NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Payette, ID
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 Payette, Idaho since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 14 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 14
- 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 Payette
The highest rating among the 14 tornadoes within 25 miles is F1, reached 8 times; the most recent, on April 30, 1997, came within 14 miles. Of the 14, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 4 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 3. The most recent tornado was on August 25, 2004. Payette has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 50% of the 90 Idaho cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 11 times since 1966, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Payette has more hail reports within 10 miles than 52% of the 90 Idaho cities.
Compare Payette's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Payette
By decade
- 2000s4
- 1990s7
- 1980s1
- 1970s1
- 1960s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 30, 1997 | F1 | 14 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 17, 1996 | F1 | 21 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 17, 1996 | F1 | 12 mi | 5.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 19, 1991 | F1 | 24 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 9, 1990 | F1 | 18 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 1, 1983 | F1 | 5 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 23, 1974 | F1 | 24 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 25, 1966 | F1 | 5 mi | 19.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 25, 2004 | F0 | 18 mi | — | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 29, 2002 | F0 | 21 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 7, 2002 | F0 | 24 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 13, 2001 | F0 | 12 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 14, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Payette
The Storm Prediction Center has 11 hail reports within 10 miles of Payette since 1966, made on 8 separate days. Of these, 9 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest, 1.75 inches (golf ball size), fell on July 29, 1995. The most recent report is from June 5, 2022. May has the most reports, 5.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Payette
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Payette, ID, 2 miles west of Payette at 2,150 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 92°F and low of 61°F; January is the coolest, at 39°F and 24°F. December is the wettest at 1.8 inches of precipitation on average and August the driest at 0.2 inches; the year adds up to 11.3 inches over 34 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 54 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 131 nights a year. That 11.3 inches is more than at 25 of the 66 Idaho stations used on this site (38%). Ontario, OR, 5 miles west, has its own station (Ontario Ksrv, OR): 10.1 inches a year, 1.2 less than here, and a July average high of 93°F against 92°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 39 | 24 | 1.4 | 5 |
| Feb | 48 | 28 | 1.1 | 4 |
| Mar | 58 | 34 | 1.0 | 4 |
| Apr | 65 | 39 | 0.8 | 3 |
| May | 74 | 48 | 1.3 | 4 |
| Jun | 81 | 54 | 0.8 | 2 |
| Jul | 92 | 61 | 0.4 | 1 |
| Aug | 90 | 59 | 0.2 | 0 |
| Sep | 80 | 50 | 0.9 | 1 |
| Oct | 67 | 39 | 0.6 | 2 |
| Nov | 52 | 30 | 1.0 | 4 |
| Dec | 40 | 24 | 1.8 | 5 |
| Year | 66 | 41 | 11.3 | 34 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Payette, ID (2,150 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 Payette
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 30 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Payette: 19 thunderstorm wind reports, 5 floods, 4 heavy rain events and 2 flash floods. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $2.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 75 mph, on June 19, 2003.
June 5, 2010: flood 2 miles from the centre of Payette — $1.0 million damage.
NWS: “Moderate flooding occured in and around Payette along the Payette River.”
August 4, 2021: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Payette — $1.0 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 Payette's ZIP code 83661 have filed 16 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1982, and were paid $163,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 31% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 19 Idaho cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 4 have fewer than Payette.
Payette County, which includes Payette, has been named in 6 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 4 of them major disasters (by incident: 2 biological emergencies, 2 severe storms, 1 flood, 1 hurricane). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on April 9, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Payette County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Low for heat waves; Very Low for tornadoes, hail, inland flooding, strong wind and lightning. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $8.0 million a year, the 29th highest of 44 Idaho counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $4.8 million (60%), 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 Payette
- Ontario, OR5 mi
- Fruitland, ID5 mi
- New Plymouth, ID9 mi
- Nyssa, OR12 mi
- Weiser, ID16 mi
- Parma, ID20 mi
- Vale, OR22 mi
- Emmett, ID23 mi
- Middleton, ID29 mi
- Wilder, ID29 mi
- Caldwell, ID30 mi
- Star, ID33 mi
All Idaho cities →All hurricanes since 1851 →Compare Payette with another place →