NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Rio Linda, 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 Rio Linda, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 25 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 25
- 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 Rio Linda
The strongest of the 25 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F2 on February 7, 1978; its path passed within a mile of the city centre. Of the 25, 4 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 17 have come since 2000. February has had the most tornadoes, 7. The most recent tornado was on November 18, 2020. Rio Linda has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 75% of the 705 California cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 6 times since 2005, with stones up to 0.88 inches (nickel size). Rio Linda has more hail reports within 10 miles than 69% of the 705 California cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Rio Linda
By decade
- 2020s1
- 2010s10
- 2000s6
- 1990s2
- 1980s4
- 1970s2
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 7, 1978 | F2 | in town | 1.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 24, 2015 | EF1 | 18 mi | 6.21 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 22, 2012 | EF1 | 21 mi | 1.02 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 19, 1988 | F1 | 15 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 22, 1983 | F1 | 6 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 18, 2020 | EF0 | 25 mi | 4.39 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 28, 2019 | EF0 | 18 mi | 1.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 21, 2018 | EF0 | 24 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 11, 2017 | EF0 | 4 mi | 0.42 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 9, 2017 | EF0 | 13 mi | 0.18 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 26, 2014 | EF0 | 5 mi | 4.02 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 26, 2014 | EF0 | 9 mi | 0.63 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 25, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Rio Linda
The Storm Prediction Center has 6 hail reports within 10 miles of Rio Linda since 2005, made on 5 separate days. None of them reached 1 inch. The largest, 0.88 inches (nickel size), fell on March 20, 2019, the most recent report.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Rio Linda
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Sacramento Metro Airport, CA, 8 miles west of Rio Linda at 23 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 94°F and low of 59°F; December is the coolest, at 55°F and 37°F. January is the wettest at 3.7 inches of precipitation on average and July the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 17.9 inches over 36 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 84 days a year, almost all from April to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 23 nights a year. That 17.9 inches is more than at 127 of the 226 California stations used on this site (56%). North Highlands, 4 miles east, has its own station (Sacramento 5 ESE, CA): 19.2 inches a year, 1.3 more than here, and the same July average high, 94°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 55 | 38 | 3.7 | 6 |
| Feb | 60 | 40 | 3.5 | 7 |
| Mar | 66 | 43 | 2.6 | 6 |
| Apr | 72 | 46 | 1.2 | 3 |
| May | 81 | 52 | 0.6 | 2 |
| Jun | 89 | 56 | 0.2 | 1 |
| Jul | 94 | 59 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Aug | 92 | 58 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Sep | 89 | 55 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Oct | 79 | 48 | 0.8 | 2 |
| Nov | 64 | 41 | 1.8 | 4 |
| Dec | 55 | 37 | 3.3 | 7 |
| Year | 75 | 48 | 17.9 | 36 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Sacramento Metro Airport, CA (23 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 Rio Linda
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 102 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Rio Linda: 94 floods, 4 heavy rain events and 4 thunderstorm wind reports. They killed 1 person and injured 0, and the NWS estimated $97,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on September 2, 2025.
November 14, 2025: flood 9 miles from the centre of Rio Linda — 1 killed.
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 Rio Linda's ZIP code 95673 have filed 278 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $4.8 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1995: 150 claims (54% of all) and $3.1 million, then Pineapple Express - Southern in 1998 with 23. 63% 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, 384 have fewer than Rio Linda.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1995 | 150 | $3.1 million |
| Pineapple Express - Southern1998 | 23 | $202,000 |
Sacramento County, which includes Rio Linda, has been named in 23 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 17 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 floods, 7 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 coastal storms). 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 Sacramento County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for inland flooding; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Low for hail; Very Low for strong wind. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $352.4 million a year, the 18th highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $215.7 million (61%), 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 Rio Linda
- Elverta, CA3 mi
- North Highlands, CA4 mi
- Antelope, CA5 mi
- Carmichael, CA8 mi
- Sacramento, CA9 mi
- Citrus Heights, CA9 mi
- Roseville, CA9 mi
- West Sacramento, CA9 mi
- Fair Oaks, CA10 mi
- Rancho Cordova, CA12 mi
- Orangevale, CA12 mi
- Mather, CA13 mi
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