NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Lapwai, ID
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 Lapwai, Idaho since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 7 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 7
- 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 Lapwai
The strongest of the 7 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F2 on May 8, 1962; its path passed within a mile of the city centre. Of the 7, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and one has come since 2000. The most recent tornado was on October 7, 2010. Of the 90 Idaho cities on this site, 57% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Lapwai. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 17 times since 1958, with stones up to 2.5 inches (tennis ball size). Lapwai has more hail reports within 10 miles than 72% of the 90 Idaho cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Lapwai
By decade
- 2010s1
- 1990s3
- 1980s1
- 1960s2
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 8, 1962 | F2 | in town | 9.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 19, 1986 | F1 | 24 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 20, 1969 | F1 | 7 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 7, 2010 | EF0 | 25 mi | 0.39 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 31, 1997 | F0 | 9 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 1, 1991 | F0 | 11 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 1, 1991 | F0 | 12 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 7 of 7, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Lapwai
The Storm Prediction Center has 17 hail reports within 10 miles of Lapwai since 1958, made on 12 separate days. Of these, 11 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.5 inches (tennis ball size), fell on July 20, 2012, the most recent report. July has the most reports, 8.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Lapwai
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Lewiston Nez Perce Co Airport, ID, 11 miles west of Lapwai at 1,436 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 91°F and low of 61°F; December is the coolest, at 41°F and 30°F. May is the wettest at 1.7 inches of precipitation on average and July and August the driest at 0.5 inches; the year adds up to 12.8 inches over 41 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 44 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 80 nights a year. Snowfall averages 12.7 inches a year, most of it in December. That 12.8 inches is more than at 30 of the 66 Idaho stations used on this site (45%). Genesee, 12 miles northwest, has its own station (Moscow U Of I, ID): 27.9 inches a year, 15.1 more than here, and a July average high of 84°F against 91°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 42 | 30 | 1.1 | 4 | 2.7 |
| Feb | 47 | 32 | 1.0 | 3 | 3.8 |
| Mar | 55 | 36 | 1.3 | 4 | 0.8 |
| Apr | 62 | 41 | 1.4 | 5 | 0.0 |
| May | 72 | 48 | 1.7 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 79 | 54 | 1.3 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 91 | 61 | 0.5 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 90 | 60 | 0.5 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 80 | 52 | 0.6 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 63 | 42 | 1.1 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 49 | 35 | 1.2 | 4 | 1.3 |
| Dec | 41 | 30 | 1.1 | 4 | 4.1 |
| Year | 64 | 43 | 12.8 | 41 | 12.7 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Lewiston Nez Perce Co Airport, ID (1,436 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 Lapwai
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 27 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Lapwai: 14 thunderstorm wind reports, 9 floods, 3 flash floods and 1 lightning strike. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $6.4 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 66 mph, on April 7, 2017.
July 9, 1998: thunderstorm wind in Lapwai — 1 injured, $25,000 damage.
NWS: “power lines down and trees blown down. one tree blown down onto trailer house.”
May 8, 2005: flash flood in Lapwai — $4.0 million damage.
NWS: “A slow moving thunderstorm moved 2 miles east of the town of Lapwai on the afternoon of the 8th of May. An estimated 2 to 3 inches fell across the headwaters of Garden Gulch Creek in about an hour.”
June 12, 2022: flood 3 miles from the centre of Lapwai — $1.0 million damage.
NWS: “Us95 is down to one lane at milepost 296 due to flooding over roadway. time estimated based on dot report.”
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
Nez Perce County, which includes Lapwai, has been named in 15 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 10 of them major disasters (by incident: 4 fires, 3 floods, 3 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, on June 30, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Nez Perce County a Very 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 $15.1 million a year, the 19th highest of 44 Idaho counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $11.9 million (79%), 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 Lapwai
- Lewiston, ID9 mi
- Genesee, ID12 mi
- Clarkston, WA14 mi
- Troy, ID24 mi
- Moscow, ID25 mi
- Orofino, ID29 mi
- Pullman, WA30 mi
- Cottonwood, ID31 mi
- Pomeroy, WA38 mi
- Kamiah, ID38 mi
- Colfax, WA44 mi
- Grangeville, ID45 mi
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