NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Orosi, 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 Orosi, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 15 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 15
- 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 Orosi
The strongest of the 15 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F2 on April 5, 1980; its path came within 23 miles. Of the 15, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 5 have come since 2000. March has had the most tornadoes, 6. The most recent tornado was on March 22, 2018. Orosi has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 52% of the 705 California cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 5 times since 1998, with stones up to 1.5 inches (ping pong ball size). Orosi has more hail reports within 10 miles than 62% of the 705 California cities.
Compare Orosi's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Orosi
By decade
- 2010s2
- 2000s3
- 1990s2
- 1980s6
- 1970s2
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 5, 1980 | F2 | 23 mi | 15 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Feb 28, 1991 | F1 | 19 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Mar 8, 1986 | F1 | 18 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 28, 1982 | F1 | 17 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Mar 14, 1979 | F1 | 24 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 22, 2018 | EF0 | 5 mi | 1.19 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 12, 2018 | EF0 | 16 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 27, 2008 | EF0 | 16 mi | 2.03 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 9, 2005 | F0 | 25 mi | — | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 20, 2004 | F0 | 7 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 20, 1997 | F0 | 18 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 1, 1988 | F0 | 2 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 15, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Orosi
The Storm Prediction Center has 5 hail reports within 10 miles of Orosi since 1998. Of these, 2 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest, 1.5 inches (ping pong ball size), fell on May 28, 2009, the most recent report.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Orosi
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Visalia, CA, 17 miles south of Orosi at 303 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 94°F and low of 67°F; December is the coolest, at 55°F and 38°F. January is the wettest at 2.0 inches of precipitation on average and July and August the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 10.4 inches over 26 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 95 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 9 nights a year. That 10.4 inches is more than at 45 of the 226 California stations used on this site (20%). Squaw Valley, 11 miles north, has its own station (Grant Grove, CA): 41.7 inches a year, 31.3 more than here, and a July average high of 79°F against 94°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 55 | 38 | 2.0 | 5 |
| Feb | 61 | 42 | 1.6 | 5 |
| Mar | 67 | 45 | 1.8 | 4 |
| Apr | 73 | 49 | 1.0 | 2 |
| May | 81 | 55 | 0.4 | 1 |
| Jun | 89 | 62 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Jul | 94 | 67 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Aug | 93 | 65 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Sep | 88 | 60 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Oct | 78 | 52 | 0.6 | 1 |
| Nov | 64 | 43 | 1.0 | 2 |
| Dec | 55 | 38 | 1.8 | 4 |
| Year | 75 | 51 | 10.4 | 26 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Visalia, CA (303 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 Orosi
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 54 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Orosi: 42 floods, 7 thunderstorm wind reports, 2 flash floods, 2 heavy rain events and 1 lightning strike. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $2.5 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 64 mph, on January 27, 2008.
May 28, 2009: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Orosi — $1.5 million damage.
NWS: “NWS officials toured damage around the town of Orosi in Tulare County. Extensive wind damage from thunderstorm outflow in the town was evident.”
February 28, 2014: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Orosi — $500,000 damage.
April 4, 2006: flood 2 miles from the centre of Orosi — $100,000 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
Tulare County, which includes Orosi, has been named in 23 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1967, 15 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 floods, 4 fires, 4 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 Tulare County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for inland flooding, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Moderate for hail; Relatively Low for tornadoes and strong wind. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $214.1 million a year, the 23rd highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $130.3 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.