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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Larkspur, 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 Larkspur, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 3 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
0

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
0

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
3

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
0

no recorded deaths

What the records show for Larkspur

The highest rating among the 3 tornadoes within 25 miles is F1, reached 2 times; the most recent, on March 20, 2005, came within 21 miles. Of the 705 California cities on this site, 87% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Larkspur. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 12 times since 1996, with stones up to 1 inch (quarter size). Larkspur has more hail reports within 10 miles than 91% of the 705 California cities.

Compare Larkspur's storm record with another city →

Tornadoes within 25 miles of Larkspur

By decade

  • 2000s1
  • 1990s1
  • 1950s1
Strongest tornadoes near Larkspur, California
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Mar 20, 2005F121 mi3 mi0 / 0
Apr 1, 1958F124 mi0.2 mi0 / 0
Dec 5, 1998F010 mi1.5 mi0 / 0

The strongest 3 of 3, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Larkspur

The Storm Prediction Center has 12 hail reports within 10 miles of Larkspur since 1996, made on 11 separate days. Of these, one was 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest, 1 inch (quarter size), fell on March 4, 1996. The most recent report is from March 10, 2021. March has the most reports, 7.

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

Radar-estimated hail days in Larkspur since 2019 →

Weather by month in Larkspur

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Kentfield, CA, 2 miles north of Larkspur at 145 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 83°F and low of 54°F; December is the coolest, at 56°F and 42°F. December is the wettest at 9.8 inches of precipitation on average and July the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 44.5 inches over 50 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 27 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 5 nights a year. That 44.5 inches is more than at 209 of the 226 California stations used on this site (92%). San Anselmo, 4 miles northwest, has its own station (San Rafael Civic Ctr, CA): 34.5 inches a year, 10.0 less than here, and an August average high of 81°F against 83°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Richmond, CA, 7 miles east, averaged 66°F in August and September and 53°F in January over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the Richmond tide gauge, 7 miles from Larkspur, has risen 1.32 ± 0.29 inches per decade from 1979 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 13.2 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 78 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Kentfield, CA
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. inDays ≥ 0.1"Water °F
Jan57428.8953
Feb61438.7954
Mar65446.0855
Apr69462.6458
May74501.4260
Jun80520.4162
Jul83530.0065
Aug83540.1066
Sep82530.1066
Oct76502.0263
Nov64454.6559
Dec56429.8954
Year714844.55060

Averages for 1991–2020 at Kentfield, CA (145 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Richmond, CA, from NOAA Tides & Currents. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.

California weather by month, station by station →

Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Larkspur

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 83 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Larkspur: 65 floods, 7 heavy rain events, 5 flash floods, 4 thunderstorm wind reports and 2 lightning strikes. They killed 1 person and injured 0, and the NWS estimated $291,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on December 25, 2025. Of the 550 California cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 163 have had fewer than Larkspur.

  • January 20, 2024: heavy rain event 9 miles from the centre of Larkspur — 1 killed, $10 damage.

  • October 13, 2009: flood 3 miles from the centre of Larkspur — $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 Larkspur's ZIP code 94939 have filed 101 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $1.7 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1982: 24 claims (24% of all) and $163,000, then Pineapple Express - Southern in 1998 with 18. The year with the most claims was 1998, with 18. 43% 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, 318 have fewer than Larkspur.

Flood insurance claims in Larkspur by named event
EventClaimsPaid
Flooding198224$163,000
Pineapple Express - Southern199818$205,000

Marin County, which includes Larkspur, has been named in 26 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 22 of them major disasters (by incident: 10 severe storms, 9 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 1 coastal storm). 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 Marin County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for coastal flooding; Relatively High for inland flooding; Relatively Low for lightning and heat waves; Very Low for tornadoes, hail and strong wind. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $259.3 million a year, the 22nd highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $116.0 million (45%), 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 Larkspur