NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Needles, 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 Needles, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 4 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 4
- 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 Needles
The highest rating among the 4 tornadoes within 25 miles is F1, reached 3 times; the most recent, on April 21, 2001, came within 6 miles. Of the 705 California cities on this site, 83% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Needles. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 6 times since 1997, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Needles has more hail reports within 10 miles than 69% of the 705 California cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Needles
By decade
- 2000s1
- 1990s2
- 1970s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 21, 2001 | F1 | 6 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 22, 1996 | F1 | 25 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 18, 1972 | F1 | 16 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Aug 7, 1997 | F0 | 15 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 4 of 4, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Needles
The Storm Prediction Center has 6 hail reports within 10 miles of Needles since 1997. Of these, 3 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest, 1.75 inches (golf ball size), fell on August 25, 2008. The most recent report is from October 11, 2012.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Needles
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Needles Airport, CA, 3 miles south of Needles at 890 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 111°F and low of 87°F; December is the coolest, at 65°F and 45°F. February is the wettest at 0.8 inches of precipitation on average and June the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 4.2 inches over 11 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 177 days a year, almost all from March to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 2 nights a year. That 4.2 inches is more than at 9 of the 226 California stations used on this site (4%). Fort Mohave, AZ, 14 miles north, has its own station (Bullhead City, AZ): 5.5 inches a year, 1.3 more than here, and the same July average high, 111°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 66 | 46 | 0.7 | 2 |
| Feb | 71 | 49 | 0.8 | 2 |
| Mar | 79 | 54 | 0.5 | 1 |
| Apr | 87 | 61 | 0.2 | 1 |
| May | 96 | 70 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Jun | 106 | 80 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Jul | 111 | 87 | 0.3 | 1 |
| Aug | 109 | 85 | 0.4 | 1 |
| Sep | 103 | 77 | 0.3 | 1 |
| Oct | 90 | 65 | 0.2 | 1 |
| Nov | 75 | 53 | 0.3 | 1 |
| Dec | 65 | 45 | 0.4 | 1 |
| Year | 88 | 64 | 4.2 | 11 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Needles Airport, CA (890 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 Needles
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 137 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Needles: 71 flash floods, 47 thunderstorm wind reports, 14 floods and 5 lightning strikes. They killed 1 person and injured 4, and the NWS estimated $9.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on August 25, 2008. August has had the most flash floods, 28 of 71. Of the 550 California cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 547 have had fewer than Needles.
August 25, 2013: flash flood 10 miles from the centre of Needles — 1 killed, $50,000 damage.
NWS: “Highway 95 was damaged and closed by flash flooding. One woman died when her vehicle was swept away by the flood.”
August 12, 2014: thunderstorm wind 3 miles from the centre of Needles — 1 injured, $1.0 million damage.
NWS: “Thunderstorm winds blew the roofs off two restaurants, damaged several roofs of homes, blew down some signs and at least 50 power poles, and blew down several trees in and around Needles. One person was injured when a roof collapsed.”
September 4, 2012: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Needles — 1 injured, $250,000 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 Bernardino County, which includes Needles, has been named in 61 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 30 of them major disasters (by incident: 33 fires, 13 floods, 7 severe storms, 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 Bernardino County a Very High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for inland flooding; Relatively High for strong wind, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes and hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $2.08 billion a year, the 3rd highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $959.6 million (46%), 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 Needles
- Mohave Valley, AZ6 mi
- Fort Mohave, AZ14 mi
- Bullhead City, AZ21 mi
- Laughlin, NV23 mi
- Lake Havasu City, AZ28 mi
- Golden Valley, AZ34 mi
- Kingman, AZ48 mi
- Parker, AZ52 mi
- Boulder City, NV81 mi
- Blythe, CA82 mi
- Quartzsite, AZ83 mi
- Henderson, NV87 mi
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