NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Escondido, 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 Escondido, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 18 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 18
- 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 Escondido
The highest rating among the 18 tornadoes within 25 miles is F1, reached 6 times; the most recent, on February 19, 2005, came within 24 miles. Of the 18, none had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 8 have come since 2000. February has had the most tornadoes, 6. The most recent tornado was on September 22, 2007. Escondido has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 59% of the 705 California cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 2 times since 2006, with stones up to 1 inch (quarter size). Of the 705 California cities, 57% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Escondido.
Compare Escondido's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Escondido
By decade
- 2000s8
- 1990s5
- 1980s1
- 1970s3
- 1960s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 19, 2005 | F1 | 24 mi | 2.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 10, 2000 | F1 | 13 mi | 0.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 29, 1998 | F1 | 14 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 27, 1991 | F1 | 6 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 18, 1978 | F1 | 18 mi | 0.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 8, 1961 | F1 | 16 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Sep 22, 2007 | EF0 | 14 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 11, 2006 | F0 | 9 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 10, 2006 | F0 | 14 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 19, 2005 | F0 | 20 mi | 2.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 19, 2005 | F0 | 19 mi | 2.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 17, 2004 | F0 | 18 mi | 0.2 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 Escondido
The Storm Prediction Center has 2 hail reports within 10 miles of Escondido since 2006. All were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest size, 1 inch (quarter size), was reported on 2 days, most recently March 11, 2006. The most recent report is from March 11, 2006.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Escondido
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Escondido #2, CA, 1 mile southwest of Escondido at 600 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 89°F and low of 65°F; December is the coolest, at 68°F and 44°F. Highs reach 90°F on about 54 days a year, almost all from April to November. Lows fall below freezing on about 2 nights a year. That 14.7 inches is more than at 101 of the 226 California stations used on this site (45%). Oceanside, 7 miles west, has its own station (Vista, CA): 13.5 inches a year, 1.2 less than here, and an August average high of 81°F against 89°F.
Water temperature at the NOAA tide station La Jolla, CA, 22 miles southwest, averaged 68°F in August and 58°F in January and February over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the La Jolla tide gauge, 22 miles from Escondido, has risen 0.80 ± 0.04 inches per decade from 1924 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 8.0 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 39 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Water °F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 69 | 45 | 3.2 | 5 | 58 |
| Feb | 69 | 46 | 3.6 | 5 | 58 |
| Mar | 71 | 49 | 2.2 | 4 | 59 |
| Apr | 74 | 52 | 1.0 | 2 | 60 |
| May | 77 | 56 | 0.4 | 1 | 64 |
| Jun | 82 | 60 | 0.1 | 0 | 65 |
| Jul | 87 | 64 | 0.1 | 0 | 67 |
| Aug | 89 | 65 | 0.1 | 0 | 68 |
| Sep | 87 | 63 | 0.2 | 0 | 67 |
| Oct | 81 | 57 | 0.6 | 1 | 65 |
| Nov | 75 | 49 | 1.1 | 3 | 63 |
| Dec | 68 | 44 | 2.1 | 4 | 60 |
| Year | 77 | 54 | 14.7 | 26 | 63 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Escondido #2, CA (600 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station La Jolla, 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 Escondido
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 43 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Escondido: 27 floods, 9 flash floods, 3 heavy rain events, 3 lightning strikes and 1 thunderstorm wind report. They killed 0 people and injured 4, and the NWS estimated $288,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 62 mph, on January 21, 2010. January has had the most flash floods, 5 of 9. Of the 550 California cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 263 have had fewer than Escondido.
January 11, 2005: flash flood 10 miles from the centre of Escondido — 2 injured, $200,000 damage.
June 3, 2009: lightning strike 5 miles from the centre of Escondido — 2 injured.
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 Escondido's 4 ZIP codes have filed 84 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1980, and were paid $482,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1980: 14 claims (17% of all) and $55,000, then Pineapple Express - Southern in 1998 with 12. The year with the most claims was 1998, with 16. 39% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 415 California cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 295 have fewer than Escondido.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1980 | 14 | $55,000 |
| Pineapple Express - Southern1998 | 12 | $57,000 |
San Diego County, which includes Escondido, has been named in 51 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 27 of them major disasters (by incident: 28 fires, 12 floods, 5 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storm and Flooding, on February 19, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives San Diego County a Very High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for inland flooding; Relatively High for heat waves; Relatively Moderate for hail, coastal flooding, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Low for tornadoes; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $1.54 billion a year, the 7th highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $647.6 million (42%), 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.