NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Pacific Palisades, 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 Pacific Palisades, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 28 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 28
- 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 Pacific Palisades
The highest rating among the 28 tornadoes within 25 miles is F2, reached 4 times; the most recent, on March 1, 1983, came within 10 miles. Of the 28, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 5 have come since 2000. November has had the most tornadoes, 6. The most recent tornado was on May 4, 2023. Pacific Palisades has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 79% of the 705 California cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles once, in 2006, with stones of 1 inch (quarter size). Of the 705 California cities, 72% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Pacific Palisades.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Pacific Palisades
By decade
- 2020s3
- 2010s1
- 2000s1
- 1990s4
- 1980s9
- 1970s2
- 1960s5
- 1950s3
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 1, 1983 | F2 | 10 mi | 3.5 mi | 0 / 30 |
| Nov 9, 1982 | F2 | 10 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 7, 1966 | F2 | 18 mi | 10.3 mi | 0 / 10 |
| Nov 7, 1966 | F2 | 17 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 22, 2023 | EF1 | 24 mi | 0.47 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Mar 20, 1992 | F1 | 21 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 1, 1983 | F1 | 14 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Nov 9, 1982 | F1 | 9 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 29, 1982 | F1 | 25 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 31, 1979 | F1 | 13 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 9, 1964 | F1 | 11 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 14, 1962 | F1 | 18 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 28, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Pacific Palisades
The Storm Prediction Center has one hail report within 10 miles of Pacific Palisades, from December 27, 2006: 1 inch (quarter size).
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Pacific Palisades
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Santa Monica Pier, CA, 4 miles southeast of Pacific Palisades at 14 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 70°F and low of 62°F; January is the coolest, at 62°F and 50°F. Highs reach 90°F on about 1 days a year. A night below freezing comes less than once a year on average. That 12.1 inches is more than at 66 of the 226 California stations used on this site (29%). Topanga, 5 miles northwest, has its own station (Woodland Hills Pierce College, CA): 16.5 inches a year, 4.4 more than here, and an August average high of 97°F against 70°F.
Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Santa Monica, CA, 4 miles southeast, averaged 69°F in August and 58°F in January and March over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the Santa Monica tide gauge, 4 miles from Pacific Palisades, has risen 0.60 ± 0.06 inches per decade from 1933 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 6.0 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 28 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Water °F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 62 | 50 | 3.1 | 5 | 58 |
| Feb | 62 | 50 | 3.1 | 5 | 58 |
| Mar | 62 | 52 | 1.7 | 3 | 58 |
| Apr | 63 | 53 | 0.6 | 1 | 59 |
| May | 63 | 56 | 0.2 | 1 | 62 |
| Jun | 66 | 59 | 0.1 | 0 | 66 |
| Jul | 69 | 62 | 0.0 | 0 | 68 |
| Aug | 70 | 62 | 0.0 | 0 | 69 |
| Sep | 70 | 61 | 0.0 | 0 | 69 |
| Oct | 68 | 59 | 0.5 | 1 | 65 |
| Nov | 67 | 54 | 0.8 | 2 | 62 |
| Dec | 63 | 50 | 2.0 | 3 | 60 |
| Year | 66 | 55 | 12.1 | 21 | 63 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Santa Monica Pier, CA (14 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Santa Monica, 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 Pacific Palisades
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 30 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Pacific Palisades: 20 flash floods, 8 thunderstorm wind reports, 1 flood and 1 lightning strike. They killed 1 person and injured 8, and the NWS estimated $2,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on February 16, 2026. February has had the most flash floods, 12 of 20. Of the 550 California cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 449 have had fewer than Pacific Palisades.
July 27, 2014: lightning strike 6 miles from the centre of Pacific Palisades — 1 killed, 8 injured.
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 Pacific Palisades's ZIP code 90272 have filed 256 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $2.0 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1988: 126 claims (49% of all) and $479,000, then Pineapple Express - Southern in 1998 with 22. 59% 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, 378 have fewer than Pacific Palisades.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1988 | 126 | $479,000 |
| Pineapple Express - Southern1998 | 22 | $65,000 |
Los Angeles County, which includes Pacific Palisades, has been named in 88 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1969, 35 of them major disasters (by incident: 61 fires, 10 floods, 8 severe storms, 3 earthquakes). The latest major disaster declaration was Wildfires and Straight-Line Winds, on January 8, 2025. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Los Angeles County a Very High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for inland flooding and lightning; Relatively High for tornadoes, coastal flooding and heat waves; Relatively Moderate for hail and strong wind. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $7.60 billion a year, the highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $2.81 billion (37%), 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 Pacific Palisades
- Santa Monica, CA3 mi
- Topanga, CA5 mi
- Venice, CA6 mi
- Marina Del Rey, CA7 mi
- Beverly Hills, CA8 mi
- Tarzana, CA8 mi
- Encino, CA8 mi
- Playa Del Rey, CA8 mi
- Culver City, CA8 mi
- Sherman Oaks, CA9 mi
- West Hollywood, CA9 mi
- Woodland Hills, CA9 mi
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