NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Rialto, 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 Rialto, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 14 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 14
- 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 Rialto
The strongest of the 14 tornadoes within 25 miles was an EF2 on May 22, 2008; its path came within 18 miles. Of the 14, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 7 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 4. The most recent tornado was on September 9, 2012. Rialto has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 50% of the 705 California cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles once, in 2005, with stones of 0.75 inches (penny size). Of the 705 California cities, 72% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Rialto.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Rialto
By decade
- 2010s1
- 2000s6
- 1990s3
- 1980s1
- 1970s1
- 1960s1
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 22, 2008 | EF2 | 18 mi | 2.8 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Nov 25, 1965 | F1 | 22 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 9, 2012 | EF0 | 25 mi | 0.01 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 22, 2008 | EF0 | 22 mi | 0.36 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 22, 2008 | EF0 | 18 mi | 0.96 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 22, 2008 | EF0 | 21 mi | 0.89 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 4, 2005 | F0 | 3 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 14, 2004 | F0 | 24 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 6, 1997 | F0 | 21 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 20, 1991 | F0 | 4 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 20, 1991 | F0 | 12 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 20, 1982 | F0 | 12 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 14, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Rialto
The Storm Prediction Center has one hail report within 10 miles of Rialto, from August 15, 2005: 0.75 inches (penny size).
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Rialto
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Riverside Citrus Exp, CA, 11 miles south of Rialto at 986 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 97°F and low of 64°F; December is the coolest, at 69°F and 43°F. February is the wettest at 2.5 inches of precipitation on average and July and August the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 9.9 inches over 21 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 103 days a year, almost all from March to November. Lows fall below freezing on about 2 nights a year. That 9.9 inches is more than at 41 of the 226 California stations used on this site (18%). Chino, 3 miles north, has its own station (Lake Arrowhead, CA): 38.0 inches a year, 28.1 more than here, and an August average high of 82°F against 97°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 70 | 44 | 2.1 | 5 |
| Feb | 70 | 45 | 2.5 | 5 |
| Mar | 72 | 47 | 1.5 | 4 |
| Apr | 75 | 50 | 0.6 | 2 |
| May | 80 | 55 | 0.3 | 1 |
| Jun | 87 | 58 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Jul | 94 | 63 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Aug | 97 | 64 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Sep | 93 | 61 | 0.2 | 0 |
| Oct | 82 | 55 | 0.4 | 1 |
| Nov | 76 | 47 | 0.7 | 1 |
| Dec | 69 | 43 | 1.5 | 3 |
| Year | 80 | 53 | 9.9 | 21 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Riverside Citrus Exp, CA (986 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 Rialto
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 87 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Rialto: 31 floods, 25 flash floods, 23 heavy rain events, 5 lightning strikes and 3 thunderstorm wind reports. They killed 1 person and injured 8, and the NWS estimated $879,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 70 mph, on August 29, 2013. January has had the most flash floods, 10 of 25. Of the 550 California cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 484 have had fewer than Rialto.
June 3, 2009: lightning strike 4 miles from the centre of Rialto — 1 killed, 6 injured, $1,000 damage.
October 1, 2010: lightning strike 3 miles from the centre of Rialto — 1 injured.
November 21, 2013: flash flood 6 miles from the centre of Rialto — 1 injured.
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
San Bernardino County, which includes Rialto, has been named in 61 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 30 of them major disasters (by incident: 33 fires, 13 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 San Bernardino County a Very High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for inland flooding; Relatively High for strong wind, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes and hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $2.08 billion a year, the 3rd highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $959.6 million (46%), 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 Rialto
- Chino, CA3 mi
- Bloomington, CA4 mi
- San Bernardino, CA5 mi
- Fontana, CA5 mi
- Colton, CA5 mi
- Grand Terrace, CA7 mi
- Loma Linda, CA9 mi
- Crestline, CA10 mi
- Highland, CA10 mi
- Rancho Cucamonga, CA11 mi
- Riverside, CA12 mi
- Redlands, CA13 mi
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