NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Montesano, WA
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 Montesano, Washington since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 1 tornado has touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 1
- 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 Montesano
The only tornado within 25 miles was an F0 on August 26, 1997; its path came within 6 miles. Of the 226 Washington cities on this site, 90% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Montesano.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Montesano
By decade
- 1990s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 26, 1997 | F0 | 6 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 1 of 1, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Montesano
The Storm Prediction Center has no hail reports within 10 miles of Montesano since 1955.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Montesano
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Elma, WA, 10 miles east of Montesano at 70 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 80°F and low of 52°F; December is the coolest, at 47°F and 34°F. November and December are the wettest at 11.4 inches of precipitation on average and July the driest at 0.8 inches; the year adds up to 72.1 inches over 129 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 10 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 69 nights a year. That 72.1 inches is more than at 75 of the 86 Washington stations used on this site (87%). Cosmopolis, 10 miles southwest, has its own station (Aberdeen, WA): 85.0 inches a year, 12.9 more than here, and an August average high of 69°F against 80°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 49 | 35 | 11.1 | 17 |
| Feb | 52 | 34 | 7.0 | 13 |
| Mar | 56 | 36 | 8.2 | 16 |
| Apr | 62 | 39 | 5.4 | 13 |
| May | 68 | 44 | 3.3 | 9 |
| Jun | 72 | 48 | 2.2 | 6 |
| Jul | 78 | 52 | 0.8 | 2 |
| Aug | 80 | 52 | 1.4 | 3 |
| Sep | 75 | 48 | 2.7 | 6 |
| Oct | 64 | 41 | 7.2 | 11 |
| Nov | 53 | 37 | 11.4 | 17 |
| Dec | 47 | 34 | 11.4 | 17 |
| Year | 63 | 42 | 72.1 | 129 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Elma, WA (70 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.
Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings
Flood insurance policyholders in Montesano's ZIP code 98563 have filed 71 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $1.8 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Winter storm in 2007: 10 claims (14% of all) and $82,000. The year with the most claims was 2009, with 22. 25% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 128 Washington cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 85 have fewer than Montesano.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Winter storm2007 | 10 | $82,000 |
Grays Harbor County, which includes Montesano, has been named in 35 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 32 of them major disasters (by incident: 16 floods, 13 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 1 coastal storm). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, on April 7, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Grays Harbor County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for coastal flooding; Relatively Moderate for inland flooding; Relatively Low for heat waves; Very Low for tornadoes, hail, strong wind and lightning. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $211.9 million a year, the 4th highest of 39 Washington counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $23.8 million (11%), is from coastal 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 Montesano
- Elma, WA9 mi
- Cosmopolis, WA10 mi
- Aberdeen, WA11 mi
- Hoquiam, WA15 mi
- Mccleary, WA16 mi
- Oakville, WA21 mi
- Raymond, WA26 mi
- Westport, WA26 mi
- Ocean Shores, WA26 mi
- Shelton, WA27 mi
- Rochester, WA29 mi
- Tumwater, WA29 mi
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