NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Cornelius, 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 Cornelius, Oregon since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 18 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 1 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 18
- EF3 or stronger
- 1
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
6 deaths in all
What the records show for Cornelius
The strongest of the 18 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F3 on April 5, 1972; its path came within 21 miles, and it killed 6 people. Of the 18, none had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 9 have come since 2000. October has had the most tornadoes, 5. The most recent tornado was on September 8, 2019. Cornelius has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 69% of the 149 Oregon cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 5 times since 1963, with stones up to 1 inch (quarter size). Cornelius has more hail reports within 10 miles than 71% of the 149 Oregon cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Cornelius
By decade
- 2010s7
- 2000s2
- 1990s4
- 1980s1
- 1970s3(1 EF3+)
- 1960s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 5, 1972 | F3 | 21 mi | 8.7 mi | 6 / 300 |
| Dec 8, 1993 | F2 | 10 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 13, 2013 | EF1 | 22 mi | 0.25 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 10, 2008 | EF1 | 21 mi | 10.11 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 12, 1991 | F1 | 16 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 16, 1978 | F1 | 20 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 8, 2019 | EF0 | 11 mi | 0.11 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 1, 2019 | EF0 | 20 mi | 1.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 29, 2018 | EF0 | 5 mi | 0.07 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 28, 2018 | EF0 | 19 mi | 1.15 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 12, 2017 | EF0 | 22 mi | 0.62 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 12, 2017 | EF0 | 25 mi | 0.16 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 18, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Cornelius
The Storm Prediction Center has 5 hail reports within 10 miles of Cornelius since 1963. Of these, 3 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest size, 1 inch (quarter size), was reported on 3 days, most recently May 25, 1998. The most recent report is from March 7, 2023.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Cornelius
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Forest Grove, OR, 3 miles west of Cornelius at 180 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 82°F and low of 54°F; December is the coolest, at 44°F and 33°F. December is the wettest at 8.7 inches of precipitation on average and July the driest at 0.3 inches; the year adds up to 46.6 inches over 93 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 23 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 61 nights a year. Snowfall averages 2.7 inches a year, most of it in December. That 46.6 inches is more than at 47 of the 77 Oregon stations used on this site (61%). Hillsboro, 5 miles east, has its own station (Portland-Hillsboro Airport, OR): 36.1 inches a year, 10.5 less than here, and the same August average high, 82°F.
Sea level at the Garibaldi tide gauge, 42 miles from Cornelius, has risen 0.96 ± 0.12 inches per decade from 1970 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 9.6 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 56 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 45 | 33 | 7.2 | 13 | 0.6 |
| Feb | 49 | 33 | 5.8 | 10 | 0.6 |
| Mar | 55 | 36 | 5.0 | 11 | 0.0 |
| Apr | 60 | 39 | 3.3 | 9 | 0.0 |
| May | 68 | 45 | 2.2 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 73 | 50 | 1.4 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 81 | 54 | 0.3 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 82 | 54 | 0.5 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 76 | 49 | 1.3 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 63 | 42 | 3.7 | 7 | 0.2 |
| Nov | 51 | 36 | 7.2 | 13 | 0.0 |
| Dec | 44 | 33 | 8.7 | 14 | 1.3 |
| Year | 62 | 42 | 46.6 | 93 | 2.7 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Forest Grove, OR (180 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 Cornelius
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 30 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Cornelius: 22 floods, 6 heavy rain events, 1 thunderstorm wind report and 1 lightning strike. They killed 2 people and injured 0, and the NWS estimated $5.1 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 54 mph, on March 1, 2016.
December 3, 2007: flood 5 miles from the centre of Cornelius — 1 killed, $2.3 million damage.
December 4, 2023: flood 8 miles from the centre of Cornelius — 1 killed.
December 7, 2015: flood 6 miles from the centre of Cornelius — $2.3 million 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
Washington County, which includes Cornelius, has been named in 17 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 11 of them major disasters (by incident: 5 fires, 4 floods, 4 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Wildfires and Straight-Line Winds, on September 15, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Washington County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for inland flooding and heat waves; Relatively Moderate for strong wind and lightning; Relatively Low for tornadoes; Very Low for hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $270.3 million a year, the 2nd highest of 36 Oregon counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $80.6 million (30%), 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 Cornelius
- Forest Grove, OR4 mi
- Hillsboro, OR5 mi
- Gaston, OR8 mi
- Banks, OR10 mi
- North Plains, OR10 mi
- Beaverton, OR11 mi
- Aloha, OR13 mi
- Yamhill, OR14 mi
- Tigard, OR14 mi
- Newberg, OR15 mi
- Sherwood, OR15 mi
- Tualatin, OR17 mi
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