NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Goleta, 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 Goleta, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 5 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 5
- 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 Goleta
The strongest of the 5 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F1 on January 3, 1977; its path came within 7 miles. Of the 5, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 2 have come since 2000. The most recent tornado was on March 21, 2023. Of the 705 California cities on this site, 79% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Goleta. Hail has been reported within 10 miles once, in 2005, with stones of 0.75 inches (penny size). Of the 705 California cities, 72% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Goleta.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Goleta
By decade
- 2020s1
- 2010s1
- 1990s2
- 1970s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 3, 1977 | F1 | 7 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 21, 2023 | EF0 | 23 mi | 0.24 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jan 19, 2010 | EF0 | 4 mi | 0.14 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 24, 1994 | F0 | 14 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 29, 1991 | F0 | 24 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 2 |
The strongest 5 of 5, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Goleta
The Storm Prediction Center has one hail report within 10 miles of Goleta, from February 22, 2005: 0.75 inches (penny size).
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Goleta
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Santa Barbara Municipal Airport, CA, 6 miles east of Goleta at 9 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 75°F and low of 58°F; December is the coolest, at 64°F and 40°F. February is the wettest at 3.9 inches of precipitation on average and July and August the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 17.2 inches over 24 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 3 days a year, almost all from October. Lows fall below freezing on about 5 nights a year. That 17.2 inches is more than at 122 of the 226 California stations used on this site (54%). Santa Barbara, 12 miles east, has its own station (Santa Barbara, CA): 18.9 inches a year, 1.7 more than here, and an August average high of 78°F against 75°F.
Sea level at the Santa Barbara tide gauge, 15 miles from Goleta, has risen 0.41 ± 0.16 inches per decade from 1973 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 4.1 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 23 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 64 | 41 | 3.8 | 5 |
| Feb | 64 | 44 | 3.9 | 5 |
| Mar | 66 | 46 | 3.1 | 4 |
| Apr | 68 | 48 | 0.9 | 2 |
| May | 69 | 51 | 0.4 | 1 |
| Jun | 70 | 55 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Jul | 73 | 58 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Aug | 75 | 58 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Sep | 74 | 56 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Oct | 73 | 51 | 0.7 | 1 |
| Nov | 69 | 44 | 1.3 | 2 |
| Dec | 64 | 40 | 2.9 | 4 |
| Year | 69 | 49 | 17.2 | 24 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Santa Barbara Municipal Airport, CA (9 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 Goleta
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 16 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Goleta: 13 flash floods and 3 thunderstorm wind reports. They killed 1 person and injured 0, and the NWS estimated $10,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 61 mph, on February 16, 2026. January has had the most flash floods, 6 of 13. Of the 550 California cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 341 have had fewer than Goleta.
January 3, 2026: flash flood 8 miles from the centre of Goleta — 1 killed.
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 Goleta's ZIP code 93117 have filed 84 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $1.1 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1995: 35 claims (42% of all) and $387,000, then Pineapple Express - Southern in 1998 with 18. 63% 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 Goleta.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1995 | 35 | $387,000 |
| Pineapple Express - Southern1998 | 18 | $209,000 |
Santa Barbara County, which includes Goleta, has been named in 43 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1969, 27 of them major disasters (by incident: 15 fires, 13 floods, 7 severe storms, 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 Barbara 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 $477.3 million a year, the 14th highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $166.8 million (35%), 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 Goleta
- Santa Barbara, CA12 mi
- Santa Ynez, CA14 mi
- Solvang, CA16 mi
- Buellton, CA19 mi
- Carpinteria, CA24 mi
- Lompoc, CA32 mi
- Oak View, CA37 mi
- Vandenberg Afb, CA39 mi
- Ojai, CA39 mi
- Ventura, CA42 mi
- Santa Maria, CA42 mi
- Oxnard, CA47 mi
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