NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Nehalem, 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 Nehalem, Oregon since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 9 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 9
- 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 Nehalem
The strongest of the 9 tornadoes within 25 miles was an EF2 on October 14, 2016; its path came within 3 miles. Of the 9, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 3 have come since 2000. The most recent tornado was on November 11, 2024. Of the 149 Oregon cities on this site, 50% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Nehalem.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Nehalem
By decade
- 2020s1
- 2010s2
- 1990s3
- 1970s1
- 1960s1
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 14, 2016 | EF2 | 3 mi | 0.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 12, 1975 | F1 | 18 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 11, 2024 | EF0 | 7 mi | 0.25 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 5, 1998 | F0 | 20 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 15, 1997 | F0 | 10 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 15, 1996 | F0 | 23 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Oct 20, 1966 | F0 | 20 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 22, 1954 | F0 | 13 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 14, 2016 | Unrated | 17 mi | 0.01 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 9 of 9, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Nehalem
The Storm Prediction Center has no hail reports within 10 miles of Nehalem since 1955.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Nehalem
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Tillamook, OR, 18 miles south of Nehalem at 12 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 69°F and low of 50°F; December is the coolest, at 51°F and 36°F. December is the wettest at 14.7 inches of precipitation on average and July the driest at 0.9 inches; the year adds up to 90.0 inches over 140 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs of 90°F are rare: fewer than one day a year on average. Lows fall below freezing on about 47 nights a year. That 90.0 inches is more than at 73 of the 77 Oregon stations used on this site (95%). Seaside, 15 miles north, has its own station (Seaside, OR): 76.8 inches a year, 13.2 less than here, and an August average high of 66°F against 69°F.
Sea level at the Garibaldi tide gauge, 11 miles from Nehalem, has risen 0.96 ± 0.12 inches per decade from 1970 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 9.6 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 56 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 52 | 37 | 13.4 | 17 |
| Feb | 53 | 36 | 9.5 | 14 |
| Mar | 55 | 37 | 10.1 | 17 |
| Apr | 57 | 39 | 7.5 | 14 |
| May | 61 | 44 | 4.6 | 10 |
| Jun | 64 | 48 | 3.3 | 8 |
| Jul | 68 | 50 | 0.9 | 3 |
| Aug | 69 | 50 | 1.2 | 4 |
| Sep | 68 | 47 | 3.6 | 6 |
| Oct | 63 | 43 | 7.8 | 12 |
| Nov | 56 | 39 | 13.4 | 18 |
| Dec | 51 | 36 | 14.7 | 19 |
| Year | 60 | 42 | 90.0 | 140 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Tillamook, OR (12 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 Nehalem
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 24 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Nehalem: 22 floods, 1 heavy rain event and 1 thunderstorm wind report. They killed 1 person and injured 0, and the NWS estimated $1.5 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 54 mph, on March 1, 2016.
December 3, 2007: flood 7 miles from the centre of Nehalem — 1 killed.
NWS: “The Nehalem River at Foss reached major flood levels. There was widespread flooding and damage in the city of Nehalem, and a trailer park was evacuated.”
November 6, 2006: flood 9 miles from the centre of Nehalem — $1.0 million damage.
NWS: “5 feet.”
December 7, 2015: flood 7 miles from the centre of Nehalem — $241,000 damage.
NWS: “The Wilson River near Tillamook, The Trask River near Tillamook, and The Nehalem River near Foss exceeded flood stage. high water from these rivers resulted in the closure of several roads including Highway 101.”
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 Nehalem's ZIP code 97131 have filed 130 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $1.4 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1996: 33 claims (25% of all) and $534,000, then Winter storm in 2007 with 30. The year with the most claims was 2006, with 32. 48% 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, 69 have fewer than Nehalem.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1996 | 33 | $534,000 |
| Winter storm2007 | 30 | $213,000 |
Tillamook County, which includes Nehalem, has been named in 25 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 21 of them major disasters (by incident: 11 severe storms, 7 floods, 3 fires, 2 biological emergencies). 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 Tillamook County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for inland flooding and coastal flooding; Relatively Low for strong wind; Very Low for tornadoes, hail, lightning and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $39.3 million a year, the 18th highest of 36 Oregon counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $14.8 million (38%), 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 Nehalem
- Rockaway Beach, OR7 mi
- Bay City, OR12 mi
- Seaside, OR15 mi
- Tillamook, OR18 mi
- Warrenton, OR29 mi
- Astoria, OR31 mi
- Cloverdale, OR32 mi
- Vernonia, OR34 mi
- Banks, OR37 mi
- Forest Grove, OR38 mi
- Clatskanie, OR39 mi
- Gaston, OR39 mi
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