NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Nevada City, 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 Nevada City, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 2 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 2
- 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 Nevada City
The highest rating among the 2 tornadoes within 25 miles is F1 or EF1, reached 2 times; the most recent, on October 22, 2012, came within 15 miles. Of the 705 California cities on this site, 91% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Nevada City. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 2 times since 2006, with stones up to 1 inch (quarter size). Of the 705 California cities, 57% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Nevada City.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Nevada City
By decade
- 2010s1
- 1990s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 22, 2012 | EF1 | 15 mi | 4.02 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 17, 1992 | F1 | 20 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 2 of 2, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Nevada City
The Storm Prediction Center has 2 hail reports within 10 miles of Nevada City since 2006. Of these, one was 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest, 1 inch (quarter size), fell on April 24, 2015, the most recent report.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Nevada City
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Nevada City, CA, 5 miles southwest of Nevada City at 2,781 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 87°F and low of 60°F; December is the coolest, at 48°F and 35°F. December is the wettest at 12.2 inches of precipitation on average and July the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 62.2 inches over 64 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 30 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 49 nights a year. Snowfall averages 14.5 inches a year, most of it in February. That 62.2 inches is more than at 221 of the 226 California stations used on this site (98%). Grass Valley, 10 miles southwest, has its own station (Grass Valley #2, CA): 53.2 inches a year, 9.0 less than here, and a July average high of 88°F against 87°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 51 | 35 | 10.9 | 10 | 2.3 |
| Feb | 53 | 35 | 10.5 | 9 | 4.6 |
| Mar | 57 | 37 | 9.9 | 10 | 3.2 |
| Apr | 63 | 40 | 5.2 | 7 | 0.9 |
| May | 71 | 47 | 2.9 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 79 | 54 | 0.9 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 87 | 60 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 87 | 59 | 0.1 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 82 | 55 | 0.5 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 71 | 47 | 2.9 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 57 | 40 | 6.2 | 7 | 0.8 |
| Dec | 48 | 35 | 12.2 | 10 | 2.7 |
| Year | 67 | 45 | 62.2 | 64 | 14.5 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Nevada City, CA (2,781 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 Nevada City
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 19 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Nevada City: 10 floods, 8 heavy rain events and 1 thunderstorm wind report. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $3.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 40 mph, on February 21, 2023.
February 8, 2017: flood 6 miles from the centre of Nevada City — $3.6 million damage.
NWS: “HWY 49 was closed north of Nevada City, from Newtown Rd. to Tyler Foote Rd.”
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 Nevada City's ZIP code 95959 have filed 10 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1997, and were paid $472,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 10% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 415 California cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 0 have fewer than Nevada City.
Nevada County, which includes Nevada City, has been named in 23 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 16 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 fires, 7 severe storms, 5 floods, 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 Nevada County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for inland flooding and lightning; Relatively Low for hail and heat waves; Very Low for tornadoes and strong wind. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $80.6 million a year, the 39th highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $37.4 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 Nevada City
- Grass Valley, CA10 mi
- Colfax, CA14 mi
- Penn Valley, CA15 mi
- Foresthill, CA20 mi
- Meadow Vista, CA21 mi
- Applegate, CA21 mi
- Beale Afb, CA25 mi
- Auburn, CA26 mi
- Georgetown, CA27 mi
- Cool, CA29 mi
- Newcastle, CA31 mi
- Wheatland, CA32 mi
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