NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Montara, 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 Montara, California 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 Montara
The strongest of the 7 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F2 on January 11, 1951; its path came within 24 miles. 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 March 20, 2005. Of the 705 California cities on this site, 72% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Montara. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 5 times since 2017, with stones up to 0.25 inches. Montara has more hail reports within 10 miles than 62% of the 705 California cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Montara
By decade
- 2000s1
- 1990s3
- 1980s1
- 1950s2
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 11, 1951 | F2 | 24 mi | 5.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 20, 2005 | F1 | 9 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 5, 1998 | F1 | 24 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Apr 1, 1958 | F1 | 10 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 7, 1998 | F0 | 6 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 17, 1992 | F0 | 24 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 10, 1986 | F0 | 2 mi | 0.2 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 Montara
The Storm Prediction Center has 5 hail reports within 10 miles of Montara since 2017, made on 4 separate days. None of them reached 1 inch. The largest size, 0.25 inches, was reported on 4 days, most recently January 16, 2020. The most recent report is from January 16, 2020.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Montara
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Pacifica 4 SSE, CA, 4 miles northeast of Montara at 475 feet. September is the warmest, with an average high of 72°F and low of 53°F; January is the coolest, at 58°F and 45°F. December is the wettest at 6.6 inches of precipitation on average and July the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 32.0 inches over 49 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 2 days a year. Lows fall below freezing on about 1 nights a year. That 32.0 inches is more than at 184 of the 226 California stations used on this site (81%). El Granada, 3 miles southeast, has its own station (Half Moon Bay, CA): 26.1 inches a year, 5.9 less than here, and a September average high of 66°F against 72°F.
Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Redwood City, CA, 16 miles east, averaged 74°F in August and 54°F in January over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the Redwood City tide gauge, 16 miles from Montara, has risen 1.08 ± 0.25 inches per decade from 1974 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 10.8 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 62 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Water °F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 58 | 45 | 6.1 | 9 | 54 |
| Feb | 60 | 46 | 6.5 | 10 | 55 |
| Mar | 61 | 46 | 4.5 | 7 | 58 |
| Apr | 64 | 48 | 2.4 | 4 | 62 |
| May | 67 | 49 | 1.0 | 3 | 67 |
| Jun | 69 | 51 | 0.3 | 1 | 70 |
| Jul | 69 | 52 | 0.0 | 0 | 73 |
| Aug | 71 | 53 | 0.1 | 0 | 74 |
| Sep | 72 | 53 | 0.1 | 1 | 73 |
| Oct | 70 | 52 | 1.5 | 2 | 69 |
| Nov | 64 | 50 | 2.9 | 5 | 60 |
| Dec | 59 | 46 | 6.6 | 8 | 55 |
| Year | 65 | 49 | 32.0 | 49 | 64 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Pacifica 4 SSE, CA (475 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Redwood City, 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.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Montara
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 52 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Montara: 28 floods, 12 thunderstorm wind reports, 5 heavy rain events, 4 flash floods and 3 lightning strikes. They killed 1 person and injured 8, and the NWS estimated $256,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 97 mph, on December 14, 2024.
October 13, 2009: heavy rain event 1 mile from the centre of Montara — 1 killed, 3 injured.
NWS: “m. PDT the California Highway Patrol responded to a three car collision on Highway 1 at Devil's Slide.”
March 14, 2012: heavy rain event 7 miles from the centre of Montara — 5 injured, $50,000 damage.
January 25, 2008: flash flood 2 miles from the centre of Montara — $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
San Mateo County, which includes Montara, has been named in 24 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1977, 17 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 floods, 7 severe storms, 3 fires, 2 biological emergencies). 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 San Mateo County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for inland flooding and coastal flooding; Relatively Moderate for lightning and heat waves; Relatively Low for tornadoes and strong wind; Very Low for hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $740.0 million a year, the 11th highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $212.3 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 Montara
- Moss Beach, CA1 mi
- El Granada, CA3 mi
- Pacifica, CA5 mi
- Half Moon Bay, CA6 mi
- Millbrae, CA7 mi
- San Bruno, CA8 mi
- Burlingame, CA8 mi
- South San Francisco, CA9 mi
- Daly City, CA11 mi
- San Mateo, CA11 mi
- Brisbane, CA11 mi
- Belmont, CA12 mi
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