NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Red Bluff, 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 Red Bluff, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 11 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 11
- 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 Red Bluff
The highest rating among the 11 tornadoes within 25 miles is F2, reached 2 times; the most recent, on September 24, 1986, came within 20 miles. Of the 11, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 5 have come since 2000. March has had the most tornadoes, 4. The most recent tornado was on January 3, 2025. Of the 705 California cities on this site, 55% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Red Bluff. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 8 times since 1961, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Red Bluff has more hail reports within 10 miles than 82% of the 705 California cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Red Bluff
By decade
- 2020s3
- 2010s2
- 1980s3
- 1970s3
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 24, 1986 | F2 | 20 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 1 |
| May 9, 1980 | F2 | 4 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 5, 1978 | F1 | 12 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 4, 2021 | EF0 | 20 mi | 2.66 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 4, 2021 | EF0 | 16 mi | 0.78 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 4, 2013 | EF0 | 2 mi | 0.82 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 19, 2013 | EF0 | 10 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 14, 1987 | F0 | 20 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 5, 1978 | F0 | 11 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 5, 1978 | F0 | 13 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 3, 2025 | Unrated | 13 mi | 0.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 11 of 11, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Red Bluff
The Storm Prediction Center has 8 hail reports within 10 miles of Red Bluff since 1961, made on 7 separate days. Of these, 6 were 1 inch across or larger, and 2 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3 inches (tea cup size), fell on January 23, 2016. The most recent report is from August 10, 2019.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Red Bluff
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Red Bluff Municipal Airport, CA, 2 miles south of Red Bluff at 353 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 98°F and low of 66°F; December is the coolest, at 56°F and 38°F. January is the wettest at 4.7 inches of precipitation on average and July and August the driest at 0.1 inches; the year adds up to 23.2 inches over 42 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 104 days a year, almost all from April to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 19 nights a year. That 23.2 inches is more than at 161 of the 226 California stations used on this site (71%). Cottonwood, 13 miles north, has its own station (Redding Municipal Airport, CA): 33.5 inches a year, 10.3 more than here, and a July average high of 100°F against 98°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 57 | 38 | 4.7 | 7 |
| Feb | 61 | 41 | 4.2 | 7 |
| Mar | 66 | 44 | 2.9 | 6 |
| Apr | 72 | 47 | 1.6 | 3 |
| May | 82 | 55 | 1.3 | 3 |
| Jun | 91 | 62 | 0.4 | 1 |
| Jul | 98 | 66 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Aug | 96 | 64 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Sep | 91 | 59 | 0.2 | 1 |
| Oct | 79 | 51 | 1.0 | 2 |
| Nov | 64 | 43 | 2.5 | 5 |
| Dec | 56 | 38 | 4.2 | 8 |
| Year | 76 | 51 | 23.2 | 42 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Red Bluff Municipal Airport, CA (353 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 Red Bluff
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 37 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Red Bluff: 25 floods, 6 heavy rain events, 5 flash floods and 1 lightning strike. They killed 1 person and injured 0, and the NWS estimated $6.9 million in property and crop damage. December has had the most flash floods, 5 of 5. Of the 550 California cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 163 have had fewer than Red Bluff.
February 17, 2017: flood 9 miles from the centre of Red Bluff — 1 killed.
December 3, 2014: flash flood 3 miles from the centre of Red Bluff — $6.7 million damage.
NWS: “There was flooding and impacts along Highway 99 from numerous creeks overtopping their banks in addition to earthen berm or earthen levee failures.”
December 11, 2014: flood 1 mile from the centre of Red Bluff — $100,000 damage.
NWS: “Two apartment buildings suffered flooding as a creek behind the buildings over topped. Residents were forced to evacuate.”
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 Red Bluff's ZIP code 96080 have filed 213 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1983, and were paid $3.7 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1983: 79 claims (37% of all) and $466,000, then Pineapple Express - Southern in 1998 with 36. The year with the most claims was 2014, with 58. 55% 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, 371 have fewer than Red Bluff.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1983 | 79 | $466,000 |
| Pineapple Express - Southern1998 | 36 | $225,000 |
Tehama County, which includes Red Bluff, has been named in 25 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 17 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 floods, 5 fires, 5 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, on January 14, 2023. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Tehama County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for inland flooding; Relatively Low for lightning and heat waves; Very Low for tornadoes, hail and strong wind. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $69.0 million a year, the 41st highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $34.5 million (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 Red Bluff
- Gerber, CA11 mi
- Los Molinos, CA12 mi
- Cottonwood, CA13 mi
- Corning, CA18 mi
- Anderson, CA19 mi
- Palo Cedro, CA26 mi
- Redding, CA29 mi
- Orland, CA29 mi
- Shingletown, CA31 mi
- Hamilton City, CA33 mi
- Forest Ranch, CA35 mi
- Chico, CA36 mi
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