NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Porterville, 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 Porterville, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 5 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 5
- 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 Porterville
The highest rating among the 5 tornadoes within 25 miles is F0 or EF0, reached 5 times; the most recent, on November 9, 2012, came within 15 miles. Of the 5, none had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and one has come since 2000. Of the 705 California cities on this site, 79% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Porterville. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 3 times since 1999, with stones up to 1.25 inches (half dollar size). Of the 705 California cities, 44% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Porterville.
Compare Porterville's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Porterville
By decade
- 2010s1
- 1990s4
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 9, 2012 | EF0 | 15 mi | 0.27 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 20, 1997 | F0 | 19 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 1, 1996 | F0 | 19 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 13, 1995 | F0 | 8 mi | 2.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 19, 1993 | F0 | 17 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 5 of 5, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Porterville
The Storm Prediction Center has 3 hail reports within 10 miles of Porterville since 1999. Of these, one was 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest, 1.25 inches (half dollar size), fell on January 31, 2016, the most recent report.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Porterville
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Porterville, CA, in Porterville at 393 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 98°F and low of 68°F; December is the coolest, at 59°F and 39°F. January is the wettest at 2.1 inches of precipitation on average and August the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 11.1 inches over 29 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 122 days a year, almost all from April to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 15 nights a year. That 11.1 inches is more than at 51 of the 226 California stations used on this site (23%). Strathmore, 7 miles northwest, has its own station (Lindsay, CA): 12.3 inches a year, 1.2 more than here, and a July average high of 96°F against 98°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 59 | 40 | 2.1 | 6 |
| Feb | 65 | 43 | 1.9 | 6 |
| Mar | 71 | 47 | 2.0 | 5 |
| Apr | 76 | 50 | 1.0 | 3 |
| May | 84 | 56 | 0.3 | 1 |
| Jun | 93 | 63 | 0.1 | 1 |
| Jul | 98 | 68 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Aug | 97 | 67 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Sep | 92 | 62 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Oct | 82 | 53 | 0.6 | 1 |
| Nov | 68 | 44 | 1.0 | 3 |
| Dec | 59 | 39 | 1.9 | 5 |
| Year | 79 | 53 | 11.1 | 29 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Porterville, CA (393 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 Porterville
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 29 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Porterville: 25 floods and 4 thunderstorm wind reports. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $8.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 63 mph, on May 28, 2009.
January 10, 2023: flood 7 miles from the centre of Porterville — $5.5 million damage.
February 28, 2014: thunderstorm wind in Porterville — $2.0 million damage.
NWS: “Trees down across Porterville. Damages reported to several houses due to fallen trees and limbs.”
January 10, 2023: flood 7 miles from the centre of Porterville — $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 Porterville's ZIP code 93257 have filed 34 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $180,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 44% 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, 171 have fewer than Porterville.
Tulare County, which includes Porterville, has been named in 23 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1967, 15 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 floods, 4 fires, 4 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 Tulare County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for inland flooding, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Moderate for hail; Relatively Low for tornadoes and strong wind. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $214.1 million a year, the 23rd highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $130.3 million (61%), 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.