NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Milton Freewater, 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 Milton Freewater, Oregon since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 8 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 8
- 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 Milton Freewater
The highest rating among the 8 tornadoes within 25 miles is EF1, reached 2 times; the most recent, on May 6, 2022, came within 11 miles. Of the 8, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 4 have come since 2000. The most recent tornado was on March 5, 2024. Of the 149 Oregon cities on this site, 54% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Milton Freewater. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 9 times since 1991, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Milton Freewater has more hail reports within 10 miles than 86% of the 149 Oregon cities.
Compare Milton Freewater's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Milton Freewater
By decade
- 2020s3
- 2000s1
- 1990s1
- 1980s1
- 1960s1
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 6, 2022 | EF1 | 11 mi | 2.87 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 6, 2009 | EF1 | 16 mi | 1.61 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 5, 2024 | EF0 | 5 mi | 0.15 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 27, 2023 | EF0 | 5 mi | 0.11 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 1, 1991 | F0 | 17 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 24, 1987 | F0 | 9 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 22, 1964 | F0 | in town | 10.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 24, 1958 | F0 | 21 mi | 45 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 8 of 8, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Milton Freewater
The Storm Prediction Center has 9 hail reports within 10 miles of Milton Freewater since 1991, made on 8 separate days. Of these, 3 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest size, 1.75 inches (golf ball size), was reported on 2 days, most recently August 6, 1991. The most recent report is from April 4, 2012.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Milton Freewater
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Milton Freewater, OR, 2 miles west of Milton Freewater at 970 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 90°F and low of 63°F; December is the coolest, at 44°F and 30°F. December is the wettest at 2.1 inches of precipitation on average and July the driest at 0.3 inches; the year adds up to 16.2 inches over 45 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 39 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 74 nights a year. Snowfall averages 7.2 inches a year, most of it in December. That 16.2 inches is more than at 20 of the 77 Oregon stations used on this site (26%). College Place, WA, 7 miles north, has its own station (Whitman Mission, WA): 15.4 inches a year, 0.8 less than here, and the same July average high, 90°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 44 | 30 | 1.8 | 5 | 2.4 |
| Feb | 49 | 33 | 1.5 | 5 | 1.3 |
| Mar | 58 | 39 | 1.7 | 5 | 0.1 |
| Apr | 65 | 44 | 1.6 | 5 | 0.0 |
| May | 74 | 50 | 1.8 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 81 | 56 | 1.3 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 90 | 63 | 0.3 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 89 | 62 | 0.4 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 80 | 55 | 0.6 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 66 | 44 | 1.2 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 52 | 36 | 1.9 | 6 | 0.3 |
| Dec | 44 | 30 | 2.1 | 6 | 3.1 |
| Year | 66 | 45 | 16.2 | 45 | 7.2 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Milton Freewater, OR (970 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 Milton Freewater
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 33 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Milton Freewater: 25 thunderstorm wind reports, 5 floods, 1 flash flood, 1 heavy rain event and 1 lightning strike. They killed 1 person and injured 0, and the NWS estimated $43.4 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on August 10, 2022.
February 6, 2020: flood in Milton Freewater — 1 killed, $39.7 million damage.
NWS: “Umatilla County ��� There was record flooding along the entire reach of the Umatilla River. There was extensive damage to areas along the river, including homes, roads including Interstate 84, railroads as well as other public facilities such as parks and sports complexes.”
June 1, 2010: heavy rain event in Milton Freewater — $3.5 million damage.
NWS: “5 million loss to the cherry crop around Milton-Freewater.”
April 9, 2019: flood 10 miles from the centre of Milton Freewater — $152,000 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 Milton Freewater's ZIP code 97862 have filed 15 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1996, and were paid $296,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 2020, with 10. 33% 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, 18 have fewer than Milton Freewater.
Umatilla County, which includes Milton Freewater, has been named in 15 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 8 of them major disasters (by incident: 5 fires, 4 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 2 severe storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Wildfires, on January 1, 2025. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Umatilla County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for inland flooding, strong wind and heat waves; Relatively Low for hail and lightning; Very Low for tornadoes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $40.0 million a year, the 17th highest of 36 Oregon counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $17.7 million (44%), 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.