NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Freedom, 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 Freedom, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 15 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 15
- 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 Freedom
The strongest of the 15 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F2 on March 11, 1985; its path came within 22 miles. Of the 15, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 7 have come since 2000. December has had the most tornadoes, 7. The most recent tornado was on December 14, 2024. Freedom has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 52% of the 705 California cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 8 times since 1965, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Freedom has more hail reports within 10 miles than 82% of the 705 California cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Freedom
By decade
- 2020s1
- 2010s4
- 2000s2
- 1990s4
- 1980s3
- 1960s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 11, 1985 | F2 | 22 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 14, 2024 | EF1 | 16 mi | 0.31 mi | 0 / 5 |
| Dec 20, 2001 | F1 | 2 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 6, 1992 | F1 | 24 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 6, 1992 | F1 | 22 mi | 7 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Apr 1, 1965 | F1 | 3 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 6, 2019 | EF0 | 13 mi | 0.54 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 6, 2019 | EF0 | 15 mi | 0.07 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 6, 2016 | EF0 | 22 mi | 0.61 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 22, 2012 | EF0 | 3 mi | 1.07 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 14, 2007 | EF0 | 11 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 5, 1998 | F0 | 14 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 15, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Freedom
The Storm Prediction Center has 8 hail reports within 10 miles of Freedom since 1965, made on 7 separate days. Of these, 3 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest, 1.75 inches (golf ball size), fell on April 1, 1965. The most recent report is from March 10, 2021.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Freedom
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Watsonville Municipal Airport, CA, in Freedom at 160 feet. September is the warmest, with an average high of 75°F and low of 52°F; December is the coolest, at 61°F and 39°F. January is the wettest at 4.6 inches of precipitation on average and July and August the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 22.4 inches over 35 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 8 days a year, almost all from September to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 7 nights a year. That 22.4 inches is more than at 154 of the 226 California stations used on this site (68%). Watsonville, under a mile southeast, has its own station (Watsonville Wtr Wks, CA): 22.7 inches a year, 0.3 more than here, and a September average high of 74°F against 75°F.
Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Monterey, CA, 23 miles south, averaged 62°F in September and 55°F in March over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the Monterey tide gauge, 23 miles from Freedom, has risen 0.70 ± 0.13 inches per decade from 1973 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 7.0 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 32 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Water °F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 61 | 40 | 4.6 | 6 | 56 |
| Feb | 62 | 42 | 4.0 | 7 | 56 |
| Mar | 64 | 43 | 4.3 | 6 | 55 |
| Apr | 66 | 45 | 1.3 | 3 | 56 |
| May | 69 | 48 | 0.9 | 1 | 57 |
| Jun | 72 | 50 | 0.2 | 0 | 58 |
| Jul | 72 | 53 | 0.0 | 0 | 60 |
| Aug | 73 | 53 | 0.0 | 0 | 61 |
| Sep | 75 | 52 | 0.1 | 0 | 62 |
| Oct | 74 | 48 | 0.9 | 1 | 60 |
| Nov | 67 | 43 | 2.1 | 4 | 57 |
| Dec | 61 | 39 | 4.0 | 6 | 57 |
| Year | 68 | 46 | 22.4 | 35 | 58 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Watsonville Municipal Airport, CA (160 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Monterey, 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 Freedom
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 40 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Freedom: 30 floods, 6 flash floods, 2 heavy rain events and 2 thunderstorm wind reports. They killed 2 people and injured 0, and the NWS estimated $3.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 75 mph, on March 2, 2024. December has had the most flash floods, 2 of 6. Of the 550 California cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 202 have had fewer than Freedom.
December 15, 2008: heavy rain event 5 miles from the centre of Freedom — 1 killed, $15,000 damage.
NWS: “A wet mountain road caused a man to veer off highway 152 near Watsonville resulting in his death.”
February 15, 2009: flood 7 miles from the centre of Freedom — 1 killed, $15,000 damage.
October 13, 2009: flash flood 8 miles from the centre of Freedom — $3.0 million 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
Santa Cruz County, which includes Freedom, has been named in 34 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1977, 22 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 fires, 9 severe storms, 8 floods, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, on April 13, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Santa Cruz County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for inland flooding; Relatively Moderate for lightning and heat waves; Relatively Low for coastal flooding; Very Low for tornadoes, hail and strong wind. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $335.4 million a year, the 19th highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $105.1 million (31%), 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 Freedom
- Watsonville, CAunder 1 mi
- Aptos, CA7 mi
- Aromas, CA9 mi
- Capitola, CA10 mi
- Soquel, CA11 mi
- Castroville, CA12 mi
- Gilroy, CA13 mi
- Santa Cruz, CA14 mi
- San Martin, CA14 mi
- Morgan Hill, CA15 mi
- Scotts Valley, CA15 mi
- San Juan Bautista, CA16 mi
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