NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Joshua Tree, 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 Joshua Tree, 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 Joshua Tree
The strongest of the 8 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F2 on September 7, 1982; its path came within 6 miles. Of the 8, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 4 have come since 2000. The most recent tornado was on July 19, 2015. Of the 705 California cities on this site, 68% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Joshua Tree. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 10 times since 1997, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Joshua Tree has more hail reports within 10 miles than 88% of the 705 California cities.
Compare Joshua Tree's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Joshua Tree
By decade
- 2010s1
- 2000s3
- 1980s3
- 1970s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 7, 1982 | F2 | 6 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Aug 4, 2008 | EF1 | 21 mi | 1.08 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 22, 1974 | F1 | 5 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 19, 2015 | EF0 | 11 mi | 0.24 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 14, 2004 | F0 | 17 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 7, 2001 | F0 | 4 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 27, 1987 | F0 | 14 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 1, 1983 | F0 | 12 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 1 |
The strongest 8 of 8, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Joshua Tree
The Storm Prediction Center has 10 hail reports within 10 miles of Joshua Tree since 1997. Of these, 5 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest, 1.75 inches (golf ball size), fell on August 14, 2004. The most recent report is from June 3, 2025. August has the most reports, 4.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Joshua Tree
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Joshua Tree, CA, 2 miles southeast of Joshua Tree at 2,563 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 102°F and low of 70°F; December is the coolest, at 60°F and 36°F. January is the wettest at 1.2 inches of precipitation on average and June the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 4.6 inches over 11 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 130 days a year, almost all from April to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 24 nights a year. Snowfall averages 0.8 inches a year, most of it in December. That 4.6 inches is more than at 12 of the 226 California stations used on this site (5%). Yucca Valley, 7 miles west, has its own station (Yucca Valley, CA): 6.5 inches a year, 1.9 more than here, and a July average high of 96°F against 102°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 60 | 38 | 1.2 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Feb | 63 | 39 | 0.7 | 1 | 0.2 |
| Mar | 70 | 43 | 0.5 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Apr | 77 | 47 | 0.2 | 1 | 0.0 |
| May | 86 | 54 | 0.1 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 95 | 61 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 102 | 70 | 0.3 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 100 | 70 | 0.4 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 93 | 64 | 0.2 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 82 | 52 | 0.3 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 69 | 43 | 0.2 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Dec | 60 | 36 | 0.5 | 2 | 0.6 |
| Year | 80 | 51 | 4.6 | 11 | 0.8 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Joshua Tree, CA (2,563 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 Joshua Tree
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 85 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Joshua Tree: 73 flash floods, 5 thunderstorm wind reports, 5 lightning strikes, 1 flood and 1 heavy rain event. They killed 2 people and injured 4, and the NWS estimated $1.8 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 70 mph, on January 22, 1996. August has had the most flash floods, 24 of 73. Of the 550 California cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 549 have had fewer than Joshua Tree.
September 16, 2014: flash flood 7 miles from the centre of Joshua Tree — 1 killed, $750,000 damage.
February 2, 2019: flash flood 7 miles from the centre of Joshua Tree — 1 killed, $100,000 damage.
NWS: “Numerous roads and intersections were flooded in Yucca Valley and Joshua Tree, at least four homes were flooded, at least four vehicles were stranded, and at least six swift water rescues occurred. One man was killed when his vehicle was swept away by flood waters.”
February 28, 2014: flash flood 9 miles from the centre of Joshua Tree — 3 injured, $50,000 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
San Bernardino County, which includes Joshua Tree, has been named in 61 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 30 of them major disasters (by incident: 33 fires, 13 floods, 7 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 San Bernardino County a Very High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for inland flooding; Relatively High for strong wind, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes and hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $2.08 billion a year, the 3rd highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $959.6 million (46%), 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 Joshua Tree
- Yucca Valley, CA7 mi
- Landers, CA13 mi
- Twentynine Palms, CA14 mi
- Morongo Valley, CA17 mi
- Desert Hot Springs, CA20 mi
- Thousand Palms, CA25 mi
- Cathedral City, CA27 mi
- Palm Springs, CA28 mi
- Rancho Mirage, CA30 mi
- Palm Desert, CA31 mi
- Indio, CA31 mi
- Sugarloaf, CA31 mi
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