NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Portland, 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 Portland, Oregon since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 31 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 1 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 31
- EF3 or stronger
- 1
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
6 deaths in all
What the records show for Portland
The strongest of the 31 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F3 on April 5, 1972; its path came within 6 miles, and it killed 6 people. Of the 31, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 20 have come since 2000. October has had the most tornadoes, 9. The most recent tornado was on October 11, 2023. Portland has more tornadoes within 25 miles than any other of the 149 Oregon cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 5 times since 1998, with stones up to 0.75 inches (penny size). Portland has more hail reports within 10 miles than 71% of the 149 Oregon cities.
Compare Portland's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Portland
By decade
- 2020s4
- 2010s9
- 2000s7
- 1990s6
- 1980s2
- 1970s2(1 EF3+)
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 5, 1972 | F3 | 6 mi | 8.7 mi | 6 / 300 |
| Dec 8, 1993 | F2 | 16 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 10, 2015 | EF1 | 17 mi | 0.82 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 10, 2008 | EF1 | 11 mi | 10.11 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 9, 2000 | F1 | 14 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 12, 1991 | F1 | 12 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 12, 1991 | F1 | 13 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 29, 1989 | F1 | 25 mi | 1.6 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Aug 16, 1978 | F1 | 21 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 12, 1957 | F1 | 21 mi | 2.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 11, 2023 | EF0 | 24 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 27, 2021 | EF0 | 18 mi | 3.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 31, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Portland
The Storm Prediction Center has 5 hail reports within 10 miles of Portland since 1998. None of them reached 1 inch. The largest size, 0.75 inches (penny size), was reported on 2 days, most recently August 4, 1999. The most recent report is from September 28, 2007.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Portland
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Portland Kgw-Tv, OR, 2 miles west of Portland at 159 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 81°F and low of 59°F; December is the coolest, at 46°F and 37°F. December is the wettest at 7.4 inches of precipitation on average and July the driest at 0.4 inches; the year adds up to 44.1 inches over 102 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 11 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 18 nights a year. Snowfall averages 3.6 inches a year, most of it in February. That 44.1 inches is more than at 41 of the 77 Oregon stations used on this site (53%). Milwaukie, 7 miles south, has its own station (Oregon City, OR): 44.7 inches a year, 0.6 more than here, and an August average high of 84°F against 81°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 47 | 37 | 6.4 | 14 | 1.3 |
| Feb | 51 | 39 | 4.7 | 10 | 1.4 |
| Mar | 56 | 41 | 4.8 | 12 | 0.0 |
| Apr | 61 | 44 | 3.6 | 11 | 0.0 |
| May | 68 | 49 | 2.6 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 73 | 53 | 1.5 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 80 | 58 | 0.4 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 81 | 59 | 0.5 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 75 | 55 | 1.6 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 63 | 48 | 4.0 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 52 | 42 | 6.6 | 13 | 0.0 |
| Dec | 46 | 37 | 7.4 | 14 | 0.9 |
| Year | 63 | 47 | 44.1 | 102 | 3.6 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Portland Kgw-Tv, OR (159 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 Portland
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 55 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Portland: 24 heavy rain events, 19 floods, 10 thunderstorm wind reports and 2 lightning strikes. They killed 3 people and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $2.4 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 64 mph, on June 4, 2009.
November 6, 2021: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Portland — 1 killed, 2 injured.
May 2, 2009: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Portland — 1 killed.
December 3, 2023: heavy rain event 4 miles from the centre of Portland — 1 killed.
NWS: “A man fell into Johnson Creek and drowned. Moderate to heavy rainfall December 2nd through 3rd produced bank full conditions and swift moving water in the creek.”
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 Portland's 25 ZIP codes have filed 390 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $5.0 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1996: 135 claims (35% of all) and $2.3 million, then Winter storm in 2009 with 23. 41% 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, 76 have fewer than Portland.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1996 | 135 | $2.3 million |
| Winter storm2009 | 23 | $452,000 |
Multnomah County, which includes Portland, has been named in 12 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 9 of them major disasters (by incident: 4 severe storms, 3 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 2 fires). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Landslides, and Mudslides, on April 13, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Multnomah County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for inland flooding and heat waves; Relatively Moderate for strong wind; Relatively Low for tornadoes, coastal flooding and lightning; Very Low for hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $440.4 million a year, the highest of 36 Oregon counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $91.2 million (21%), 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.