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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Lake Oswego, OR

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 Lake Oswego, Oregon since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 23 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 1 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
0

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
0

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
23

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
1

6 deaths in all

What the records show for Lake Oswego

The strongest of the 23 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F3 on April 5, 1972; its path came within 14 miles, and it killed 6 people. Of the 23, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 14 have come since 2000. October has had the most tornadoes, 10. The most recent tornado was on October 24, 2022. Lake Oswego has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 82% of the 149 Oregon cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 6 times since 1993, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Lake Oswego has more hail reports within 10 miles than 78% of the 149 Oregon cities.

Compare Lake Oswego's storm record with another city →

Tornadoes within 25 miles of Lake Oswego

By decade

  • 2020s2
  • 2010s7
  • 2000s5
  • 1990s6
  • 1980s1
  • 1970s1(1 EF3+)
  • 1950s1
Strongest tornadoes near Lake Oswego, Oregon
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Apr 5, 1972F314 mi8.7 mi6 / 300
Dec 8, 1993F211 mi6 mi0 / 0
Jan 10, 2008EF119 mi10.11 mi0 / 0
Oct 9, 2000F19 mi0.1 mi0 / 0
Oct 9, 2000F119 mi0.1 mi0 / 0
Nov 12, 1991F14 mi0.2 mi0 / 0
Nov 12, 1991F118 mi0.2 mi0 / 0
Apr 12, 1957F121 mi2.5 mi0 / 0
Oct 24, 2022EF020 mi0.04 mi0 / 0
Jun 13, 2020EF011 mi2 mi0 / 0
Sep 8, 2019EF016 mi0.11 mi0 / 0
Jul 1, 2019EF010 mi1.6 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 23, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Lake Oswego

The Storm Prediction Center has 6 hail reports within 10 miles of Lake Oswego since 1993, made on 5 separate days. Of these, 3 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest, 1.75 inches (golf ball size), fell on May 12, 1993. The most recent report is from July 13, 2007.

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.

Radar-estimated hail days in Lake Oswego since 2019 →

Weather by month in Lake Oswego

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Oregon City, OR, 6 miles southeast of Lake Oswego at 167 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 84°F and low of 58°F; December is the coolest, at 47°F and 36°F. December is the wettest at 7.2 inches of precipitation on average and July the driest at 0.5 inches; the year adds up to 44.7 inches. Highs reach 90°F on about 20 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 30 nights a year. That 44.7 inches is more than at 43 of the 77 Oregon stations used on this site (56%). Tigard, 4 miles west, has its own station (Nature Park-Beaverton, OR): 39.3 inches a year, 5.4 less than here, and an August average high of 82°F against 84°F.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Oregon City, OR
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. in
Jan48376.5
Feb53384.5
Mar58404.8
Apr64433.8
May71482.5
Jun76531.8
Jul84570.5
Aug84580.6
Sep78531.6
Oct65474.2
Nov53416.7
Dec47367.2
Year654644.7

Averages for 1991–2020 at Oregon City, OR (167 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 Lake Oswego

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 57 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Lake Oswego: 22 floods, 19 heavy rain events, 12 thunderstorm wind reports and 4 lightning strikes. They killed 3 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $2.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 69 mph, on April 22, 2005.

  • January 15, 1996: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Lake Oswego — 1 killed.

  • May 2, 2009: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Lake Oswego — 1 killed.

  • December 3, 2023: heavy rain event 7 miles from the centre of Lake Oswego — 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 Lake Oswego's 2 ZIP codes have filed 121 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1980, and were paid $5.4 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1996: 98 claims (81% of all) and $5.0 million. 82% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 77 Oregon cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 68 have fewer than Lake Oswego.

Flood insurance claims in Lake Oswego by named event
EventClaimsPaid
Flooding199698$5.0 million

Clackamas County, which includes Lake Oswego, has been named in 23 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 15 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 severe storms, 7 fires, 4 floods, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, on April 7, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Clackamas County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for inland flooding, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Moderate for heat waves; Relatively Low for tornadoes; Very Low for hail and coastal flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $219.1 million a year, the 4th highest of 36 Oregon counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $76.6 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 Lake Oswego