NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Penn Valley, 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 Penn Valley, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 10 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 10
- 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 Penn Valley
The highest rating among the 10 tornadoes within 25 miles is F1 or EF1, reached 4 times; the most recent, on October 22, 2012, came within 24 miles. Of the 10, none had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 7 have come since 2000. October has had the most tornadoes, 4. The most recent tornado was on March 21, 2018. Of the 705 California cities on this site, 59% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Penn Valley. Hail has been reported within 10 miles once, in 2006, with stones of 0.75 inches (penny size). Of the 705 California cities, 72% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Penn Valley.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Penn Valley
By decade
- 2010s6
- 2000s1
- 1990s3
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 22, 2012 | EF1 | 12 mi | 4.02 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 22, 2012 | EF1 | 19 mi | 0.29 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 22, 2012 | EF1 | 24 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 17, 1992 | F1 | 12 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 21, 2018 | EF0 | 21 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 22, 2012 | EF0 | 14 mi | 0.38 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 1, 2011 | EF0 | 23 mi | 5.13 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 29, 2005 | F0 | 23 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 25, 1994 | F0 | 20 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 23, 1990 | F0 | 25 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 10 of 10, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Penn Valley
The Storm Prediction Center has one hail report within 10 miles of Penn Valley, from February 28, 2006: 0.75 inches (penny size).
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Penn Valley
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Grass Valley #2, CA, 7 miles east of Penn Valley at 2,400 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 88°F and low of 58°F; December is the coolest, at 53°F and 33°F. December is the wettest at 10.5 inches of precipitation on average and July the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 53.2 inches over 61 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 36 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 61 nights a year. Snowfall averages 8.6 inches a year, most of it in February and March. That 53.2 inches is more than at 218 of the 226 California stations used on this site (96%). Beale Afb, 11 miles southwest, has its own station (Marysville Yuba Co Airport, CA): 20.1 inches a year, 33.1 less than here, and a July average high of 96°F against 88°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 54 | 33 | 9.3 | 10 | 0.7 |
| Feb | 55 | 34 | 9.0 | 9 | 3.0 |
| Mar | 58 | 37 | 8.2 | 10 | 3.0 |
| Apr | 63 | 40 | 4.4 | 6 | 0.5 |
| May | 71 | 47 | 2.5 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 80 | 53 | 0.7 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 88 | 58 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 87 | 57 | 0.1 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 82 | 52 | 0.4 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 72 | 44 | 2.6 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 60 | 37 | 5.5 | 7 | 0.2 |
| Dec | 53 | 33 | 10.5 | 10 | 1.2 |
| Year | 69 | 44 | 53.2 | 61 | 8.6 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Grass Valley #2, CA (2,400 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 Penn Valley
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 13 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Penn Valley: 8 floods and 5 heavy rain events. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $3.6 million in property and crop damage.
February 8, 2017: flood 9 miles from the centre of Penn Valley — $3.6 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
Nevada County, which includes Penn Valley, has been named in 23 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 16 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 fires, 7 severe storms, 5 floods, 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 Nevada County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for inland flooding and lightning; Relatively Low for hail and heat waves; Very Low for tornadoes and strong wind. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $80.6 million a year, the 39th highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $37.4 million (46%), 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 Penn Valley
- Grass Valley, CA8 mi
- Beale Afb, CA11 mi
- Nevada City, CA15 mi
- Colfax, CA16 mi
- Meadow Vista, CA17 mi
- Wheatland, CA18 mi
- Applegate, CA18 mi
- Marysville, CA18 mi
- Auburn, CA20 mi
- Olivehurst, CA20 mi
- Lincoln, CA22 mi
- Newcastle, CA23 mi
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