NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Pendleton, OR
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 Pendleton, Oregon since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 8 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 8
- 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 Pendleton
The strongest of the 8 tornadoes within 25 miles was an EF1 on May 6, 2009; its path came within 14 miles. Of the 8, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 5 have come since 2000. The most recent tornado was on March 5, 2024. Of the 149 Oregon cities on this site, 54% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Pendleton. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 8 times since 1969, with stones up to 1.6 inches. Pendleton has more hail reports within 10 miles than 83% of the 149 Oregon cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Pendleton
By decade
- 2020s2
- 2000s3
- 1990s2
- 1960s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 6, 2009 | EF1 | 14 mi | 1.61 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 5, 2024 | EF0 | 23 mi | 0.15 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 23, 2004 | F0 | 24 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 13, 2002 | F0 | 3 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 9, 1995 | F0 | 25 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 1, 1991 | F0 | 11 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 22, 1964 | F0 | 19 mi | 10.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 11, 2022 | Unrated | 7 mi | 0.02 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 8 of 8, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Pendleton
The Storm Prediction Center has 8 hail reports within 10 miles of Pendleton since 1969, made on 7 separate days. Of these, 4 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest, 1.6 inches, fell on August 3, 1994. The most recent report is from May 6, 2022.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Pendleton
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Pendleton WFO, OR, 4 miles northwest of Pendleton at 1,510 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 90°F and low of 59°F; December is the coolest, at 41°F and 28°F. Highs reach 90°F on about 41 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 92 nights a year. Snowfall averages 18.0 inches a year, most of it in December. That 13.2 inches is more than at 17 of the 77 Oregon stations used on this site (22%). Stanfield, 22 miles northwest, has its own station (Hermiston Municipal Airport, OR): 8.6 inches a year, 4.6 less than here, and a July average high of 93°F against 90°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 42 | 28 | 1.5 | 5 | 3.9 |
| Feb | 47 | 30 | 1.2 | 4 | 5.0 |
| Mar | 56 | 35 | 1.4 | 5 | 1.0 |
| Apr | 63 | 40 | 1.3 | 5 | 0.0 |
| May | 72 | 46 | 1.5 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 79 | 52 | 1.1 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 90 | 59 | 0.3 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 89 | 58 | 0.3 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 79 | 50 | 0.6 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 65 | 41 | 1.1 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 50 | 33 | 1.4 | 4 | 1.6 |
| Dec | 41 | 28 | 1.5 | 6 | 6.5 |
| Year | 64 | 42 | 13.2 | 43 | 18.0 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Pendleton WFO, OR (1,510 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 Pendleton
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 36 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Pendleton: 29 thunderstorm wind reports, 3 floods, 2 flash floods, 1 heavy rain event and 1 lightning strike. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $5.1 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 78 mph, on October 14, 2016.
May 17, 2010: heavy rain event 3 miles from the centre of Pendleton — 1 injured.
NWS: “Very heavy rainfall caused street flooding, ditch erosion, and water in some basements. One half to one inch of rain fell within a 20 minute period.”
April 10, 2019: flood 2 miles from the centre of Pendleton — $5.0 million damage.
NWS: “A combination of high flows from rain and snow melt coming out of the Blue Mountains and record releases out of McKay Reservoir produced field and roadside flooding downstream of Pendleton through Echo, Hermiston and Umatilla. A footbridge at Umatilla was damaged by the high flows and erosion.”
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 Pendleton's ZIP code 97801 have filed 36 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $804,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 2020, with 10. 6% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 77 Oregon cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 43 have fewer than Pendleton.
Umatilla County, which includes Pendleton, has been named in 15 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 8 of them major disasters (by incident: 5 fires, 4 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 2 severe storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Wildfires, on January 1, 2025. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Umatilla County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for inland flooding, strong wind and heat waves; Relatively Low for hail and lightning; Very Low for tornadoes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $40.0 million a year, the 17th highest of 36 Oregon counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $17.7 million (44%), 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 Pendleton
- Stanfield, OR22 mi
- Hermiston, OR27 mi
- Milton Freewater, OR28 mi
- Umatilla, OR31 mi
- College Place, WA33 mi
- Burbank, WA37 mi
- Irrigon, OR38 mi
- Kennewick, WA41 mi
- Walla Walla, WA41 mi
- La Grande, OR41 mi
- Heppner, OR43 mi
- Pasco, WA44 mi
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