NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Saint Helens, 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 Saint Helens, Oregon since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 26 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 1 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 26
- EF3 or stronger
- 1
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
6 deaths in all
What the records show for Saint Helens
The strongest of the 26 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F3 on April 5, 1972; its path came within 21 miles, and it killed 6 people. Of the 26, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 18 have come since 2000. October has had the most tornadoes, 6. The most recent tornado was on October 28, 2024. Saint Helens has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 92% of the 149 Oregon cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles once, in 1991, with stones of 1 inch (quarter size). Of the 149 Oregon cities, 57% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Saint Helens.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Saint Helens
By decade
- 2020s4
- 2010s8
- 2000s6
- 1990s2
- 1980s3
- 1970s2(1 EF3+)
- 1960s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 5, 1972 | F3 | 21 mi | 8.7 mi | 6 / 300 |
| Dec 10, 2015 | EF1 | 16 mi | 0.82 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 23, 2014 | EF1 | 19 mi | 1.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 10, 2008 | EF1 | 15 mi | 10.11 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 29, 1989 | F1 | 9 mi | 1.6 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Mar 28, 1985 | F1 | 22 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 13, 1984 | F1 | 6 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 16, 1978 | F1 | 6 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 28, 2024 | EF0 | 20 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 11, 2023 | EF0 | 8 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 27, 2021 | EF0 | 13 mi | 3.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 10, 2020 | EF0 | in town | 1.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 26, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Saint Helens
The Storm Prediction Center has one hail report within 10 miles of Saint Helens, from July 31, 1991: 1 inch (quarter size).
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Saint Helens
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Scappoose Ind Airport, OR, 6 miles south of Saint Helens at 55 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 82°F and low of 54°F; December is the coolest, at 46°F and 34°F. December is the wettest at 7.3 inches of precipitation on average and July and August the driest at 0.5 inches; the year adds up to 42.4 inches over 96 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 14 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 61 nights a year. That 42.4 inches is more than at 38 of the 77 Oregon stations used on this site (49%). Kalama, WA, 11 miles north, has its own station (Longview, WA): 48.0 inches a year, 5.6 more than here, and an August average high of 80°F against 82°F.
Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Longview, WA, 18 miles north, averaged 72°F in August and 42°F in February over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Water °F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 47 | 34 | 6.5 | 13 | 43 |
| Feb | 51 | 34 | 4.6 | 11 | 42 |
| Mar | 56 | 37 | 4.5 | 12 | 45 |
| Apr | 61 | 40 | 3.1 | 9 | 50 |
| May | 68 | 46 | 2.5 | 7 | 56 |
| Jun | 73 | 51 | 1.4 | 5 | 62 |
| Jul | 81 | 55 | 0.5 | 1 | 70 |
| Aug | 82 | 54 | 0.5 | 2 | 72 |
| Sep | 76 | 50 | 1.6 | 4 | 68 |
| Oct | 64 | 43 | 3.6 | 8 | 62 |
| Nov | 53 | 37 | 6.3 | 12 | 52 |
| Dec | 46 | 34 | 7.3 | 14 | 46 |
| Year | 63 | 43 | 42.4 | 96 | 55 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Scappoose Ind Airport, OR (55 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Longview, WA, from NOAA Tides & Currents. 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 Saint Helens
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 12 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Saint Helens: 7 thunderstorm wind reports, 3 floods and 2 heavy rain events. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $2,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 69 mph, on April 22, 2005.
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 Saint Helens's ZIP code 97051 have filed 30 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1995, and were paid $222,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 1996, with 11. 43% 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, 37 have fewer than Saint Helens.
Columbia County, which includes Saint Helens, has been named in 17 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 15 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 severe storms, 4 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 1 coastal storm). The latest major disaster declaration was Wildfires and Straight-Line Winds, on September 15, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Columbia County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for heat waves; Relatively Low for inland flooding, coastal flooding and strong wind; Very Low for tornadoes, hail and lightning. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $33.9 million a year, the 20th highest of 36 Oregon counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $14.1 million (42%), 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 Saint Helens
- Warren, OR3 mi
- Scappoose, OR7 mi
- Woodland, WA8 mi
- Ridgefield, WA9 mi
- Kalama, WA11 mi
- La Center, WA11 mi
- Rainier, OR14 mi
- North Plains, OR17 mi
- Battle Ground, WA17 mi
- Vernonia, OR17 mi
- Vancouver, WA19 mi
- Brush Prairie, WA20 mi
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