NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Gonzales, 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 Gonzales, 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 Gonzales
The strongest of the 5 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F2 on March 11, 1985; its path came within 23 miles. Of the 5, none had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and one has come since 2000. The most recent tornado was on April 22, 2016. Of the 705 California cities on this site, 79% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Gonzales. Hail has been reported within 10 miles once, in 2021, with stones of 0.25 inches. Of the 705 California cities, 72% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Gonzales.
Compare Gonzales's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Gonzales
By decade
- 2010s1
- 1990s2
- 1980s2
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 11, 1985 | F2 | 23 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 6, 1992 | F1 | 24 mi | 7 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Apr 22, 2016 | EF0 | 16 mi | 0.24 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 11, 1992 | F0 | 22 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 3, 1987 | F0 | 21 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 5 of 5, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Gonzales
The Storm Prediction Center has one hail report within 10 miles of Gonzales, from March 15, 2021: 0.25 inches.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Gonzales
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Pinnacles Nm, CA, 14 miles east of Gonzales at 1,307 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 96°F and low of 50°F; December is the coolest, at 62°F and 33°F. January and February are the wettest at 3.5 inches of precipitation on average and July and August the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 16.7 inches over 35 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 102 days a year, almost all from April to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 67 nights a year. That 16.7 inches is more than at 120 of the 226 California stations used on this site (53%). Carmel Valley, 15 miles west, has its own station (Carmel Valley, CA): 17.9 inches a year, 1.2 more than here, and a July average high of 79°F against 96°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 63 | 34 | 3.5 | 7 |
| Feb | 64 | 36 | 3.5 | 7 |
| Mar | 68 | 38 | 2.8 | 6 |
| Apr | 72 | 39 | 1.0 | 3 |
| May | 80 | 43 | 0.6 | 1 |
| Jun | 89 | 47 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Jul | 96 | 50 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Aug | 96 | 50 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Sep | 92 | 48 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Oct | 83 | 43 | 0.7 | 2 |
| Nov | 70 | 37 | 1.3 | 4 |
| Dec | 62 | 33 | 3.1 | 6 |
| Year | 78 | 41 | 16.7 | 35 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Pinnacles Nm, CA (1,307 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 Gonzales
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 17 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Gonzales: 17 floods. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $20 in property and crop 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 Gonzales's ZIP code 93926 have filed 13 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $202,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 92% 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, 28 have fewer than Gonzales.
Monterey County, which includes Gonzales, has been named in 33 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1967, 23 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 floods, 8 severe storms, 7 fires, 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 Monterey 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 tornadoes and coastal flooding; Very Low for hail and strong wind. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $402.4 million a year, the 17th highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $109.3 million (27%), 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 Gonzales
- Soledad, CA9 mi
- Carmel Valley, CA15 mi
- Greenfield, CA17 mi
- Salinas, CA17 mi
- San Juan Bautista, CA22 mi
- Marina, CA23 mi
- Seaside, CA24 mi
- Hollister, CA24 mi
- Castroville, CA25 mi
- Monterey, CA26 mi
- Carmel, CA26 mi
- Aromas, CA28 mi
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