NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Hamilton City, 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 Hamilton City, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 27 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 27
- 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 Hamilton City
The highest rating among the 27 tornadoes within 25 miles is F2 or EF2, reached 3 times; the most recent, on May 25, 2011, came within 23 miles. Of the 27, none had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 17 have come since 2000. March has had the most tornadoes, 9. The most recent tornado was on December 19, 2023. Hamilton City has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 78% of the 705 California cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 6 times since 2001, with stones up to 1 inch (quarter size). Hamilton City has more hail reports within 10 miles than 69% of the 705 California cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Hamilton City
By decade
- 2020s5
- 2010s9
- 2000s3
- 1990s3
- 1980s3
- 1970s3
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 25, 2011 | EF2 | 23 mi | 0.21 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 24, 1986 | F2 | 13 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 1 |
| May 19, 1953 | F2 | 9 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 19, 2023 | EF1 | 11 mi | 0.36 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 26, 2014 | EF1 | 13 mi | 0.58 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 26, 2014 | EF1 | 12 mi | 0.95 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 26, 2014 | EF1 | 11 mi | 0.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 25, 2011 | EF1 | 11 mi | 26.37 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 25, 2011 | EF1 | 5 mi | 21.65 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 17, 1993 | F1 | 16 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 23, 1978 | F1 | 21 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 4, 1978 | F1 | 8 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 27, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Hamilton City
The Storm Prediction Center has 6 hail reports within 10 miles of Hamilton City since 2001, made on 4 separate days. Of these, 4 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest size, 1 inch (quarter size), was reported on 3 days, most recently March 6, 2023. The most recent report is from March 6, 2023.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Hamilton City
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Orland, CA, 10 miles west of Hamilton City at 254 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 94°F and low of 63°F; December is the coolest, at 57°F and 37°F. January is the wettest at 4.5 inches of precipitation on average and July the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 21.3 inches over 41 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 92 days a year, almost all from April to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 16 nights a year. That 21.3 inches is more than at 151 of the 226 California stations used on this site (67%). Chico, 9 miles east, has its own station (Paradise, CA): 56.5 inches a year, 35.2 more than here, and a July average high of 91°F against 94°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 57 | 38 | 4.5 | 8 |
| Feb | 62 | 40 | 4.1 | 7 |
| Mar | 67 | 43 | 2.8 | 6 |
| Apr | 73 | 47 | 1.4 | 3 |
| May | 81 | 53 | 1.1 | 3 |
| Jun | 89 | 60 | 0.4 | 1 |
| Jul | 94 | 63 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Aug | 93 | 61 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Sep | 90 | 58 | 0.2 | 1 |
| Oct | 80 | 51 | 0.9 | 2 |
| Nov | 65 | 43 | 2.0 | 4 |
| Dec | 57 | 37 | 3.8 | 7 |
| Year | 76 | 49 | 21.3 | 41 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Orland, CA (254 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 Hamilton City
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 41 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Hamilton City: 32 floods, 3 heavy rain events, 3 thunderstorm wind reports, 2 lightning strikes and 1 flash flood. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $5.4 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 63 mph, on January 14, 2023.
January 1, 2023: flood 4 miles from the centre of Hamilton City — $5.0 million damage.
NWS: “Glenn County completed a preliminary estimate of damage from flooding. There was substantial flooding, resulting in the closure of more than 25 roads.”
February 14, 2019: flood 5 miles from the centre of Hamilton City — $100,000 damage.
NWS: “Butte County Sheriff evacuated the area of Nord Cana Highway and Wilson Landing Road south of Rock Creek after a levee breached and the creek flooded.”
February 25, 2019: flood 7 miles from the centre of Hamilton City — $100,000 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 Hamilton City's ZIP code 95951 have filed 14 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1983, and were paid $109,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 86% 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, 36 have fewer than Hamilton City.
Glenn County, which includes Hamilton City, has been named in 21 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 16 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 floods, 7 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 1 coastal storm). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, on April 13, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Glenn County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Low for inland flooding and heat waves; Very Low for tornadoes, hail, strong wind and lightning. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $40.9 million a year, the 48th highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $6.5 million (16%), 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 Hamilton City
- Chico, CA9 mi
- Orland, CA11 mi
- Durham, CA14 mi
- Corning, CA16 mi
- Willows, CA19 mi
- Los Molinos, CA21 mi
- Paradise, CA22 mi
- Gerber, CA22 mi
- Magalia, CA25 mi
- Biggs, CA28 mi
- Oroville, CA30 mi
- Forest Ranch, CA31 mi
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