NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Kingsburg, 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 Kingsburg, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 34 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 34
- 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 Kingsburg
The highest rating among the 34 tornadoes within 25 miles is F2, reached 2 times; the most recent, on April 5, 1980, came within 12 miles. Of the 34, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 10 have come since 2000. March has had the most tornadoes, 11. The most recent tornado was on January 17, 2019. Kingsburg has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 84% of the 705 California cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 7 times since 1996, with stones up to 1 inch (quarter size). Kingsburg has more hail reports within 10 miles than 76% of the 705 California cities.
Compare Kingsburg's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Kingsburg
By decade
- 2010s4
- 2000s6
- 1990s11
- 1980s8
- 1970s2
- 1960s2
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 5, 1980 | F2 | 12 mi | 15 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Mar 22, 1962 | F2 | 25 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 17, 2019 | EF1 | 23 mi | 0.25 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 22, 1996 | F1 | 25 mi | 0.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 28, 1991 | F1 | 12 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Mar 8, 1986 | F1 | 5 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 28, 1982 | F1 | 1 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Feb 19, 1980 | F1 | 21 mi | 1.7 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Mar 14, 1979 | F1 | 10 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 19, 1957 | F1 | 21 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 22, 2018 | EF0 | 16 mi | 1.19 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 12, 2018 | EF0 | 11 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 34, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Kingsburg
The Storm Prediction Center has 7 hail reports within 10 miles of Kingsburg since 1996. Of these, 4 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest size, 1 inch (quarter size), was reported on 4 days, most recently April 11, 2012. The most recent report is from April 11, 2012.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Kingsburg
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Hanford Municipal Airport, CA, 14 miles south of Kingsburg at 249 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 98°F and low of 64°F; December is the coolest, at 57°F and 35°F. Highs reach 90°F on about 113 days a year, almost all from April to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 31 nights a year. That 8.2 inches is more than at 32 of the 226 California stations used on this site (14%). Selma, 6 miles northwest, has its own station (Fresno Yosemite International Airport, CA): 11.0 inches a year, 2.8 more than here, and the same July average high, 98°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 57 | 37 | 1.6 | 4 |
| Feb | 63 | 39 | 1.4 | 4 |
| Mar | 70 | 44 | 1.5 | 3 |
| Apr | 76 | 47 | 0.7 | 2 |
| May | 85 | 54 | 0.4 | 1 |
| Jun | 93 | 60 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Jul | 98 | 64 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Aug | 97 | 62 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Sep | 92 | 57 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Oct | 81 | 49 | 0.5 | 1 |
| Nov | 67 | 40 | 0.6 | 2 |
| Dec | 57 | 35 | 1.4 | 3 |
| Year | 78 | 49 | 8.2 | 21 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Hanford Municipal Airport, CA (249 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 Kingsburg
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 59 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Kingsburg: 41 floods, 15 thunderstorm wind reports, 2 heavy rain events and 1 lightning strike. They killed 0 people and injured 15, and the NWS estimated $1.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 58 mph, on May 31, 2002.
May 19, 1997: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Kingsburg — 15 injured, $150,000 damage.
June 19, 2017: flood 1 mile from the centre of Kingsburg — $500,000 damage.
NWS: “Flooding occurred at the Riverland RV resort between Kingsburg and Traver as the result of a levee breech on the Kings River which occurred on June 19.”
May 31, 2002: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Kingsburg — $200,000 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
Tulare County, which includes Kingsburg, has been named in 23 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1967, 15 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 floods, 4 fires, 4 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 Tulare County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for inland flooding, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Moderate for hail; Relatively Low for tornadoes and strong wind. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $214.1 million a year, the 23rd highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $130.3 million (61%), 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 Kingsburg
- Selma, CA6 mi
- Parlier, CA7 mi
- Dinuba, CA9 mi
- Reedley, CA9 mi
- Laton, CA11 mi
- Del Rey, CA11 mi
- Fowler, CA11 mi
- Hanford, CA14 mi
- Cutler, CA14 mi
- Sanger, CA15 mi
- Orange Cove, CA15 mi
- Armona, CA16 mi
All California cities →All hurricanes since 1851 →Compare Kingsburg with another place →