NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Fairchild Afb, 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 Fairchild Afb, Washington since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 17 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 17
- 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 Fairchild Afb
The highest rating among the 17 tornadoes within 25 miles is F2, reached 2 times; the most recent, on May 6, 1957, came within 23 miles. Of the 17, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 7 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 8. The most recent tornado was on April 18, 2024. Fairchild Afb has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 93% of the 226 Washington cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 5 times since 1975, with stones up to 1 inch (quarter size). Fairchild Afb has more hail reports within 10 miles than 83% of the 226 Washington cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Fairchild Afb
By decade
- 2020s3
- 2010s2
- 2000s2
- 1990s3
- 1980s2
- 1970s2
- 1960s1
- 1950s2
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 6, 1957 | F2 | 23 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 15, 1954 | F2 | 18 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 6, 2009 | EF1 | 24 mi | 3.38 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 31, 1997 | F1 | 19 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 12, 1984 | F1 | 22 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 17, 1983 | F1 | 10 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 29, 1970 | F1 | 14 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 18, 2024 | EF0 | 7 mi | 0.01 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 6, 2022 | EF0 | 16 mi | 2.14 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 6, 2022 | EF0 | 8 mi | 0.59 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 9, 2016 | EF0 | 5 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 22, 2016 | EF0 | 7 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 17, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Fairchild Afb
The Storm Prediction Center has 5 hail reports within 10 miles of Fairchild Afb since 1975. 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 17, 2005. The most recent report is from May 17, 2005.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Fairchild Afb
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Spokane WFO, WA, 6 miles north of Fairchild Afb at 2,392 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 83°F and low of 52°F; December is the coolest, at 32°F and 22°F. December is the wettest at 2.4 inches of precipitation on average and August the driest at 0.4 inches; the year adds up to 17.3 inches over 56 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 20 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 157 nights a year. Snowfall averages 48.2 inches a year, most of it in December. That 17.3 inches is more than at 27 of the 86 Washington stations used on this site (31%). Cheney, 9 miles south, has its own station (Spokane 17 SSW, WA): 18.3 inches a year, 1.0 more than here, and a July average high of 84°F against 83°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 33 | 23 | 2.0 | 7 | 13.0 |
| Feb | 39 | 24 | 1.4 | 5 | 6.8 |
| Mar | 48 | 29 | 1.8 | 7 | 4.6 |
| Apr | 57 | 34 | 1.5 | 4 | 1.3 |
| May | 66 | 41 | 1.6 | 5 | 0.3 |
| Jun | 72 | 47 | 1.4 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 83 | 52 | 0.5 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 83 | 51 | 0.4 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 73 | 43 | 0.6 | 2 | 0.1 |
| Oct | 57 | 34 | 1.5 | 5 | 0.5 |
| Nov | 41 | 27 | 2.2 | 7 | 6.1 |
| Dec | 32 | 22 | 2.4 | 8 | 15.5 |
| Year | 57 | 36 | 17.3 | 56 | 48.2 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Spokane WFO, WA (2,392 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 Fairchild Afb
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 25 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Fairchild Afb: 22 thunderstorm wind reports and 3 floods. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $2.7 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 89 mph, on June 21, 2005.
April 4, 2000: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Fairchild Afb — 1 injured, $80,000 damage.
August 2, 2014: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Fairchild Afb — $2.0 million damage.
March 5, 2014: flood 7 miles from the centre of Fairchild Afb — $600,000 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
Spokane County, which includes Fairchild Afb, has been named in 33 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 14 of them major disasters (by incident: 17 fires, 6 floods, 4 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Wildfires, on February 15, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Spokane County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for strong wind; Relatively Moderate for inland flooding, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Low for tornadoes and hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $98.8 million a year, the 11th highest of 39 Washington counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $52.9 million (54%), 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 Fairchild Afb
- Medical Lake, WA1 mi
- Airway Heights, WA5 mi
- Cheney, WA9 mi
- Spokane, WA14 mi
- Nine Mile Falls, WA15 mi
- Spokane Valley, WA21 mi
- Colbert, WA22 mi
- Davenport, WA25 mi
- Mead, WA26 mi
- Otis Orchards, WA27 mi
- Deer Park, WA27 mi
- Liberty Lake, WA28 mi
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