NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Redding, 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 Redding, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 2 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 2
- 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 Redding
The strongest of the 2 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F0 on March 5, 1978; its path came within 20 miles. The most recent tornado was on January 3, 2025. Of the 705 California cities on this site, 91% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Redding. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 10 times since 1994, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Redding has more hail reports within 10 miles than 88% of the 705 California cities.
Compare Redding's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Redding
By decade
- 2020s1
- 1970s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 5, 1978 | F0 | 20 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 3, 2025 | Unrated | 22 mi | 0.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 2 of 2, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Redding
The Storm Prediction Center has 10 hail reports within 10 miles of Redding since 1994, made on 3 separate days. Of these, 9 were 1 inch across or larger, and 2 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3 inches (tea cup size), fell on May 24, 2019, the most recent report. May has the most reports, 6.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Redding
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Redding Municipal Airport, CA, 6 miles southeast of Redding at 497 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 100°F and low of 67°F; December is the coolest, at 56°F and 37°F. December is the wettest at 6.3 inches of precipitation on average and July and August the driest at 0.1 inches; the year adds up to 33.5 inches over 54 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 106 days a year, almost all from April to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 27 nights a year. Snowfall averages 2.6 inches a year, most of it in January. That 33.5 inches is more than at 188 of the 226 California stations used on this site (83%). Shingletown, 28 miles east, has its own station (Mineral, CA): 50.2 inches a year, 16.7 more than here, and a July average high of 83°F against 100°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 57 | 38 | 6.0 | 9 | 1.1 |
| Feb | 61 | 40 | 5.5 | 8 | 0.8 |
| Mar | 66 | 43 | 4.6 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Apr | 72 | 47 | 2.4 | 5 | 0.0 |
| May | 82 | 54 | 1.8 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 92 | 62 | 0.8 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 100 | 67 | 0.1 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 98 | 64 | 0.1 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 92 | 58 | 0.5 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 79 | 50 | 1.9 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 64 | 42 | 3.5 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Dec | 56 | 37 | 6.3 | 9 | 0.7 |
| Year | 77 | 50 | 33.5 | 54 | 2.6 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Redding Municipal Airport, CA (497 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 Redding
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 66 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Redding: 35 floods, 16 heavy rain events, 10 flash floods, 3 thunderstorm wind reports and 2 lightning strikes. They killed 2 people and injured 0, and the NWS estimated $7.3 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 58 mph, on May 24, 2019. March has had the most flash floods, 5 of 10. Of the 550 California cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 285 have had fewer than Redding.
December 21, 2025: flash flood 3 miles from the centre of Redding — 1 killed, $7.0 million damage.
NWS: “A Convergence Zone set up over Redding/Shasta County around 1 PM on Sunday, December 21. Heavy rain fell until around 7 PM, where there was a lull before another line redeveloped and brought additional moderate to heavy rain into the late evening.”
March 16, 2009: heavy rain event 2 miles from the centre of Redding — 1 killed.
NWS: “Local law enforcement reported one fatality and numerous accidents in the Redding area due to heavy rain and local flooding. 46 inches were reported by COCORAHS observers.”
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 Redding's 3 ZIP codes have filed 135 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $3.1 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1997: 25 claims (19% of all) and $145,000. The year with the most claims was 2025, with 20. 21% 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, 345 have fewer than Redding.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1997 | 25 | $145,000 |
Shasta County, which includes Redding, has been named in 41 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 20 of them major disasters (by incident: 22 fires, 7 floods, 7 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, on April 3, 2023. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Shasta County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for inland flooding; Relatively Moderate 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 $135.5 million a year, the 32nd highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $71.7 million (53%), 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 Redding
- Palo Cedro, CA7 mi
- Anderson, CA10 mi
- Cottonwood, CA16 mi
- Shingletown, CA28 mi
- Red Bluff, CA29 mi
- Gerber, CA39 mi
- Los Molinos, CA40 mi
- Corning, CA47 mi
- Forest Ranch, CA55 mi
- Orland, CA58 mi
- Hamilton City, CA61 mi
- Magalia, CA63 mi
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