave Creek has more hail reports within 10 miles than 58% of the 134 Arizona cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Cave Creek
By decade
- 2010s3
- 2000s1
- 1990s9
- 1980s3
- 1970s6
- 1960s3
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 17, 1993 | F2 | 12 mi | 2.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 21, 1972 | F2 | 10 mi | 13.5 mi | 0 / 3 |
| May 23, 1992 | F1 | 22 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 6, 1992 | F1 | 22 mi | 1.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 9, 1984 | F1 | 14 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 5, 1981 | F1 | 22 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 4, 1976 | F1 | 24 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 18, 1971 | F1 | 14 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 20, 1968 | F1 | 21 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Sep 8, 1961 | F1 | 15 mi | 11.8 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Nov 29, 2019 | EF0 | 10 mi | 8.85 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 29, 2019 | EF0 | 8 mi | 10.09 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 26, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Cave Creek
The Storm Prediction Center has 14 hail reports within 10 miles of Cave Creek since 1990, made on 13 separate days. Of these, 10 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on July 25, 1990. The most recent report is from October 12, 2025. March and October have the most reports, 3 each.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Cave Creek
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Carefree, AZ, 4 miles northeast of Cave Creek at 2,530 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 103°F and low of 76°F; December is the coolest, at 64°F and 41°F. January is the wettest at 1.8 inches of precipitation on average and June the driest at 0.1 inches; the year adds up to 12.7 inches over 23 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 153 days a year, almost all from April to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 6 nights a year. That 12.7 inches is more than at 49 of the 76 Arizona stations used on this site (64%). Scottsdale, 15 miles south, has its own station (Scottsdale Municipal Airport, AZ): 8.7 inches a year, 4.0 less than here, and a July average high of 104°F against 103°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 65 | 42 | 1.8 | 3 |
| Feb | 68 | 44 | 1.6 | 3 |
| Mar | 74 | 48 | 1.6 | 2 |
| Apr | 82 | 53 | 0.5 | 1 |
| May | 91 | 61 | 0.2 | 1 |
| Jun | 101 | 70 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Jul | 103 | 76 | 1.3 | 2 |
| Aug | 102 | 76 | 1.3 | 3 |
| Sep | 97 | 70 | 1.2 | 2 |
| Oct | 86 | 60 | 1.0 | 2 |
| Nov | 74 | 49 | 0.8 | 2 |
| Dec | 64 | 41 | 1.3 | 2 |
| Year | 84 | 58 | 12.7 | 23 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Carefree, AZ (2,530 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 Cave Creek
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 131 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Cave Creek: 68 flash floods, 45 thunderstorm wind reports, 12 heavy rain events and 6 floods. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $5.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 92 mph, on September 11, 1997. August has had the most flash floods, 20 of 68. Of the 130 Arizona cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 120 have had fewer than Cave Creek.
July 31, 2007: flash flood 8 miles from the centre of Cave Creek — $2.0 million damage.
NWS: “Roads closed in north Scottsdale. At least 6 water rescues.”
August 19, 2014: flash flood 8 miles from the centre of Cave Creek — $2.0 million damage.
September 8, 2014: flash flood 4 miles from the centre of Cave Creek — $250,000 damage.
NWS: “Widespread showers and embedded thunderstorms quickly developed across the entire greater Phoenix metropolitan area during the early morning hours on September 8th, and they produced very heavy rainfall with peak rain rates from two to nearly 6 inches at times.”
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 Cave Creek's ZIP code 85331 have filed 61 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1981, and were paid $441,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 2007, with 33. 2% 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, 32 have fewer than Cave Creek.
Maricopa County, which includes Cave Creek, has been named in 26 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1966, 13 of them major disasters (by incident: 11 fires, 9 floods, 3 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on April 4, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Maricopa County a Very High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for hail, inland flooding, strong wind and heat waves; Relatively High for lightning; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $2.20 billion a year, the highest of 15 Arizona counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $1.12 billion (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 Cave Creek
- Anthem, AZ6 mi
- New River, AZ12 mi
- Scottsdale, AZ15 mi
- Paradise Valley, AZ17 mi
- Rio Verde, AZ17 mi
- Fountain Hills, AZ19 mi
- Peoria, AZ19 mi
- Glendale, AZ19 mi
- Phoenix, AZ20 mi
- Sun City, AZ22 mi
- Black Canyon City, AZ23 mi
- Youngtown, AZ24 mi
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