NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit North Highlands, 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 North Highlands, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 26 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 26
- 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 North Highlands
The strongest of the 26 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F2 on February 7, 1978; its path came within 4 miles. Of the 26, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 18 have come since 2000. February has had the most tornadoes, 7. The most recent tornado was on November 8, 2022. North Highlands has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 76% of the 705 California cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 6 times since 2005, with stones up to 1.25 inches (half dollar size). North Highlands has more hail reports within 10 miles than 69% of the 705 California cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of North Highlands
By decade
- 2020s2
- 2010s10
- 2000s6
- 1990s2
- 1980s4
- 1970s2
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 7, 1978 | F2 | 4 mi | 1.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 24, 2015 | EF1 | 14 mi | 6.21 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 22, 2012 | EF1 | 19 mi | 1.02 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 23, 2010 | EF1 | 22 mi | 1.99 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 19, 1988 | F1 | 11 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 22, 1983 | F1 | 3 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 8, 2022 | EF0 | 24 mi | 0.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 18, 2020 | EF0 | 21 mi | 4.39 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 28, 2019 | EF0 | 21 mi | 1.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 11, 2017 | EF0 | 6 mi | 0.42 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 9, 2017 | EF0 | 12 mi | 0.18 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 26, 2014 | EF0 | 6 mi | 4.02 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 26, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in North Highlands
The Storm Prediction Center has 6 hail reports within 10 miles of North Highlands since 2005, made on 5 separate days. 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 2, 2016. The most recent report is from March 20, 2019.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in North Highlands
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Sacramento 5 ESE, CA, 9 miles south of North Highlands at 38 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 94°F and low of 61°F; December is the coolest, at 56°F and 41°F. January is the wettest at 3.9 inches of precipitation on average and July and August the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 19.2 inches over 38 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 90 days a year, almost all from April to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 4 nights a year. That 19.2 inches is more than at 135 of the 226 California stations used on this site (60%). Rio Linda, 4 miles west, has its own station (Sacramento Metro Airport, CA): 17.9 inches a year, 1.3 less than here, and the same July average high, 94°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 57 | 41 | 3.9 | 7 |
| Feb | 62 | 44 | 3.6 | 7 |
| Mar | 68 | 47 | 2.8 | 6 |
| Apr | 74 | 49 | 1.4 | 3 |
| May | 81 | 54 | 0.9 | 2 |
| Jun | 89 | 59 | 0.2 | 1 |
| Jul | 94 | 61 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Aug | 94 | 61 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Sep | 89 | 59 | 0.2 | 0 |
| Oct | 79 | 53 | 0.9 | 2 |
| Nov | 65 | 45 | 1.8 | 4 |
| Dec | 56 | 41 | 3.5 | 6 |
| Year | 76 | 51 | 19.2 | 38 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Sacramento 5 ESE, CA (38 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 North Highlands
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 111 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of North Highlands: 94 floods, 12 heavy rain events and 5 thunderstorm wind reports. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $78,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on September 2, 2025.
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 North Highlands's ZIP code 95660 have filed 34 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1986, and were paid $183,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1995: 11 claims (32% of all) and $46,000. 41% 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, 171 have fewer than North Highlands.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1995 | 11 | $46,000 |
Sacramento County, which includes North Highlands, has been named in 23 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 17 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 floods, 7 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 coastal storms). 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 Sacramento County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for inland flooding; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Low for hail; Very Low for strong wind. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $352.4 million a year, the 18th highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $215.7 million (61%), 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 North Highlands
- Antelope, CA3 mi
- Rio Linda, CA4 mi
- Carmichael, CA4 mi
- Citrus Heights, CA5 mi
- Elverta, CA5 mi
- Fair Oaks, CA6 mi
- Roseville, CA7 mi
- Rancho Cordova, CA8 mi
- Orangevale, CA8 mi
- Sacramento, CA8 mi
- Mather, CA9 mi
- Granite Bay, CA11 mi
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