NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Novato, 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 Novato, 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 Novato
The strongest of the 4 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F2 on June 1, 1958; its path came within 23 miles. The most recent tornado was on December 5, 1998. Of the 705 California cities on this site, 83% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Novato. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 6 times since 2017, with stones up to 0.25 inches. Novato has more hail reports within 10 miles than 69% of the 705 California cities.
Compare Novato's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Novato
By decade
- 1990s3
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 1, 1958 | F2 | 23 mi | 15 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 23, 1996 | F1 | 18 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 2, 1992 | F1 | 23 mi | 7.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 5, 1998 | F0 | 16 mi | 1.5 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 Novato
The Storm Prediction Center has 6 hail reports within 10 miles of Novato since 2017. None of them reached 1 inch. The largest size, 0.25 inches, was reported on 6 days, most recently August 17, 2020. The most recent report is from August 17, 2020.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Novato
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is San Rafael Civic Ctr, CA, 7 miles south of Novato at 120 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 81°F and low of 56°F; December is the coolest, at 57°F and 42°F. December is the wettest at 7.8 inches of precipitation on average and July the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 34.5 inches over 46 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 20 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 3 nights a year. That 34.5 inches is more than at 191 of the 226 California stations used on this site (85%). Greenbrae, 10 miles south, has its own station (Kentfield, CA): 44.5 inches a year, 10.0 more than here, and an August average high of 83°F against 81°F.
Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Richmond, CA, 15 miles southeast, averaged 66°F in August and September and 53°F in January over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the Richmond tide gauge, 15 miles from Novato, has risen 1.32 ± 0.29 inches per decade from 1979 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 13.2 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 78 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Water °F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 57 | 43 | 7.1 | 9 | 53 |
| Feb | 61 | 44 | 6.9 | 8 | 54 |
| Mar | 65 | 46 | 4.4 | 7 | 55 |
| Apr | 68 | 48 | 2.0 | 4 | 58 |
| May | 72 | 51 | 0.9 | 2 | 60 |
| Jun | 78 | 54 | 0.2 | 1 | 62 |
| Jul | 81 | 55 | 0.0 | 0 | 65 |
| Aug | 81 | 56 | 0.1 | 0 | 66 |
| Sep | 81 | 54 | 0.1 | 0 | 66 |
| Oct | 75 | 51 | 1.5 | 2 | 63 |
| Nov | 65 | 46 | 3.5 | 5 | 59 |
| Dec | 57 | 42 | 7.8 | 8 | 54 |
| Year | 70 | 49 | 34.5 | 46 | 60 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at San Rafael Civic Ctr, CA (120 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Richmond, 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 Novato
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 51 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Novato: 39 floods, 5 flash floods, 4 heavy rain events and 3 thunderstorm wind reports. They killed 1 person and injured 0, and the NWS estimated $220.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on December 25, 2025. December has had the most flash floods, 3 of 5. Of the 550 California cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 163 have had fewer than Novato.
January 20, 2024: heavy rain event 3 miles from the centre of Novato — 1 killed, $10 damage.
NWS: “A man drove off a slick Highway 101 North in Novato just after 5 PM on January 20, and wrapped his car around the traffic light on the frontage road, north of Hamilton Parkway, outside Safeway. According to the California Highway Patrol, speed and wet roadway were factors.”
December 31, 2005: flood 7 miles from the centre of Novato — $108.0 million damage.
January 1, 2006: flood 7 miles from the centre of Novato — $108.0 million 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
Flood insurance policyholders in Novato's 3 ZIP codes have filed 464 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $3.6 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1982: 305 claims (66% of all) and $2.0 million, then Pineapple Express - Southern in 1998 with 53. 78% 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, 397 have fewer than Novato.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1982 | 305 | $2.0 million |
| Pineapple Express - Southern1998 | 53 | $330,000 |
Marin County, which includes Novato, has been named in 26 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 22 of them major disasters (by incident: 10 severe storms, 9 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 1 coastal storm). 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 Marin County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for coastal flooding; Relatively High for inland flooding; Relatively Low for lightning and heat waves; Very Low for tornadoes, hail and strong wind. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $259.3 million a year, the 22nd highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $116.0 million (45%), 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.