NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Montrose, 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 Montrose, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 35 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 35
- 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 Montrose
The highest rating among the 35 tornadoes within 25 miles is F2, reached 4 times; the most recent, on March 1, 1983, came within 13 miles. Of the 35, none had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 9 have come since 2000. January and March have had the most tornadoes, 6 each. The most recent tornado was on March 13, 2025. Montrose has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 85% of the 705 California cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 3 times since 2005, with stones up to 1.25 inches (half dollar size). Of the 705 California cities, 44% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Montrose.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Montrose
By decade
- 2020s4
- 2010s1
- 2000s4
- 1990s6
- 1980s9
- 1970s3
- 1960s5
- 1950s3
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 1, 1983 | F2 | 13 mi | 3.5 mi | 0 / 30 |
| Nov 9, 1982 | F2 | 13 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 7, 1966 | F2 | 22 mi | 10.3 mi | 0 / 10 |
| Nov 7, 1966 | F2 | 22 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 22, 2023 | EF1 | 16 mi | 0.47 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Mar 20, 1992 | F1 | 8 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 1, 1983 | F1 | 21 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Mar 29, 1982 | F1 | 12 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 31, 1979 | F1 | 8 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 9, 1964 | F1 | 22 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 14, 1962 | F1 | 24 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 18, 1955 | F1 | 12 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 35, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Montrose
The Storm Prediction Center has 3 hail reports within 10 miles of Montrose since 2005. Of these, one was 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest, 1.25 inches (half dollar size), fell on October 17, 2005. The most recent report is from March 24, 2024.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Montrose
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Pasadena, CA, 7 miles southeast of Montrose at 864 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 91°F and low of 63°F; December is the coolest, at 67°F and 45°F. February is the wettest at 5.2 inches of precipitation on average and August the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 20.0 inches over 26 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 74 days a year, almost all from April to November. A night below freezing comes less than once a year on average. That 20.0 inches is more than at 140 of the 226 California stations used on this site (62%). Glendale, 3 miles south, has its own station (Burbank Valley Pump Plt, CA): 16.6 inches a year, 3.4 less than here, and an August average high of 88°F against 91°F.
Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Santa Monica, CA, 21 miles southwest, averaged 69°F in August and 58°F in January and March over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the Santa Monica tide gauge, 21 miles from Montrose, has risen 0.60 ± 0.06 inches per decade from 1933 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 6.0 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 28 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Water °F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 68 | 46 | 4.5 | 5 | 58 |
| Feb | 69 | 46 | 5.2 | 6 | 58 |
| Mar | 73 | 48 | 3.0 | 4 | 58 |
| Apr | 76 | 51 | 1.1 | 2 | 59 |
| May | 78 | 54 | 0.5 | 1 | 62 |
| Jun | 84 | 58 | 0.2 | 0 | 66 |
| Jul | 89 | 62 | 0.1 | 0 | 68 |
| Aug | 91 | 63 | 0.0 | 0 | 69 |
| Sep | 90 | 62 | 0.2 | 0 | 69 |
| Oct | 83 | 56 | 0.8 | 1 | 65 |
| Nov | 75 | 50 | 1.1 | 2 | 62 |
| Dec | 67 | 45 | 3.3 | 4 | 60 |
| Year | 79 | 53 | 20.0 | 26 | 63 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Pasadena, CA (864 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Santa Monica, 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 Montrose
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 34 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Montrose: 28 flash floods, 5 thunderstorm wind reports and 1 flood. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $311,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 67 mph, on February 18, 2026. February has had the most flash floods, 10 of 28. Of the 550 California cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 498 have had fewer than Montrose.
September 22, 2007: flash flood 8 miles from the centre of Montrose — $300,000 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
Los Angeles County, which includes Montrose, has been named in 88 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1969, 35 of them major disasters (by incident: 61 fires, 10 floods, 8 severe storms, 3 earthquakes). The latest major disaster declaration was Wildfires and Straight-Line Winds, on January 8, 2025. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Los Angeles County a Very High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for inland flooding and lightning; Relatively High for tornadoes, coastal flooding and heat waves; Relatively Moderate for hail and strong wind. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $7.60 billion a year, the highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $2.81 billion (37%), 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 Montrose
- La Canada, CA2 mi
- Glendale, CA3 mi
- Tujunga, CA4 mi
- Altadena, CA5 mi
- Burbank, CA6 mi
- Sunland, CA6 mi
- Pasadena, CA7 mi
- South Pasadena, CA8 mi
- Sun Valley, CA8 mi
- North Hollywood, CA9 mi
- San Marino, CA9 mi
- Valley Village, CA10 mi
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