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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Prescott, AZ

Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.

No tropical storm or hurricane has passed within 75 miles of Prescott, Arizona since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 20 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 1 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
0

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
0

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
20

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
1

no recorded deaths

Tornadoes within 25 miles of Prescott

By decade

  • 2020s4
  • 2010s1
  • 2000s1
  • 1990s7
  • 1970s2(1 EF3+)
  • 1960s2
  • 1950s3
Strongest tornadoes near Prescott, Arizona
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Aug 10, 1972F311 mi0.1 mi0 / 0
May 16, 1993F28 mi0.3 mi0 / 0
Sep 13, 1996F110 mi4 mi0 / 0
Nov 2, 1959F16 mi0.1 mi0 / 0
Sep 9, 2023EF010 mi0.1 mi0 / 0
Jul 17, 2023EF07 mi5.47 mi0 / 0
Jun 25, 2022EF016 mi0.1 mi0 / 0
Jul 11, 2021EF09 mi0.7 mi0 / 0
Sep 27, 2014EF09 mi2.1 mi0 / 0
Aug 14, 2003F019 mi0.1 mi0 / 0
Sep 15, 1999F016 mi0 / 0
Sep 14, 1999F04 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 20, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

How to read this page

A storm is listed when the centre of its track passed within 75 miles of Prescott while it was at least a tropical storm, which is the reach of damaging wind and rain for a typical hurricane. Being on the list does not mean the city took a direct hit; the "closest" column says how near the centre came. Tornadoes are counted when any part of the path came within 25 miles.

Tornado records before the 1990s are thinner, because weak tornadoes in open country often went unreported before Doppler radar and mobile phones. A rise in the decade counts is mostly better reporting, not a change in the weather.

Tracks come from the National Hurricane Center's HURDAT2 database, tornadoes from the Storm Prediction Center's database. Both are the official federal records and both are revised as old storms are re-analysed.

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