NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Ellensburg, 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 Ellensburg, Washington since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 2 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 2
- 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 Ellensburg
The highest rating among the 2 tornadoes within 25 miles is F0 or EF0, reached 2 times; the most recent, on May 1, 2024, came within 22 miles. Of the 226 Washington cities on this site, 82% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Ellensburg. Hail has been reported within 10 miles once, in 2013, with stones of 1 inch (quarter size). Ellensburg has more hail reports within 10 miles than 46% of the 226 Washington cities.
Compare Ellensburg's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Ellensburg
By decade
- 2020s1
- 1990s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 1, 2024 | EF0 | 22 mi | 0.35 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 9, 1999 | F0 | 24 mi | — | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 2 of 2, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Ellensburg
The Storm Prediction Center has one hail report within 10 miles of Ellensburg, from June 29, 2013: 1 inch (quarter size).
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Ellensburg
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Ellensburg Bowers Field, WA, 2 miles north of Ellensburg at 1,766 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 86°F and low of 57°F; December is the coolest, at 36°F and 24°F. December is the wettest at 1.5 inches of precipitation on average and July and August the driest at 0.2 inches; the year adds up to 9.2 inches over 28 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 34 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 139 nights a year. That 9.2 inches is more than at 15 of the 86 Washington stations used on this site (17%). Selah, 20 miles south, has its own station (Selah 2 NE, WA): 8.6 inches a year, 0.6 less than here, and a July average high of 88°F against 86°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 37 | 24 | 1.2 | 4 |
| Feb | 44 | 27 | 0.8 | 3 |
| Mar | 53 | 31 | 0.8 | 3 |
| Apr | 61 | 37 | 0.7 | 2 |
| May | 71 | 45 | 0.9 | 3 |
| Jun | 77 | 51 | 0.6 | 2 |
| Jul | 86 | 57 | 0.2 | 1 |
| Aug | 87 | 56 | 0.2 | 1 |
| Sep | 78 | 47 | 0.4 | 1 |
| Oct | 62 | 37 | 0.8 | 2 |
| Nov | 47 | 29 | 1.1 | 3 |
| Dec | 36 | 24 | 1.5 | 4 |
| Year | 62 | 39 | 9.2 | 28 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Ellensburg Bowers Field, WA (1,766 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 Ellensburg
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 7 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Ellensburg: 2 floods, 2 heavy rain events, 2 lightning strikes and 1 flash flood. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $360,000 in property and crop damage.
May 14, 2011: lightning strike 2 miles from the centre of Ellensburg — $300,000 damage.
NWS: “Lightning started a roof fire which damaged a few other rooms of a residence.”
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 Ellensburg's ZIP code 98926 have filed 74 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1982, and were paid $868,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1996: 11 claims (15% of all) and $59,000. The year with the most claims was 2009, with 21. 19% 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, 87 have fewer than Ellensburg.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1996 | 11 | $59,000 |
Kittitas County, which includes Ellensburg, has been named in 29 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 17 of them major disasters (by incident: 10 fires, 8 floods, 5 severe storms, 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 Kittitas County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for inland flooding; Relatively Low for lightning and heat waves; Very Low for tornadoes, hail and strong wind. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $77.5 million a year, the 15th highest of 39 Washington counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $15.9 million (20%), 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 Ellensburg
- Selah, WA20 mi
- Tieton, WA24 mi
- Yakima, WA29 mi
- Naches, WA29 mi
- Wenatchee, WA30 mi
- East Wenatchee, WA32 mi
- Quincy, WA33 mi
- Moxee, WA34 mi
- Cashmere, WA35 mi
- Mattawa, WA36 mi
- Peshastin, WA38 mi
- Wapato, WA38 mi
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