NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Pinetop, AZ
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 Pinetop, Arizona since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 1 tornado has touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 1
- 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 Pinetop
The only tornado within 25 miles was an F0 on August 14, 1979; its path came within 14 miles. Of the 134 Arizona cities on this site, 88% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Pinetop. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 11 times since 1971, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Pinetop has more hail reports within 10 miles than 52% of the 134 Arizona cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Pinetop
By decade
- 1970s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 14, 1979 | F0 | 14 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 1 of 1, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Pinetop
The Storm Prediction Center has 11 hail reports within 10 miles of Pinetop since 1971. Of these, 7 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest, 1.75 inches (golf ball size), fell on August 19, 2001. The most recent report is from July 17, 2022. July has the most reports, 6.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Pinetop
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Pinetop 2E, AZ, in Pinetop at 7,200 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 82°F and low of 52°F; December is the coolest, at 45°F and 19°F. August is the wettest at 4.0 inches of precipitation on average and June the driest at 0.6 inches; the year adds up to 24.1 inches over 54 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 8 days a year, almost all from June to July. Lows fall below freezing on about 163 nights a year. Snowfall averages 70.3 inches a year, most of it in January. That 24.1 inches is more than at 75 of the 76 Arizona stations used on this site (99%). Show Low, 13 miles northwest, has its own station (Show Low Airport, AZ): 15.9 inches a year, 8.2 less than here, and a July average high of 85°F against 82°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 45 | 20 | 2.3 | 5 | 16.5 |
| Feb | 48 | 22 | 2.2 | 5 | 14.7 |
| Mar | 55 | 27 | 2.0 | 4 | 10.4 |
| Apr | 62 | 32 | 0.9 | 3 | 4.4 |
| May | 71 | 38 | 0.8 | 2 | 0.7 |
| Jun | 82 | 46 | 0.6 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 82 | 52 | 3.4 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 80 | 52 | 4.0 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 76 | 46 | 2.0 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 66 | 35 | 1.7 | 3 | 2.8 |
| Nov | 55 | 27 | 1.7 | 4 | 5.2 |
| Dec | 45 | 19 | 2.5 | 5 | 15.6 |
| Year | 64 | 34 | 24.1 | 54 | 70.3 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Pinetop 2E, AZ (7,200 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 Pinetop
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 11 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Pinetop: 4 flash floods, 4 heavy rain events, 2 thunderstorm wind reports and 1 lightning strike. They killed 1 person and injured 0. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 58 mph, on September 9, 2005.
July 19, 2013: lightning strike 4 miles from the centre of Pinetop — 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
Navajo County, which includes Pinetop, has been named in 21 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1970, 12 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 floods, 6 fires, 4 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms and Flooding, on September 13, 2021. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Navajo County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for lightning; Relatively Moderate for inland flooding; Relatively Low for hail, strong wind and heat waves; Very Low for tornadoes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $40.0 million a year, the 11th highest of 15 Arizona counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $20.5 million (51%), 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 Pinetop
- Lakeside, AZ5 mi
- Show Low, AZ13 mi
- Taylor, AZ24 mi
- Concho, AZ25 mi
- Snowflake, AZ31 mi
- Eagar, AZ33 mi
- Cibecue, AZ37 mi
- Overgaard, AZ39 mi
- Springerville, AZ40 mi
- Saint Johns, AZ42 mi
- Holbrook, AZ58 mi
- Globe, AZ63 mi
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