NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Rancho Mirage, 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 Rancho Mirage, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 3 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 3
- 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 Rancho Mirage
The highest rating among the 3 tornadoes within 25 miles is F1 or EF1, reached 2 times; the most recent, on August 6, 2015, came within 19 miles. The most recent tornado was on August 16, 2018. Of the 705 California cities on this site, 87% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Rancho Mirage. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 2 times since 1991, with stones up to 1.5 inches (ping pong ball size). Of the 705 California cities, 57% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Rancho Mirage.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Rancho Mirage
By decade
- 2010s2
- 1990s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 6, 2015 | EF1 | 19 mi | 3.98 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Dec 22, 1996 | F1 | 23 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 16, 2018 | EF0 | 21 mi | 0.24 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 3 of 3, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Rancho Mirage
The Storm Prediction Center has 2 hail reports within 10 miles of Rancho Mirage since 1991. All were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest, 1.5 inches (ping pong ball size), fell on September 5, 1991. The most recent report is from July 14, 2024.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Rancho Mirage
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Palm Springs Regional Airport, CA, 7 miles northwest of Rancho Mirage at 421 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 109°F and low of 79°F; December is the coolest, at 69°F and 46°F. January and February are the wettest at 1.1 inches of precipitation on average and May and June the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 4.5 inches over 8 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 177 days a year, almost all from March to November. A night below freezing comes less than once a year on average. That 4.5 inches is more than at 11 of the 226 California stations used on this site (5%). Palm Desert, 4 miles southeast, has its own station (Indio Fire Stn, CA): 3.1 inches a year, 1.4 less than here, and a July average high of 106°F against 109°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 71 | 48 | 1.1 | 2 |
| Feb | 74 | 50 | 1.1 | 2 |
| Mar | 81 | 54 | 0.5 | 1 |
| Apr | 87 | 59 | 0.1 | 0 |
| May | 95 | 66 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Jun | 104 | 73 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Jul | 109 | 79 | 0.3 | 1 |
| Aug | 108 | 80 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Sep | 102 | 74 | 0.2 | 0 |
| Oct | 91 | 65 | 0.2 | 0 |
| Nov | 79 | 53 | 0.2 | 1 |
| Dec | 69 | 46 | 0.7 | 1 |
| Year | 89 | 62 | 4.5 | 8 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Palm Springs Regional Airport, CA (421 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 Rancho Mirage
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 72 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Rancho Mirage: 33 flash floods, 15 thunderstorm wind reports, 10 floods, 8 lightning strikes and 6 heavy rain events. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $3.3 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 70 mph, on July 30, 2015. August has had the most flash floods, 11 of 33. Of the 550 California cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 512 have had fewer than Rancho Mirage.
July 20, 2008: flash flood 3 miles from the centre of Rancho Mirage — 1 injured, $500,000 damage.
NWS: “Heavy rain from an early morning thunderstorm over the mountain slopes above Cathedral City caused a damaging flash flood that raced down Eagle Canyon, past Gilda���s Club, and onto East Palm Canyon Drive (Highway 111). At least 15-20 businesses were damaged as well as several homes at the Tramview Mobile Home Park.”
September 9, 2017: flash flood 8 miles from the centre of Rancho Mirage — $1.0 million damage.
September 9, 2017: flash flood 5 miles from the centre of Rancho Mirage — $400,000 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 Rancho Mirage's 2 ZIP codes have filed 104 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $595,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 1979, with 29. 10% 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, 321 have fewer than Rancho Mirage.
Riverside County, which includes Rancho Mirage, has been named in 66 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 31 of them major disasters (by incident: 38 fires, 13 floods, 7 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Tropical Storm Hilary, on November 21, 2023. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Riverside County a Very High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for inland flooding; Relatively High for heat waves; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail, strong wind and lightning; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $2.27 billion a year, the 2nd highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $1.13 billion (50%), 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 Rancho Mirage
- Cathedral City, CA4 mi
- Palm Desert, CA4 mi
- Thousand Palms, CA5 mi
- Indian Wells, CA6 mi
- Palm Springs, CA8 mi
- La Quinta, CA9 mi
- Indio, CA11 mi
- Desert Hot Springs, CA13 mi
- Coachella, CA15 mi
- Idyllwild, CA17 mi
- Anza, CA21 mi
- Cabazon, CA22 mi
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