NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Crescent City, 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 Crescent City, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 8 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 8
- 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 Crescent City
The highest rating among the 8 tornadoes within 25 miles is F1, reached 2 times; the most recent, on December 30, 1992, came within 3 miles. Of the 8, 4 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and one has come since 2000. The most recent tornado was on November 9, 2002. Of the 705 California cities on this site, 68% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Crescent City. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 3 times since 1967, with stones up to 0.75 inches (penny size). Of the 705 California cities, 44% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Crescent City.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Crescent City
By decade
- 2000s1
- 1990s4
- 1980s1
- 1960s1
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 30, 1992 | F1 | 3 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 11, 1992 | F1 | 3 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 9, 2002 | F0 | 19 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 20, 1996 | F0 | 3 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 20, 1996 | F0 | 10 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 22, 1983 | F0 | 19 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 13, 1960 | F0 | 18 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 10, 1958 | F0 | 3 mi | 0.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 8 of 8, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Crescent City
The Storm Prediction Center has 3 hail reports within 10 miles of Crescent City since 1967. None of them reached 1 inch. The largest, 0.75 inches (penny size), fell on April 13, 1967. The most recent report is from November 7, 2022.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Crescent City
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Crescent City 3 NNW, CA, 3 miles west of Crescent City at 43 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 66°F and low of 52°F; December is the coolest, at 53°F and 39°F. December is the wettest at 13.4 inches of precipitation on average and July the driest at 0.2 inches; the year adds up to 71.6 inches over 96 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs of 90°F are rare: fewer than one day a year on average. Lows fall below freezing on about 16 nights a year. That 71.6 inches is more than at 224 of the 226 California stations used on this site (99%). Smith River, 12 miles north, has its own station (Brookings 2 SE, OR): 78.2 inches a year, 6.6 more than here, and an August average high of 67°F against 66°F.
Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Crescent City, CA, 3 miles south, averaged 60°F in August and 51°F in February over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the Crescent City tide gauge, 3 miles from Crescent City, has fallen 0.30 ± 0.05 inches per decade from 1933 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 3.0 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 12 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Water °F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 54 | 40 | 11.5 | 14 | 52 |
| Feb | 55 | 40 | 9.0 | 12 | 51 |
| Mar | 56 | 41 | 9.8 | 13 | 51 |
| Apr | 58 | 43 | 6.8 | 10 | 51 |
| May | 61 | 46 | 3.2 | 6 | 52 |
| Jun | 63 | 48 | 1.8 | 3 | 54 |
| Jul | 65 | 51 | 0.2 | 1 | 59 |
| Aug | 66 | 52 | 0.4 | 1 | 60 |
| Sep | 66 | 48 | 1.3 | 2 | 58 |
| Oct | 62 | 46 | 4.7 | 7 | 56 |
| Nov | 57 | 42 | 9.5 | 13 | 54 |
| Dec | 53 | 39 | 13.4 | 15 | 52 |
| Year | 60 | 45 | 71.6 | 96 | 54 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Crescent City 3 NNW, CA (43 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Crescent City, CA, from NOAA Tides & Currents. 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 Crescent City
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 11 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Crescent City: 6 heavy rain events, 4 floods and 1 flash flood. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $1.4 million in property and crop damage.
February 15, 2017: heavy rain event 7 miles from the centre of Crescent City — $600,000 damage.
NWS: “Culvert failures between mile post 20 and 28 along Highway 101.”
December 14, 2016: flood 3 miles from the centre of Crescent City — $584,000 damage.
NWS: “Numerous small streams flooded due to heavy rainfall resulting in culvert and manhole failures in Crescent City and neighboring communities. Additionally, a sinkhole allowed debris to flow into the waste water treatment plant causing damage.”
February 9, 2017: heavy rain event 3 miles from the centre of Crescent City — $200,000 damage.
NWS: “Culvert failures along Highway 101 from mile post 26 to 27.”
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
Del Norte County, which includes Crescent City, has been named in 21 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 18 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 floods, 6 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 1 coastal storm). 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 Del Norte County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for inland flooding; Very Low for tornadoes, hail, coastal flooding, strong wind, lightning and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $142.4 million a year, the 31st highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $15.7 million (11%), 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 Crescent City
- Smith River, CA12 mi
- Brookings, OR22 mi
- Gold Beach, OR48 mi
- Trinidad, CA48 mi
- Hoopa, CA49 mi
- Mckinleyville, CA57 mi
- Arcata, CA63 mi
- Eureka, CA70 mi
- Fortuna, CA83 mi
- Ferndale, CA85 mi
- Riddle, OR89 mi
- Rio Dell, CA89 mi
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