NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Rhododendron, 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 Rhododendron, Oregon since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 4 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 4
- 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 Rhododendron
The strongest of the 4 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F1 on April 12, 1957; its path came within 17 miles. The most recent tornado was on October 22, 2022. Of the 149 Oregon cities on this site, 76% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Rhododendron. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 4 times since 2003, with stones up to 1.5 inches (ping pong ball size). Rhododendron has more hail reports within 10 miles than 63% of the 149 Oregon cities.
Compare Rhododendron's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Rhododendron
By decade
- 2020s2
- 1960s1
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 12, 1957 | F1 | 17 mi | 2.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 22, 2022 | EF0 | 10 mi | 0.87 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 13, 2020 | EF0 | 25 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 13, 1968 | F0 | 9 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 4 of 4, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Rhododendron
The Storm Prediction Center has 4 hail reports within 10 miles of Rhododendron since 2003. Of these, 2 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest, 1.5 inches (ping pong ball size), fell on August 10, 2013. The most recent report is from April 20, 2016.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Rhododendron
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Government Camp, OR, 10 miles southeast of Rhododendron at 3,980 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 70°F and low of 48°F; December is the coolest, at 35°F and 26°F. December is the wettest at 14.4 inches of precipitation on average and July the driest at 0.9 inches; the year adds up to 89.8 inches over 139 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 1 days a year. Lows fall below freezing on about 170 nights a year. Snowfall averages 232.5 inches a year, most of it in December. That 89.8 inches is more than at 72 of the 77 Oregon stations used on this site (94%). Sandy, 14 miles west, has its own station (Headworks Portland Wtr B, OR): 79.1 inches a year, 10.7 less than here, and an August average high of 78°F against 70°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 37 | 26 | 12.6 | 17 | 48.8 |
| Feb | 38 | 26 | 9.6 | 15 | 39.5 |
| Mar | 41 | 28 | 9.4 | 17 | 35.6 |
| Apr | 45 | 31 | 7.8 | 16 | 17.6 |
| May | 54 | 36 | 5.8 | 11 | 4.2 |
| Jun | 59 | 41 | 4.0 | 8 | 0.6 |
| Jul | 69 | 48 | 0.9 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 70 | 48 | 1.1 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 64 | 45 | 3.1 | 6 | 0.2 |
| Oct | 53 | 37 | 8.4 | 11 | 3.8 |
| Nov | 42 | 30 | 12.7 | 16 | 30.6 |
| Dec | 35 | 26 | 14.4 | 18 | 51.6 |
| Year | 51 | 35 | 89.8 | 139 | 232.5 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Government Camp, OR (3,980 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 Rhododendron
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 5 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Rhododendron: 2 floods, 1 flash flood, 1 heavy rain event and 1 thunderstorm wind report. They killed 1 person and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $9.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 63 mph, on May 18, 2005.
August 12, 2014: flash flood 3 miles from the centre of Rhododendron — 1 killed, 1 injured.
January 16, 2011: flood 8 miles from the centre of Rhododendron — $9.0 million damage.
NWS: “Oregon Department of Transportation reported approximately nine million dollars in damage to roads during the January 15 - 16 winter storm. The heaviest damages to roads were in the Welches, Zigzag, and Lolo Pass area of Clackamas County.”
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 Rhododendron's ZIP code 97049 have filed 25 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1995, and were paid $1.4 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 2006, with 10. 12% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 77 Oregon cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 35 have fewer than Rhododendron.
Clackamas County, which includes Rhododendron, has been named in 23 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 15 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 severe storms, 7 fires, 4 floods, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, on April 7, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Clackamas County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for inland flooding, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Moderate for heat waves; Relatively Low for tornadoes; Very Low for hail and coastal flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $219.1 million a year, the 4th highest of 36 Oregon counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $76.6 million (35%), 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 Rhododendron
- Welches, OR3 mi
- Sandy, OR14 mi
- Corbett, OR18 mi
- Parkdale, OR19 mi
- Estacada, OR19 mi
- Eagle Creek, OR20 mi
- Stevenson, WA21 mi
- Boring, OR22 mi
- Washougal, WA23 mi
- Troutdale, OR25 mi
- Gresham, OR25 mi
- Damascus, OR26 mi
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