NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Ridgecrest, 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 Ridgecrest, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 3 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 3
- 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 Ridgecrest
The highest rating among the 3 tornadoes within 25 miles is F0 or EF0, reached 3 times; the most recent, on April 16, 2019, came within 2 miles. Of the 705 California cities on this site, 87% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Ridgecrest. Hail has been reported within 10 miles once, in 2005, with stones of 0.88 inches (nickel size). Of the 705 California cities, 72% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Ridgecrest.
Compare Ridgecrest's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Ridgecrest
By decade
- 2010s1
- 1990s2
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 16, 2019 | EF0 | 2 mi | 1.59 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 26, 1991 | F0 | 2 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 25, 1991 | F0 | 6 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 3 of 3, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Ridgecrest
The Storm Prediction Center has one hail report within 10 miles of Ridgecrest, from August 15, 2005: 0.88 inches (nickel size).
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Ridgecrest
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Inyokern, CA, 9 miles northwest of Ridgecrest at 2,430 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 102°F and low of 68°F; December is the coolest, at 59°F and 32°F. February is the wettest at 1.2 inches of precipitation on average and May the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 4.2 inches over 11 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 137 days a year, almost all from April to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 58 nights a year. Snowfall averages 0.5 inches a year, most of it in January. That 4.2 inches is more than at 10 of the 226 California stations used on this site (4%). California City, 34 miles southwest, has its own station (Mojave, CA): 5.7 inches a year, 1.5 more than here, and a July average high of 97°F against 102°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 60 | 33 | 0.8 | 2 | 0.3 |
| Feb | 65 | 36 | 1.2 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Mar | 72 | 42 | 0.5 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Apr | 77 | 47 | 0.1 | 0 | 0.0 |
| May | 86 | 54 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 96 | 63 | 0.1 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 102 | 68 | 0.2 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 101 | 67 | 0.1 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 94 | 60 | 0.2 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 83 | 50 | 0.1 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 68 | 39 | 0.2 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Dec | 59 | 32 | 0.7 | 1 | 0.2 |
| Year | 80 | 49 | 4.2 | 11 | 0.5 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Inyokern, CA (2,430 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 Ridgecrest
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 20 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Ridgecrest: 8 flash floods, 4 thunderstorm wind reports, 3 floods, 3 lightning strikes and 2 heavy rain events. They killed 0 people and injured 3, and the NWS estimated $124,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 75 mph, on July 2, 2013. Of the 550 California cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 247 have had fewer than Ridgecrest.
September 10, 2011: lightning strike 2 miles from the centre of Ridgecrest — 1 injured.
NWS: “A resident of Ridgecrest was struck by lightning and injured.”
September 10, 2011: lightning strike 2 miles from the centre of Ridgecrest — 1 injured.
NWS: “Another resident of Ridgecrest was injured by a lightning strike from a thunderstorm.”
June 22, 2022: lightning strike 2 miles from the centre of Ridgecrest — 1 injured.
NWS: “A Bakersfield television station reported that a man in Ridgecrest was hospitalized due to lightning injuries sustained while walking his dog and pushing his child in a stroller.”
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 Ridgecrest's ZIP code 93555 have filed 29 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1983, and were paid $191,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 1984, with 25. 7% 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, 142 have fewer than Ridgecrest.
Kern County, which includes Ridgecrest, has been named in 40 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1967, 19 of them major disasters (by incident: 17 fires, 7 floods, 6 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Tropical Storm Hilary, on November 21, 2023. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Kern County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for inland flooding, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Low for hail and strong wind; Very Low for tornadoes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $417.0 million a year, the 16th highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $147.2 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 Ridgecrest
- California City, CA34 mi
- Boron, CA39 mi
- Edwards, CA40 mi
- Lake Isabella, CA43 mi
- Bodfish, CA44 mi
- Mojave, CA47 mi
- Tehachapi, CA58 mi
- Barstow, CA61 mi
- Helendale, CA61 mi
- Rosamond, CA61 mi
- Adelanto, CA67 mi
- Lancaster, CA67 mi
All California cities →All hurricanes since 1851 →Compare Ridgecrest with another place →