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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Ceres, 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 Ceres, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 18 tornadoes have 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
18

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
0

no recorded deaths

What the records show for Ceres

The strongest of the 18 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F2 on April 27, 1953; its path came within 5 miles. Of the 18, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 9 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 8. The most recent tornado was on April 1, 2025. Ceres has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 59% of the 705 California cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles once, in 2005, with stones of 0.88 inches (nickel size). Of the 705 California cities, 72% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Ceres.

Compare Ceres's storm record with another city →

Tornadoes within 25 miles of Ceres

By decade

  • 2020s1
  • 2010s3
  • 2000s5
  • 1990s3
  • 1970s3
  • 1960s1
  • 1950s2
Strongest tornadoes near Ceres, California
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Apr 27, 1953F25 mi0.1 mi0 / 0
Nov 15, 2015EF18 mi3.04 mi0 / 0
Apr 14, 2006F15 mi0.5 mi0 / 0
Dec 12, 1996F114 mi0.6 mi0 / 0
Mar 4, 1978F113 mi1 mi0 / 1
Mar 4, 1978F17 mi2.5 mi0 / 0
Mar 1, 1978F16 mi1.5 mi0 / 0
Apr 1, 1958F112 mi2 mi0 / 0
Apr 1, 2025EF010 mi0.9 mi0 / 0
Apr 27, 2016EF011 mi0.1 mi0 / 0
Dec 24, 2015EF02 mi0.23 mi0 / 0
Mar 28, 2006F024 mi0.2 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 18, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Ceres

The Storm Prediction Center has one hail report within 10 miles of Ceres, from May 9, 2005: 0.88 inches (nickel size).

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

Radar-estimated hail days in Ceres since 2019 →

Weather by month in Ceres

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Modesto City Co Airport, CA, 3 miles north of Ceres at 73 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 95°F and low of 63°F; December is the coolest, at 56°F and 39°F. January is the wettest at 2.6 inches of precipitation on average and July and August the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 12.5 inches over 30 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 90 days a year, almost all from April to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 12 nights a year. That 12.5 inches is more than at 74 of the 226 California stations used on this site (33%). Turlock, 8 miles southeast, has its own station (Turlock #2, CA): 12.4 inches a year, 0.1 less than here, and a July average high of 93°F against 95°F.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Modesto City Co Airport, CA
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. inDays ≥ 0.1"
Jan56392.66
Feb62422.26
Mar68451.85
Apr74481.03
May82540.72
Jun90590.20
Jul95630.00
Aug94620.00
Sep89590.10
Oct79520.61
Nov66431.13
Dec56392.26
Year765012.530

Averages for 1991–2020 at Modesto City Co Airport, CA (73 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 Ceres

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 16 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Ceres: 8 floods, 7 heavy rain events and 1 thunderstorm wind report. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $400,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on December 24, 2015.

  • April 14, 2006: flood 5 miles from the centre of Ceres — $250,000 damage.

  • December 24, 2015: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Ceres — $150,000 damage.

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

Stanislaus County, which includes Ceres, has been named in 20 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 14 of them major disasters (by incident: 6 floods, 5 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 fires). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, on April 3, 2023. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Stanislaus County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for inland flooding and lightning; Relatively Moderate for heat waves; Relatively Low for tornadoes, hail and strong wind. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $264.9 million a year, the 21st highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $94.2 million (36%), 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 Ceres