NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Rainier, 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 Rainier, Oregon since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 13 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 13
- 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 Rainier
The highest rating among the 13 tornadoes within 25 miles is F1 or EF1, reached 5 times; the most recent, on October 23, 2014, came within 5 miles. Of the 13, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 8 have come since 2000. October has had the most tornadoes, 4. The most recent tornado was on October 28, 2024. Rainier has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 57% of the 149 Oregon cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles once, in 2022, with stones of 0.25 inches. Of the 149 Oregon cities, 57% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Rainier.
Compare Rainier's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Rainier
By decade
- 2020s3
- 2010s1
- 2000s4
- 1980s3
- 1970s1
- 1960s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 23, 2014 | EF1 | 5 mi | 1.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 29, 1989 | F1 | 18 mi | 1.6 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Mar 28, 1985 | F1 | 9 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 13, 1984 | F1 | 14 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 16, 1978 | F1 | 19 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 28, 2024 | EF0 | 5 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 11, 2023 | EF0 | 18 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 10, 2020 | EF0 | 14 mi | 1.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 13, 2004 | F0 | 19 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 6, 2004 | F0 | 4 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 27, 2004 | F0 | 19 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 28, 2000 | F0 | 14 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 1 |
The strongest 12 of 13, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Rainier
The Storm Prediction Center has one hail report within 10 miles of Rainier, from May 19, 2022: 0.25 inches.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Rainier
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Longview, WA, 7 miles north of Rainier at 12 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 80°F and low of 53°F; December is the coolest, at 47°F and 35°F. November is the wettest at 7.2 inches of precipitation on average and July the driest at 0.6 inches; the year adds up to 48.0 inches over 116 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 9 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 41 nights a year. That 48.0 inches is more than at 53 of the 77 Oregon stations used on this site (69%). Saint Helens, 14 miles south, has its own station (Scappoose Ind Airport, OR): 42.4 inches a year, 5.6 less than here, and an August average high of 82°F against 80°F.
Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Longview, WA, 4 miles north, averaged 72°F in August and 42°F in February over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the Astoria tide gauge, 40 miles from Rainier, has fallen 0.06 ± 0.06 inches per decade from 1925 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 0.6 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 16 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Water °F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 48 | 35 | 6.5 | 15 | 43 |
| Feb | 52 | 35 | 4.8 | 12 | 42 |
| Mar | 57 | 38 | 4.9 | 14 | 45 |
| Apr | 62 | 40 | 4.1 | 12 | 50 |
| May | 69 | 45 | 3.1 | 8 | 56 |
| Jun | 73 | 50 | 2.0 | 6 | 62 |
| Jul | 79 | 53 | 0.6 | 2 | 70 |
| Aug | 80 | 53 | 1.0 | 2 | 72 |
| Sep | 76 | 50 | 2.3 | 5 | 68 |
| Oct | 64 | 44 | 4.4 | 10 | 62 |
| Nov | 53 | 39 | 7.2 | 15 | 52 |
| Dec | 47 | 35 | 7.1 | 15 | 46 |
| Year | 63 | 43 | 48.0 | 116 | 55 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Longview, WA (12 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Longview, WA, from NOAA Tides & Currents. 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 Rainier
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 27 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Rainier: 21 floods, 3 heavy rain events, 2 thunderstorm wind reports and 1 lightning strike. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $254.3 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 85 mph, on October 12, 2025.
September 6, 2019: lightning strike 5 miles from the centre of Rainier — 1 injured.
September 17, 2020: flood 5 miles from the centre of Rainier — $250.0 million damage.
December 8, 2015: flood 5 miles from the centre of Rainier — $2.1 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
Columbia County, which includes Rainier, has been named in 17 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 15 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 severe storms, 4 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 1 coastal storm). The latest major disaster declaration was Wildfires and Straight-Line Winds, on September 15, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Columbia County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for heat waves; Relatively Low for inland flooding, coastal flooding and strong wind; Very Low for tornadoes, hail and lightning. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $33.9 million a year, the 20th highest of 36 Oregon counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $14.1 million (42%), 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.