NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Fort Bragg, 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 Fort Bragg, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 1 tornado has touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 1
- 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 Fort Bragg
The only tornado within 25 miles was an F1 on December 5, 1998; its path came within 2 miles. Of the 705 California cities on this site, 96% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Fort Bragg.
Compare Fort Bragg's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Fort Bragg
By decade
- 1990s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 5, 1998 | F1 | 2 mi | 1.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 1 of 1, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Fort Bragg
The Storm Prediction Center has no hail reports within 10 miles of Fort Bragg since 1955.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Fort Bragg
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Fort Bragg 5 N, CA, 5 miles north of Fort Bragg at 123 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 65°F and low of 50°F; December is the coolest, at 52°F and 40°F. December is the wettest at 8.7 inches of precipitation on average and July and August the driest at 0.1 inches; the year adds up to 43.4 inches over 72 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 12 nights a year. That 43.4 inches is more than at 208 of the 226 California stations used on this site (92%). Willits, 21 miles east, has its own station (Willits 1 NE, CA): 49.3 inches a year, 5.9 more than here, and an August average high of 83°F against 65°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 52 | 40 | 7.7 | 12 |
| Feb | 54 | 41 | 7.3 | 10 |
| Mar | 55 | 41 | 6.4 | 11 |
| Apr | 57 | 42 | 3.6 | 7 |
| May | 60 | 45 | 1.6 | 4 |
| Jun | 63 | 47 | 0.7 | 2 |
| Jul | 65 | 49 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Aug | 65 | 50 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Sep | 65 | 49 | 0.3 | 1 |
| Oct | 62 | 46 | 2.3 | 4 |
| Nov | 56 | 43 | 4.6 | 9 |
| Dec | 52 | 40 | 8.7 | 13 |
| Year | 59 | 44 | 43.4 | 72 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Fort Bragg 5 N, CA (123 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.
Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings
Mendocino County, which includes Fort Bragg, has been named in 33 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 25 of them major disasters (by incident: 11 floods, 9 severe storms, 6 fires, 2 biological emergencies). 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 Mendocino County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for inland flooding; Relatively Low for coastal flooding, 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 $116.7 million a year, the 35th highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $55.9 million (48%), 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.