NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Rathdrum, ID
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 Rathdrum, Idaho since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 5 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 5
- 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 Rathdrum
The highest rating among the 5 tornadoes within 25 miles is F2, reached 2 times; the most recent, on May 31, 1997, came within 14 miles. Of the 5, none had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and one has come since 2000. The most recent tornado was on May 6, 2022. Of the 90 Idaho cities on this site, 68% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Rathdrum. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 6 times since 1969, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Of the 90 Idaho cities, 71% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Rathdrum.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Rathdrum
By decade
- 2020s1
- 1990s3
- 1980s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 1997 | F2 | 14 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 9, 1991 | F2 | 25 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 12, 1984 | F1 | 18 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 6, 2022 | EF0 | 23 mi | 2.14 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 9, 1994 | F0 | 14 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 5 of 5, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Rathdrum
The Storm Prediction Center has 6 hail reports within 10 miles of Rathdrum since 1969. Of these, 2 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest, 1.75 inches (golf ball size), fell on June 13, 2006. The most recent report is from August 8, 2008.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Rathdrum
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Coeur D'Alene, ID, 10 miles south of Rathdrum at 2,133 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 83°F and low of 57°F; January and December are the coolest, at 36°F and 26°F. December is the wettest at 3.5 inches of precipitation on average and July the driest at 0.7 inches; the year adds up to 25.3 inches over 77 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 18 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 121 nights a year. That 25.3 inches is more than at 57 of the 66 Idaho stations used on this site (86%). Newman Lake, WA, 10 miles southwest, has its own station (Spokane Felts Field, WA): 17.4 inches a year, 7.9 less than here, and a July average high of 87°F against 83°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 36 | 26 | 3.2 | 10 |
| Feb | 41 | 27 | 2.1 | 7 |
| Mar | 48 | 31 | 2.7 | 8 |
| Apr | 56 | 37 | 1.9 | 6 |
| May | 66 | 44 | 2.1 | 7 |
| Jun | 72 | 51 | 2.2 | 6 |
| Jul | 83 | 57 | 0.7 | 2 |
| Aug | 83 | 56 | 0.8 | 2 |
| Sep | 74 | 48 | 0.8 | 3 |
| Oct | 58 | 39 | 2.0 | 7 |
| Nov | 44 | 32 | 3.3 | 10 |
| Dec | 36 | 26 | 3.5 | 10 |
| Year | 58 | 39 | 25.3 | 77 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Coeur D'Alene, ID (2,133 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 Rathdrum
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 27 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Rathdrum: 13 thunderstorm wind reports, 6 floods, 4 heavy rain events, 2 flash floods and 2 lightning strikes. They killed 0 people and injured 7, and the NWS estimated $442,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 75 mph, on March 20, 2013.
March 5, 2014: flood 7 miles from the centre of Rathdrum — 3 injured, $100,000 damage.
May 19, 2002: thunderstorm wind 1 mile from the centre of Rathdrum — 2 injured, $15,000 damage.
NWS: “Thunderstorm winds blew a tree onto two cars traveling in opposite directions along Idaho Highway 41 in Rathdrum. Two of the occupants of one vehicle suffered injuries requiring hospitalization.”
August 2, 2004: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Rathdrum — 2 injured, $5,000 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
Kootenai County, which includes Rathdrum, has been named in 18 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 15 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 severe storms, 4 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 2 fires). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, on June 30, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Kootenai County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for inland flooding and heat waves; Relatively Low for strong wind and lightning; Very Low for tornadoes and hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $45.4 million a year, the 3rd highest of 44 Idaho counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $31.8 million (70%), 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 Rathdrum
- Hayden, ID7 mi
- Post Falls, ID7 mi
- Coeur D Alene, ID9 mi
- Newman Lake, WA10 mi
- Spirit Lake, ID11 mi
- Athol, ID13 mi
- Otis Orchards, WA14 mi
- Liberty Lake, WA15 mi
- Mead, WA16 mi
- Spokane Valley, WA20 mi
- Chattaroy, WA21 mi
- Colbert, WA23 mi
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