NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Los Banos, 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 Los Banos, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 9 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 9
- 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 Los Banos
The highest rating among the 9 tornadoes within 25 miles is F1, reached 2 times; the most recent, on February 14, 1998, came within 25 miles. Of the 9, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 2 have come since 2000. The most recent tornado was on February 9, 2009. Of the 705 California cities on this site, 63% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Los Banos.
Compare Los Banos's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Los Banos
By decade
- 2000s2
- 1990s5
- 1970s1
- 1960s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 14, 1998 | F1 | 25 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 22, 1967 | F1 | 8 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 9, 2009 | EF0 | 19 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 28, 2006 | F0 | 24 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 14, 1998 | F0 | 6 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 13, 1997 | F0 | 2 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 1, 1996 | F0 | 22 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 1, 1996 | F0 | 21 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 5, 1975 | F0 | 2 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 9 of 9, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Los Banos
The Storm Prediction Center has no hail reports within 10 miles of Los Banos since 1955.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Los Banos
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Los Banos, CA, in Los Banos at 120 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 95°F and low of 64°F; December is the coolest, at 56°F and 38°F. January is the wettest at 2.1 inches of precipitation on average and July and August the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 9.7 inches over 26 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 97 days a year, almost all from April to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 15 nights a year. That 9.7 inches is more than at 40 of the 226 California stations used on this site (18%). Gustine, 13 miles northwest, has its own station (Newman, CA): 11.8 inches a year, 2.1 more than here, and a July average high of 100°F against 95°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 56 | 39 | 2.1 | 5 |
| Feb | 62 | 43 | 1.8 | 5 |
| Mar | 68 | 46 | 1.3 | 4 |
| Apr | 73 | 49 | 0.7 | 2 |
| May | 81 | 55 | 0.5 | 1 |
| Jun | 89 | 60 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Jul | 95 | 64 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Aug | 94 | 63 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Sep | 90 | 60 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Oct | 79 | 53 | 0.5 | 1 |
| Nov | 66 | 44 | 0.9 | 3 |
| Dec | 56 | 38 | 1.7 | 5 |
| Year | 76 | 51 | 9.7 | 26 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Los Banos, CA (120 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 Los Banos
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 11 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Los Banos: 7 floods, 3 thunderstorm wind reports and 1 heavy rain event. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $90,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 69 mph, on April 1, 1996.
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
Merced County, which includes Los Banos, has been named in 19 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1969, 14 of them major disasters (by incident: 6 severe storms, 5 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 Merced County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for inland flooding, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Low for tornadoes, hail and strong wind. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $204.8 million a year, the 25th highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $58.8 million (29%), 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 Los Banos
- Dos Palos, CA13 mi
- Gustine, CA13 mi
- Newman, CA20 mi
- Firebaugh, CA23 mi
- Merced, CA24 mi
- Livingston, CA24 mi
- Hilmar, CA24 mi
- Atwater, CA25 mi
- Delhi, CA27 mi
- Winton, CA28 mi
- Hollister, CA31 mi
- Turlock, CA32 mi
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