NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Gilroy, 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 Gilroy, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 8 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 8
- 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 Gilroy
The strongest of the 8 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F2 on March 11, 1985; its path came within 15 miles. Of the 8, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 4 have come since 2000. The most recent tornado was on January 6, 2016. Of the 705 California cities on this site, 68% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Gilroy. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 7 times since 2012, with stones up to 1 inch (quarter size). Gilroy has more hail reports within 10 miles than 76% of the 705 California cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Gilroy
By decade
- 2010s2
- 2000s2
- 1980s3
- 1960s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 11, 1985 | F2 | 15 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 20, 2001 | F1 | 11 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 1, 1965 | F1 | 13 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 6, 2016 | EF0 | 12 mi | 0.61 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 22, 2012 | EF0 | 16 mi | 1.07 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 14, 2007 | EF0 | 2 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 3, 1987 | F0 | 17 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 3, 1986 | F0 | 19 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 8 of 8, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Gilroy
The Storm Prediction Center has 7 hail reports within 10 miles of Gilroy since 2012, made on 4 separate days. Of these, one was 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest, 1 inch (quarter size), fell on October 10, 2012. The most recent report is from March 25, 2020.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Gilroy
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Gilroy, CA, 1 mile south of Gilroy at 194 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 87°F and low of 54°F; December is the coolest, at 60°F and 37°F. Highs reach 90°F on about 48 days a year, almost all from April to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 16 nights a year. That 19.9 inches is more than at 139 of the 226 California stations used on this site (62%). Aromas, 10 miles south, has its own station (Watsonville Wtr Wks, CA): 22.7 inches a year, 2.8 more than here, and an August average high of 72°F against 87°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 61 | 38 | 4.6 | 7 |
| Feb | 64 | 40 | 4.3 | 7 |
| Mar | 68 | 43 | 2.6 | 5 |
| Apr | 72 | 45 | 1.3 | 3 |
| May | 77 | 49 | 0.6 | 1 |
| Jun | 83 | 52 | 0.2 | 0 |
| Jul | 87 | 54 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Aug | 87 | 54 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Sep | 85 | 53 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Oct | 79 | 48 | 0.9 | 2 |
| Nov | 68 | 42 | 1.7 | 4 |
| Dec | 60 | 37 | 3.7 | 6 |
| Year | 74 | 46 | 19.9 | 35 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Gilroy, CA (194 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 Gilroy
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 33 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Gilroy: 23 floods, 7 flash floods, 2 heavy rain events and 1 thunderstorm wind report. They killed 2 people and injured 0, and the NWS estimated $425,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 46 mph, on August 16, 2020. January has had the most flash floods, 4 of 7. Of the 550 California cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 226 have had fewer than Gilroy.
December 15, 2008: heavy rain event 9 miles from the centre of Gilroy — 1 killed, $15,000 damage.
February 25, 2011: flood in Gilroy — 1 killed.
NWS: “Heavy rain caused the flood control channel of the Gilroy creek near Forest Street to rise to near capacity. Just before noon firefighters and police arrived at the scene where they pulled a 43-year-old male from the water.”
October 13, 2009: flood 9 miles from the centre of Gilroy — $250,000 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
Flood insurance policyholders in Gilroy's ZIP code 95020 have filed 47 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $779,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1986: 28 claims (60% of all) and $237,000. 72% 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, 227 have fewer than Gilroy.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1986 | 28 | $237,000 |
Santa Clara County, which includes Gilroy, has been named in 25 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1977, 16 of them major disasters (by incident: 6 fires, 6 floods, 6 severe storms, 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 Santa Clara County a Very High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for inland flooding; Relatively High for coastal flooding and heat waves; Relatively Low for tornadoes, hail and lightning; Very Low for strong wind. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $1.97 billion a year, the 4th highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $720.2 million (37%), 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 Gilroy
- San Martin, CA5 mi
- Aromas, CA10 mi
- Morgan Hill, CA10 mi
- Freedom, CA13 mi
- Watsonville, CA13 mi
- San Juan Bautista, CA13 mi
- Hollister, CA15 mi
- Aptos, CA18 mi
- Castroville, CA20 mi
- Soquel, CA21 mi
- Capitola, CA22 mi
- Salinas, CA23 mi
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