NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Damascus, 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 Damascus, Oregon since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 26 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 1 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 26
- 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 Damascus
The strongest of the 26 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F3 on April 5, 1972; its path came within 14 miles, and it killed 6 people. Of the 26, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 16 have come since 2000. October has had the most tornadoes, 10. The most recent tornado was on October 22, 2022. Damascus has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 92% of the 149 Oregon cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 8 times since 1996, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Damascus has more hail reports within 10 miles than 83% of the 149 Oregon cities.
Compare Damascus's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Damascus
By decade
- 2020s2
- 2010s8
- 2000s6
- 1990s6
- 1980s1
- 1970s1(1 EF3+)
- 1960s1
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 5, 1972 | F3 | 14 mi | 8.7 mi | 6 / 300 |
| Dec 8, 1993 | F2 | 23 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 10, 2015 | EF1 | 24 mi | 0.82 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 10, 2008 | EF1 | 21 mi | 10.11 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 9, 2000 | F1 | 9 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 9, 2000 | F1 | 20 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 12, 1991 | F1 | 16 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 12, 1991 | F1 | 10 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 12, 1957 | F1 | 9 mi | 2.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 22, 2022 | EF0 | 15 mi | 0.87 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 13, 2020 | EF0 | in town | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 8, 2019 | EF0 | 24 mi | 0.11 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 Damascus
The Storm Prediction Center has 8 hail reports within 10 miles of Damascus since 1996. Of these, 2 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest, 1.75 inches (golf ball size), fell on August 4, 1999. The most recent report is from April 14, 2022.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Damascus
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Oregon City, OR, 9 miles southwest of Damascus at 167 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 84°F and low of 58°F; December is the coolest, at 47°F and 36°F. December is the wettest at 7.2 inches of precipitation on average and July the driest at 0.5 inches; the year adds up to 44.7 inches. Highs reach 90°F on about 20 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 30 nights a year. That 44.7 inches is more than at 43 of the 77 Oregon stations used on this site (56%). Boring, 3 miles east, has its own station (Portland Troutdale Airport, OR): 40.7 inches a year, 4.0 less than here, and an August average high of 82°F against 84°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 48 | 37 | 6.5 |
| Feb | 53 | 38 | 4.5 |
| Mar | 58 | 40 | 4.8 |
| Apr | 64 | 43 | 3.8 |
| May | 71 | 48 | 2.5 |
| Jun | 76 | 53 | 1.8 |
| Jul | 84 | 57 | 0.5 |
| Aug | 84 | 58 | 0.6 |
| Sep | 78 | 53 | 1.6 |
| Oct | 65 | 47 | 4.2 |
| Nov | 53 | 41 | 6.7 |
| Dec | 47 | 36 | 7.2 |
| Year | 65 | 46 | 44.7 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Oregon City, OR (167 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 Damascus
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 40 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Damascus: 19 floods, 13 heavy rain events, 6 thunderstorm wind reports and 2 lightning strikes. They killed 3 people and injured 3, and the NWS estimated $11.3 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 69 mph, on April 22, 2005.
November 6, 2021: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Damascus — 1 killed, 1 injured.
January 15, 1996: thunderstorm wind 3 miles from the centre of Damascus — 1 killed.
May 2, 2009: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Damascus — 1 killed.
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 Damascus's ZIP code 97089 have filed 22 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1996, and were paid $741,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 2025, with 10. 18% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 77 Oregon cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 33 have fewer than Damascus.
Clackamas County, which includes Damascus, has been named in 23 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 15 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 severe storms, 7 fires, 4 floods, 2 biological emergencies). 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 Clackamas County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for inland flooding, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Moderate for heat waves; Relatively Low for tornadoes; Very Low for hail and coastal flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $219.1 million a year, the 4th highest of 36 Oregon counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $76.6 million (35%), 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.