NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Petaluma, 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 Petaluma, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 11 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 11
- 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 Petaluma
The strongest of the 11 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F2 on June 1, 1958; its path came within 12 miles. Of the 11, none had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 2 have come since 2000. December has had the most tornadoes, 6. The most recent tornado was on March 18, 2011. Of the 705 California cities on this site, 55% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Petaluma. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 8 times since 2017, with stones up to 0.25 inches. Petaluma has more hail reports within 10 miles than 82% of the 705 California cities.
Compare Petaluma's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Petaluma
By decade
- 2010s1
- 2000s1
- 1990s6
- 1980s1
- 1960s1
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 1, 1958 | F2 | 12 mi | 15 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 18, 2011 | EF1 | 15 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 5, 1998 | F1 | 15 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 23, 1996 | F1 | 10 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 22, 1996 | F1 | 22 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 2, 1992 | F1 | 23 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 2, 1992 | F1 | 15 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 2, 1992 | F1 | 12 mi | 7.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 27, 1983 | F1 | 15 mi | 0.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 10, 1964 | F1 | 21 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 29, 2004 | F0 | 15 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 11 of 11, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Petaluma
The Storm Prediction Center has 8 hail reports within 10 miles of Petaluma since 2017, made on 5 separate days. None of them reached 1 inch. The largest size, 0.25 inches, was reported on 5 days, most recently March 25, 2020. The most recent report is from March 25, 2020.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Petaluma
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Petaluma Airport, CA, 2 miles northeast of Petaluma at 20 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 81°F and low of 53°F; December is the coolest, at 58°F and 38°F. February and December are the wettest at 5.2 inches of precipitation on average and July the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 25.6 inches over 47 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 21 days a year, almost all from June to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 21 nights a year. That 25.6 inches is more than at 169 of the 226 California stations used on this site (75%). Rohnert Park, 8 miles north, has its own station (Santa Rosa, CA): 31.7 inches a year, 6.1 more than here, and an August average high of 83°F against 81°F.
Sea level at the Point Reyes tide gauge, 25 miles from Petaluma, has risen 0.85 ± 0.14 inches per decade from 1975 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 8.5 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 45 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 58 | 39 | 4.8 | 8 |
| Feb | 61 | 40 | 5.2 | 8 |
| Mar | 65 | 42 | 3.3 | 8 |
| Apr | 68 | 44 | 1.7 | 4 |
| May | 72 | 47 | 0.9 | 2 |
| Jun | 78 | 50 | 0.3 | 1 |
| Jul | 81 | 52 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Aug | 81 | 53 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Sep | 82 | 51 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Oct | 76 | 48 | 1.3 | 2 |
| Nov | 66 | 42 | 2.7 | 5 |
| Dec | 58 | 38 | 5.2 | 9 |
| Year | 70 | 46 | 25.6 | 47 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Petaluma Airport, CA (20 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 Petaluma
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 76 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Petaluma: 53 floods, 19 flash floods, 3 heavy rain events and 1 lightning strike. They killed 1 person and injured 0, and the NWS estimated $907,000 in property and crop damage. January has had the most flash floods, 8 of 19. Of the 550 California cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 434 have had fewer than Petaluma.
December 16, 2008: heavy rain event 9 miles from the centre of Petaluma — 1 killed, $25,000 damage.
January 25, 2008: flash flood 1 mile from the centre of Petaluma — $800,000 damage.
NWS: “Very heavy rain caused flash flooding around Petaluma late Friday night, January 26th. 5 feet reaching nearly 30 feet.”
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 Petaluma's 2 ZIP codes have filed 495 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $9.7 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1982: 247 claims (50% of all) and $2.8 million, then Pineapple Express - Southern in 1998 with 127. The year with the most claims was 1998, with 127. 76% 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, 398 have fewer than Petaluma.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1982 | 247 | $2.8 million |
| Pineapple Express - Southern1998 | 127 | $2.4 million |
Sonoma County, which includes Petaluma, has been named in 36 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 23 of them major disasters (by incident: 11 fires, 9 floods, 9 severe storms, 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 Sonoma County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for inland flooding; Relatively Moderate for coastal flooding, lightning and heat waves; Very Low for tornadoes, hail and strong wind. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $604.7 million a year, the 12th highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $279.8 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.