NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Chehalis, 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 Chehalis, Washington since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 6 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 6
- 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 Chehalis
The strongest of the 6 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F2 on November 10, 1965; its path came within 7 miles. Of the 6, none had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 4 have come since 2000. The most recent tornado was on October 4, 2019. Of the 226 Washington cities on this site, 49% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Chehalis.
Compare Chehalis's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Chehalis
By decade
- 2010s3
- 2000s1
- 1990s1
- 1960s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 10, 1965 | F2 | 7 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 27, 2004 | F1 | 14 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 27, 2011 | EF0 | 7 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 25, 2010 | EF0 | 17 mi | 0.01 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 6, 1994 | F0 | 12 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 4, 2019 | Unrated | 16 mi | 0.05 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 6 of 6, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Chehalis
The Storm Prediction Center has no hail reports within 10 miles of Chehalis since 1955.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Chehalis
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Centralia, WA, 7 miles northeast of Chehalis at 185 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 78°F and low of 53°F; December is the coolest, at 45°F and 34°F. November is the wettest at 6.5 inches of precipitation on average and July the driest at 0.5 inches; the year adds up to 41.4 inches over 100 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 8 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 48 nights a year. That 41.4 inches is more than at 51 of the 86 Washington stations used on this site (59%). Winlock, 10 miles southeast, has its own station (Mayfield Pwr Plt, WA): 58.8 inches a year, 17.4 more than here, and an August average high of 81°F against 78°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 46 | 34 | 5.9 | 13 |
| Feb | 50 | 34 | 4.2 | 10 |
| Mar | 54 | 36 | 4.4 | 12 |
| Apr | 60 | 39 | 3.2 | 10 |
| May | 67 | 44 | 2.4 | 7 |
| Jun | 71 | 49 | 1.5 | 5 |
| Jul | 78 | 53 | 0.5 | 2 |
| Aug | 78 | 53 | 0.8 | 2 |
| Sep | 73 | 48 | 1.6 | 4 |
| Oct | 61 | 43 | 4.0 | 9 |
| Nov | 51 | 37 | 6.5 | 13 |
| Dec | 45 | 34 | 6.4 | 13 |
| Year | 61 | 42 | 41.4 | 100 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Centralia, WA (185 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 Chehalis's ZIP code 98532 have filed 808 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1980, and were paid $39.1 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1996: 278 claims (34% of all) and $8.7 million, then Winter storm in 2007 with 259 and Torrential rain in 2006 with 16. The year with the most claims was 2007, with 260. 70% 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, 125 have fewer than Chehalis.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1996 | 278 | $8.7 million |
| Winter storm2007 | 259 | $20.2 million |
| Torrential rain2006 | 16 | $605,000 |
Lewis County, which includes Chehalis, has been named in 37 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 34 of them major disasters (by incident: 19 floods, 13 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 Lewis County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for inland flooding; Relatively Low for strong wind, lightning and heat waves; Very Low for tornadoes and hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $70.9 million a year, the 16th highest of 39 Washington counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $36.8 million (52%), 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 Chehalis
- Centralia, WA7 mi
- Winlock, WA10 mi
- Rochester, WA13 mi
- Toledo, WA17 mi
- Onalaska, WA17 mi
- Tenino, WA18 mi
- Oakville, WA18 mi
- Castle Rock, WA23 mi
- Rainier, WA23 mi
- Tumwater, WA23 mi
- Silverlake, WA24 mi
- Mossyrock, WA27 mi
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