NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit San Marcos, 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 San Marcos, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 19 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 19
- 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 San Marcos
The highest rating among the 19 tornadoes within 25 miles is F1, reached 7 times; the most recent, on February 19, 2005, came within 24 miles. Of the 19, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 8 have come since 2000. February has had the most tornadoes, 7. The most recent tornado was on September 22, 2007. San Marcos has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 62% of the 705 California cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 2 times since 2006, with stones up to 1 inch (quarter size). Of the 705 California cities, 57% have more hail reports within 10 miles than San Marcos.
Compare San Marcos's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of San Marcos
By decade
- 2000s8
- 1990s5
- 1980s2
- 1970s3
- 1960s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 19, 2005 | F1 | 24 mi | 2.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 10, 2000 | F1 | 15 mi | 0.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 29, 1998 | F1 | 10 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 27, 1991 | F1 | 1 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 20, 1980 | F1 | 24 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 18, 1978 | F1 | 13 mi | 0.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 8, 1961 | F1 | 11 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Sep 22, 2007 | EF0 | 10 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 11, 2006 | F0 | 14 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 10, 2006 | F0 | 10 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 19, 2005 | F0 | 20 mi | 2.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 19, 2005 | F0 | 16 mi | 2.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 19, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in San Marcos
The Storm Prediction Center has 2 hail reports within 10 miles of San Marcos since 2006. All were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest size, 1 inch (quarter size), was reported on 2 days, most recently March 11, 2006. The most recent report is from March 11, 2006.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in San Marcos
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Escondido #2, CA, 4 miles east of San Marcos at 600 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 89°F and low of 65°F; December is the coolest, at 68°F and 44°F. Highs reach 90°F on about 54 days a year, almost all from April to November. Lows fall below freezing on about 2 nights a year. That 14.7 inches is more than at 101 of the 226 California stations used on this site (45%). Oceanside, 3 miles northwest, has its own station (Vista, CA): 13.5 inches a year, 1.2 less than here, and an August average high of 81°F against 89°F.
Water temperature at the NOAA tide station La Jolla, CA, 19 miles south, averaged 68°F in August and 58°F in January and February over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the La Jolla tide gauge, 19 miles from San Marcos, has risen 0.80 ± 0.04 inches per decade from 1924 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 8.0 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 39 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Water °F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 69 | 45 | 3.2 | 5 | 58 |
| Feb | 69 | 46 | 3.6 | 5 | 58 |
| Mar | 71 | 49 | 2.2 | 4 | 59 |
| Apr | 74 | 52 | 1.0 | 2 | 60 |
| May | 77 | 56 | 0.4 | 1 | 64 |
| Jun | 82 | 60 | 0.1 | 0 | 65 |
| Jul | 87 | 64 | 0.1 | 0 | 67 |
| Aug | 89 | 65 | 0.1 | 0 | 68 |
| Sep | 87 | 63 | 0.2 | 0 | 67 |
| Oct | 81 | 57 | 0.6 | 1 | 65 |
| Nov | 75 | 49 | 1.1 | 3 | 63 |
| Dec | 68 | 44 | 2.1 | 4 | 60 |
| Year | 77 | 54 | 14.7 | 26 | 63 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Escondido #2, CA (600 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station La Jolla, CA, 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 San Marcos
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 61 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of San Marcos: 32 floods, 10 thunderstorm wind reports, 9 flash floods, 7 heavy rain events and 3 lightning strikes. They killed 0 people and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $246,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 64 mph, on January 20, 2017. January has had the most flash floods, 4 of 9. Of the 550 California cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 263 have had fewer than San Marcos.
June 3, 2009: lightning strike 3 miles from the centre of San Marcos — 2 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
Flood insurance policyholders in San Marcos's 2 ZIP codes have filed 42 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $357,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 33% 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, 214 have fewer than San Marcos.
San Diego County, which includes San Marcos, has been named in 51 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 27 of them major disasters (by incident: 28 fires, 12 floods, 5 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storm and Flooding, on February 19, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives San Diego County a Very High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for inland flooding; Relatively High for heat waves; Relatively Moderate for hail, coastal flooding, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Low for tornadoes; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $1.54 billion a year, the 7th highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $647.6 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.