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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Palm Springs, FL

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

84 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Palm Springs, Florida since 1851, 40 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Nicole in 2022. Since 1950, 162 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 1 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
40

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
44

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
162

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
1

no recorded deaths

What the records show for Palm Springs

The strongest storm to pass near Palm Springs was an unnamed storm in 1928, a Category 4 hurricane with 143 mph winds when its centre passed 7 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was an unnamed storm in 1865, whose centre crossed the city. The record near Palm Springs begins with an unnamed storm in 1859; the most recent system was Nicole in 2022, a Category 1 hurricane 50 miles away. The 1900s and the 1950s were the busiest decades, with 8 systems each. Of the 84 systems, 11 have come since 2000. Palm Springs has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 92% of the 407 Florida cities on this site. The strongest of the 162 tornadoes within 25 miles was an EF3 on October 9, 2024; its path came within 13 miles. Of the 162, 23 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 66 have come since 2000. August has had the most tornadoes, 25. The most recent tornado was on May 12, 2025. Palm Springs has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 71% of the 407 Florida cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 71 times since 1961, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Palm Springs has more hail reports within 10 miles than 77% of the 407 Florida cities.

Compare Palm Springs's storm record with another city →

Tropical storms and hurricanes near Palm Springs

Tropical systems that passed within 75 miles of Palm Springs, Florida, newest first
YearStormClosestStrength when closestPeak
2022NicoleNov 1050 miCategory 1 (75 mph)Category 1
2022AlexJun 444 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
2020IsaiasAug 236 miTropical storm (63 mph)Category 1
2016MatthewOct 760 miCategory 4 (130 mph)Category 5
2008FayAug 1968 miTropical storm (69 mph)Tropical storm
2006ErnestoAug 3052 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 1
2005WilmaOct 2417 miCategory 3 (113 mph)Category 5
2005TammyOct 553 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
2005KatrinaAug 2539 miCategory 1 (75 mph)Category 5
2004JeanneSep 2639 miCategory 3 (121 mph)Category 3
2004FrancesSep 537 miCategory 2 (106 mph)Category 4
1999IreneOct 1616 miCategory 1 (75 mph)Category 2
1999HarveySep 2115 miTropical storm (52 mph)Tropical storm
1998MitchNov 522 miTropical storm (61 mph)Category 5
1995JerryAug 2310 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1995ErinAug 252 miCategory 1 (86 mph)Category 2
1994GordonNov 1674 miTropical storm (56 mph)Category 1
1985BobJul 2336 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 1
1984IsidoreSep 276 miTropical storm (55 mph)Tropical storm
1981DennisAug 1864 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 1
1979DavidSep 315 miCategory 2 (98 mph)Category 5
1976DottieAug 19overheadTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1974Unnamed 1974 stormOct 621 miTropical storm (59 mph)Tropical storm
1964IsbellOct 1514 miCategory 1 (92 mph)Category 3
1964CleoAug 2713 miCategory 1 (84 mph)Category 4
1960FlorenceSep 2426 miTropical storm (41 mph)Tropical storm
1959JudithOct 1830 miTropical storm (53 mph)Category 1
1956Unnamed 1956 stormOct 1636 miTropical storm (63 mph)Tropical storm
1953HazelOct 973 miCategory 1 (74 mph)Category 1
1953Unnamed 1953 stormOct 564 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1953Unnamed 1953 stormJul 1274 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1952Unnamed 1952 stormFeb 310 miTropical storm (63 mph)Tropical storm
1951HowOct 259 miTropical storm (56 mph)Category 2
1950KingOct 1835 miCategory 3 (116 mph)Category 4
1949Unnamed 1949 stormAug 262 miCategory 4 (132 mph)Category 4
1948Unnamed 1948 stormOct 633 miCategory 2 (96 mph)Category 3
1948Unnamed 1948 stormSep 2229 miCategory 2 (96 mph)Category 4
1947Unnamed 1947 stormOct 1225 miCategory 1 (81 mph)Category 2
1947Unnamed 1947 stormSep 1734 miCategory 4 (132 mph)Category 4
1946Unnamed 1946 stormNov 11 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
1945Unnamed 1945 stormSep 1670 miCategory 3 (113 mph)Category 4
1939Unnamed 1939 stormAug 1130 miCategory 1 (75 mph)Category 1
1936Unnamed 1936 stormJun 1552 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
1935Unnamed 1935 stormNov 448 miCategory 2 (98 mph)Category 2
1933Unnamed 1933 stormSep 416 miCategory 3 (127 mph)Category 4
1933Unnamed 1933 stormJul 3031 miCategory 1 (75 mph)Category 1
1928Unnamed 1928 stormSep 177 miCategory 4 (143 mph)Category 5
1928Unnamed 1928 stormAug 726 miCategory 2 (104 mph)Category 2
1926Unnamed 1926 stormOct 2169 miCategory 3 (127 mph)Category 4
1926Unnamed 1926 stormSep 1869 miCategory 4 (135 mph)Category 4
1926Unnamed 1926 stormJul 2741 miCategory 2 (109 mph)Category 4
1924Unnamed 1924 stormOct 2141 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 5
1916Unnamed 1916 stormNov 1665 miTropical storm (56 mph)Tropical storm
1916Unnamed 1916 stormAug 2533 miTropical storm (43 mph)Category 2
1909Unnamed 1909 stormSep 2671 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1909Unnamed 1909 stormAug 2915 miTropical storm (51 mph)Tropical storm
1909Unnamed 1909 stormJun 2825 miTropical storm (47 mph)Tropical storm
1906Unnamed 1906 stormOct 1829 miCategory 3 (112 mph)Category 3
1906Unnamed 1906 stormJun 1740 miCategory 1 (86 mph)Category 2
1904Unnamed 1904 stormOct 1768 miTropical storm (53 mph)Category 1
1903Unnamed 1903 stormSep 1232 miCategory 1 (79 mph)Category 1
1901Unnamed 1901 stormAug 1021 miTropical storm (44 mph)Category 1
1898Unnamed 1898 stormOct 1169 miTropical storm (69 mph)Tropical storm
1898Unnamed 1898 stormAug 231 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 1
1896Unnamed 1896 stormOct 960 miTropical storm (44 mph)Category 2
1893Unnamed 1893 stormAug 2774 miCategory 3 (121 mph)Category 3
1892Unnamed 1892 stormJun 1119 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1891Unnamed 1891 stormOct 728 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
1889Unnamed 1889 stormOct 617 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
1888Unnamed 1888 stormSep 2323 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 1
1888Unnamed 1888 stormSep 74 miTropical storm (52 mph)Tropical storm
1888Unnamed 1888 stormAug 1650 miCategory 3 (113 mph)Category 3
1885Unnamed 1885 stormAug 2421 miCategory 1 (81 mph)Category 2
1878Unnamed 1878 stormOct 2232 miCategory 1 (81 mph)Category 2
1878Unnamed 1878 stormJul 218 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1876Unnamed 1876 stormOct 2049 miCategory 2 (97 mph)Category 3
1876Unnamed 1876 stormSep 1642 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 3
1871Unnamed 1871 stormAug 2531 miCategory 2 (104 mph)Category 3
1871Unnamed 1871 stormAug 1624 miCategory 3 (115 mph)Category 3
1870Unnamed 1870 stormOct 2147 miCategory 1 (77 mph)Category 2
1865Unnamed 1865 stormOct 23overheadCategory 1 (92 mph)Category 2
1863Unnamed 1863 stormSep 1635 miTropical storm (61 mph)Tropical storm
1861Unnamed 1861 stormNov 174 miTropical storm (59 mph)Category 1
1859Unnamed 1859 stormOct 1715 miTropical storm (68 mph)Tropical storm

Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Palm Springs: a hurricane's worst winds sit within a few dozen miles of its centre, and inland cities are usually past that.

Tornadoes within 25 miles of Palm Springs

By decade

  • 2020s15(1 EF3+)
  • 2010s27
  • 2000s24
  • 1990s23
  • 1980s23
  • 1970s21
  • 1960s18
  • 1950s11
Strongest tornadoes near Palm Springs, Florida
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Oct 9, 2024EF313 mi32.89 mi0 / 7
Oct 9, 2024EF222 mi65.49 mi0 / 0
Apr 29, 2023EF214 mi2.61 mi0 / 0
Sep 27, 2022EF211 mi6.98 mi0 / 2
Aug 18, 2008EF29 mi2.72 mi0 / 0
Aug 8, 1983F26 mi0.3 mi0 / 2
Mar 17, 1983F224 mi52.5 mi0 / 2
Jan 13, 1979F25 mi1 mi0 / 0
Jul 22, 1970F211 mi0.1 mi0 / 0
Mar 26, 1970F221 mi0.1 mi0 / 0
Mar 14, 1965F25 mi0.1 mi0 / 0
Oct 14, 1964F211 mi0.1 mi0 / 22

The strongest 12 of 162, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Palm Springs

The Storm Prediction Center has 71 hail reports within 10 miles of Palm Springs since 1961, made on 48 separate days. Of these, 40 were 1 inch across or larger, and 4 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3 inches (tea cup size), fell on May 3, 1994. The most recent report is from May 23, 2025. May has the most reports, 20.

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.

Radar-estimated hail days in Palm Springs since 2019 →

Weather by month in Palm Springs

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is West Palm Beach International Airport, FL, 4 miles north of Palm Springs at 19 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 90°F and low of 77°F; January is the coolest, at 75°F and 58°F. August is the wettest at 8.7 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.6 inches; the year adds up to 61.8 inches over 86 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 65% of the year's precipitation (40.3 of 61.8 inches); the other six months are drier. October has brought the most of the 84 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (27); a normal October there has highs of 85°F and 5.9 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 74 days a year, almost all from April to October. A night below freezing comes less than once a year on average. That 61.8 inches is more than at 100 of the 125 Florida stations used on this site (80%). Boynton Beach, 7 miles south, has its own station (Loxahatchee Nwr, FL): 63.7 inches a year, 1.9 more than here, and the same August average high, 90°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Lake Worth Pier, Atlantic Ocean, FL, 4 miles east, averaged 86°F in August and 75°F in January over 2021–2025. It averaged 80°F or warmer from May to October. Sea level at the Lake Worth Pier tide gauge, 4 miles from Palm Springs, has risen 1.62 ± 0.10 inches per decade from 1970 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 16.2 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 99 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at West Palm Beach International Airport, FL
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. inDays ≥ 0.1"Water °F
Jan75583.5575
Feb77602.6475
Mar79633.3476
Apr82683.7578
May86724.9781
Jun88758.51183
Jul90765.61086
Aug90778.71286
Sep88768.01186
Oct85735.9782
Nov80663.6580
Dec77623.5578
Year836961.88681

Averages for 1991–2020 at West Palm Beach International Airport, FL (19 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Lake Worth Pier, Atlantic Ocean, FL, 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.

Florida weather by month, station by station →

Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Palm Springs

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 145 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Palm Springs: 81 thunderstorm wind reports, 30 floods, 18 lightning strikes, 15 flash floods and 1 heavy rain event. They killed 3 people and injured 14, and the NWS estimated $16.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on April 4, 2013. August has had the most flash floods, 4 of 15. Of the 277 Florida cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 203 have had fewer than Palm Springs.

  • July 30, 2019: lightning strike 9 miles from the centre of Palm Springs — 1 killed, 5 injured.

  • July 10, 2018: lightning strike 2 miles from the centre of Palm Springs — 1 killed, 1 injured.

    NWS: “Multiple media outlets reported that 2 men were working in a wooded area when a tree near them was struck by lightning sending the current into them. They both were then transported to local area hospitals where one man was deceased and the other survived his injuries.”

  • April 15, 2016: lightning strike 4 miles from the centre of Palm Springs — 1 killed.

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 Palm Springs's ZIP code 33461 have filed 231 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $1.5 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Irene in 1999: 65 claims (28% of all) and $720,000, then Hurricane Frances in 2004 with 19 and Hurricane Jeanne in 2004 with 17. 61% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 340 Florida cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 159 have fewer than Palm Springs.

Flood insurance claims in Palm Springs by named event
EventClaimsPaid
Hurricane Irene199965$720,000
Hurricane Frances200419$48,000
Hurricane Jeanne200417$142,000
Flooding198214$9,482

Palm Beach County, which includes Palm Springs, has been named in 41 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 25 of them major disasters (by incident: 25 hurricanes, 3 fires, 3 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Hurricane Milton, on October 11, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Palm Beach County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for hurricanes and lightning; Relatively High for tornadoes, inland flooding, coastal flooding, strong wind and heat waves; Relatively Low for hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $518.6 million a year, the 3rd highest of 67 Florida counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $286.9 million (55%), is from hurricanes.

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).

Palm Springs in the notable storm records: Hurricane Matthew (2016)

What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.

Cities near Palm Springs