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.
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 Prescott, Arizona since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 21 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 1 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 21
- EF3 or stronger
- 1
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for Prescott
The strongest of the 21 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F3 on August 10, 1972; its path came within 11 miles. Of the 21, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 7 have come since 2000. August and September have had the most tornadoes, 7 each. The most recent tornado was on May 6, 2025. Prescott has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 70% of the 134 Arizona cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 63 times since 1962, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Prescott has more hail reports within 10 miles than 98% of the 134 Arizona cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Prescott
By decade
- 2020s5
- 2010s1
- 2000s1
- 1990s7
- 1970s2(1 EF3+)
- 1960s2
- 1950s3
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 10, 1972 | F3 | 11 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 16, 1993 | F2 | 8 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 13, 1996 | F1 | 10 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 2, 1959 | F1 | 6 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 6, 2025 | EF0 | 11 mi | 0.14 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 9, 2023 | EF0 | 10 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 17, 2023 | EF0 | 7 mi | 5.47 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 25, 2022 | EF0 | 16 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 11, 2021 | EF0 | 9 mi | 0.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 27, 2014 | EF0 | 9 mi | 2.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 14, 2003 | F0 | 19 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 15, 1999 | F0 | 16 mi | — | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 21, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Prescott
The Storm Prediction Center has 63 hail reports within 10 miles of Prescott since 1962, made on 48 separate days. Of these, 32 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on September 15, 1999. The most recent report is from August 21, 2024. July and August have the most reports, 18 each.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Prescott
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Prescott, AZ, 5 miles southeast of Prescott at 5,205 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 90°F and low of 61°F; December is the coolest, at 52°F and 24°F. August is the wettest at 2.8 inches of precipitation on average and June the driest at 0.2 inches; the year adds up to 16.6 inches over 36 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 44 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 128 nights a year. Snowfall averages 10.2 inches a year, most of it in February. That 16.6 inches is more than at 63 of the 76 Arizona stations used on this site (83%). Prescott Valley, 11 miles east, has its own station (Prescott Love Field, AZ): 13.1 inches a year, 3.5 less than here, and the same July average high, 90°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 53 | 24 | 1.5 | 3 | 1.9 |
| Feb | 55 | 26 | 1.8 | 4 | 3.1 |
| Mar | 61 | 32 | 1.5 | 3 | 2.5 |
| Apr | 68 | 37 | 0.6 | 2 | 0.4 |
| May | 76 | 45 | 0.5 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 87 | 54 | 0.2 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 90 | 61 | 2.7 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 87 | 60 | 2.8 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 82 | 52 | 1.6 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 73 | 40 | 1.0 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 62 | 30 | 0.9 | 2 | 0.9 |
| Dec | 52 | 24 | 1.5 | 3 | 1.4 |
| Year | 70 | 40 | 16.6 | 36 | 10.2 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Prescott, AZ (5,205 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 Prescott
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 80 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Prescott: 33 flash floods, 26 heavy rain events, 20 thunderstorm wind reports and 1 flood. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $173,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 83 mph, on July 11, 2021. July has had the most flash floods, 15 of 33. Of the 130 Arizona cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 94 have had fewer than Prescott.
August 9, 2004: thunderstorm wind 4 miles from the centre of Prescott — 1 injured.
NWS: “A micro burst pushed over a crane and it collapsed an under-construction riding arena. All the steal beams in-place for the arena fell down.”
July 11, 2021: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Prescott — $100,000 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 Prescott's 3 ZIP codes have filed 65 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1980, and were paid $466,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 9% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 50 Arizona cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 33 have fewer than Prescott.
Yavapai County, which includes Prescott, has been named in 26 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1977, 10 of them major disasters (by incident: 13 fires, 5 floods, 4 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on April 4, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Yavapai County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for lightning; Relatively High for inland flooding; Relatively Moderate for hail and heat waves; Relatively Low for tornadoes and strong wind. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $107.8 million a year, the 5th highest of 15 Arizona counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $69.7 million (65%), 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 Prescott
- Prescott Valley, AZ11 mi
- Chino Valley, AZ12 mi
- Kirkland, AZ14 mi
- Dewey, AZ18 mi
- Paulden, AZ22 mi
- Clarkdale, AZ28 mi
- Mayer, AZ28 mi
- Cottonwood, AZ29 mi
- Bagdad, AZ35 mi
- Cornville, AZ35 mi
- Camp Verde, AZ38 mi
- Ash Fork, AZ40 mi
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