NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Los Molinos, 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 Molinos, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 17 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 17
- 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 Molinos
The highest rating among the 17 tornadoes within 25 miles is F2, reached 3 times; the most recent, on September 24, 1986, came within 8 miles. Of the 17, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 8 have come since 2000. March has had the most tornadoes, 6. The most recent tornado was on January 3, 2025. Los Molinos has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 57% of the 705 California cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 11 times since 2001, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Los Molinos has more hail reports within 10 miles than 90% of the 705 California cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Los Molinos
By decade
- 2020s5
- 2010s3
- 1980s4
- 1970s4
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 24, 1986 | F2 | 8 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 1 |
| May 9, 1980 | F2 | 9 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 19, 1953 | F2 | 21 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 19, 2023 | EF1 | 21 mi | 0.36 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 5, 1978 | F1 | 14 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 4, 1978 | F1 | 17 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 25, 2021 | EF0 | 15 mi | 2.02 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 4, 2021 | EF0 | 7 mi | 2.66 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 4, 2021 | EF0 | 14 mi | 0.78 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 29, 2014 | EF0 | 15 mi | 0.01 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 4, 2013 | EF0 | 10 mi | 0.82 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 19, 2013 | EF0 | 3 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 17, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Los Molinos
The Storm Prediction Center has 11 hail reports within 10 miles of Los Molinos since 2001, made on 6 separate days. Of these, 8 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 3 inches (tea cup size), fell on January 23, 2016. The most recent report is from March 17, 2025. January has the most reports, 5.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Los Molinos
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Red Bluff Municipal Airport, CA, 11 miles northwest of Los Molinos at 353 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 98°F and low of 66°F; December is the coolest, at 56°F and 38°F. January is the wettest at 4.7 inches of precipitation on average and July and August the driest at 0.1 inches; the year adds up to 23.2 inches over 42 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 104 days a year, almost all from April to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 19 nights a year. That 23.2 inches is more than at 161 of the 226 California stations used on this site (71%). Corning, 10 miles southwest, has its own station (Orland, CA): 21.3 inches a year, 1.9 less than here, and a July average high of 94°F against 98°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 57 | 38 | 4.7 | 7 |
| Feb | 61 | 41 | 4.2 | 7 |
| Mar | 66 | 44 | 2.9 | 6 |
| Apr | 72 | 47 | 1.6 | 3 |
| May | 82 | 55 | 1.3 | 3 |
| Jun | 91 | 62 | 0.4 | 1 |
| Jul | 98 | 66 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Aug | 96 | 64 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Sep | 91 | 59 | 0.2 | 1 |
| Oct | 79 | 51 | 1.0 | 2 |
| Nov | 64 | 43 | 2.5 | 5 |
| Dec | 56 | 38 | 4.2 | 8 |
| Year | 76 | 51 | 23.2 | 42 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Red Bluff Municipal Airport, CA (353 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 Molinos
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 37 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Los Molinos: 30 floods, 4 thunderstorm wind reports, 2 flash floods and 1 heavy rain event. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $373,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 96 mph, on January 13, 2016.
December 11, 2014: flood 7 miles from the centre of Los Molinos — $300,000 damage.
NWS: “Multiple homes suffered flooding as Deer Creek flooded. Residents were forced to evacuate.”
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 Los Molinos's ZIP code 96055 have filed 69 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1983, and were paid $652,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1983: 31 claims (45% of all) and $199,000, then Pineapple Express - Southern in 1998 with 15. 68% 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, 280 have fewer than Los Molinos.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1983 | 31 | $199,000 |
| Pineapple Express - Southern1998 | 15 | $123,000 |
Tehama County, which includes Los Molinos, has been named in 25 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 17 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 floods, 5 fires, 5 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, on January 14, 2023. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Tehama County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate 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 $69.0 million a year, the 41st highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $34.5 million (50%), 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 Molinos
- Gerber, CA4 mi
- Corning, CA10 mi
- Red Bluff, CA12 mi
- Orland, CA20 mi
- Hamilton City, CA21 mi
- Chico, CA24 mi
- Cottonwood, CA25 mi
- Forest Ranch, CA27 mi
- Magalia, CA29 mi
- Anderson, CA31 mi
- Paradise, CA33 mi
- Durham, CA33 mi
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