NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit San Ysidro, 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 Ysidro, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 9 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 9
- 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 Ysidro
The highest rating among the 9 tornadoes within 25 miles is F1, reached 3 times; the most recent, on March 19, 1991, came within 14 miles. Of the 9, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and one has come since 2000. The most recent tornado was on February 23, 2005. Of the 705 California cities on this site, 63% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than San Ysidro. Hail has been reported within 10 miles once, in 2022, with stones of 0.5 inches (marble size). Of the 705 California cities, 72% have more hail reports within 10 miles than San Ysidro.
Compare San Ysidro's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of San Ysidro
By decade
- 2000s1
- 1990s2
- 1980s3
- 1970s2
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 19, 1991 | F1 | 14 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 20, 1980 | F1 | 18 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 13, 1956 | F1 | 5 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Feb 23, 2005 | F0 | 5 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 14, 1990 | F0 | 14 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 4, 1985 | F0 | 17 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 17, 1982 | F0 | 14 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 18, 1979 | F0 | 17 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 23, 1971 | F0 | 4 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 9 of 9, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in San Ysidro
The Storm Prediction Center has one hail report within 10 miles of San Ysidro, from December 12, 2022: 0.5 inches (marble size).
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in San Ysidro
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is San Diego Brown Field, CA, 4 miles east of San Ysidro at 515 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 81°F and low of 63°F; December is the coolest, at 67°F and 44°F. February is the wettest at 2.4 inches of precipitation on average and July and August the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 10.1 inches over 20 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 12 days a year, almost all from August to November. Lows fall below freezing on about 1 nights a year. That 10.1 inches is more than at 44 of the 226 California stations used on this site (19%). Imperial Beach, 4 miles northwest, has its own station (Chula Vista, CA): 9.4 inches a year, 0.7 less than here, and an August average high of 77°F against 81°F.
Water temperature at the NOAA tide station San Diego, CA, 13 miles northwest, averaged 72°F in August and 59°F in January over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the San Diego tide gauge, 13 miles from San Ysidro, has risen 0.88 ± 0.03 inches per decade from 1906 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 8.8 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 51 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Water °F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 67 | 44 | 1.8 | 3 | 59 |
| Feb | 66 | 45 | 2.4 | 4 | 60 |
| Mar | 68 | 47 | 1.5 | 3 | 61 |
| Apr | 70 | 50 | 0.8 | 2 | 63 |
| May | 71 | 54 | 0.3 | 1 | 66 |
| Jun | 74 | 58 | 0.1 | 0 | 69 |
| Jul | 78 | 62 | 0.0 | 0 | 71 |
| Aug | 81 | 63 | 0.0 | 0 | 72 |
| Sep | 80 | 61 | 0.2 | 0 | 72 |
| Oct | 77 | 55 | 0.4 | 1 | 68 |
| Nov | 72 | 49 | 0.8 | 2 | 65 |
| Dec | 67 | 44 | 1.8 | 3 | 61 |
| Year | 73 | 53 | 10.1 | 20 | 65 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at San Diego Brown Field, CA (515 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station San Diego, 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 Ysidro
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 40 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of San Ysidro: 21 floods, 8 thunderstorm wind reports, 7 flash floods and 4 heavy rain events. They killed 2 people and injured 12, and the NWS estimated $2.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 70 mph, on December 20, 2007. January has had the most flash floods, 3 of 7. Of the 550 California cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 226 have had fewer than San Ysidro.
January 29, 2021: flash flood 2 miles from the centre of San Ysidro — 1 killed, 8 injured.
NWS: “S. Border Patrol report 8 people trapped in a flooding storm drain between Otay Mesa and San Ysidro.”
February 6, 2024: flood 1 mile from the centre of San Ysidro — 1 killed.
NWS: “A 61 year old man drowned in the Tijuana River Channel on February 6 while attempting to cross the international border, following heavy rain in San Diego. San Diego Fire-Rescue swift water crews pulled the body from the river and despite attempted lifesaving measures, the man was pronounced dead at the scene.”
December 17, 2008: flash flood 1 mile from the centre of San Ysidro — 3 injured, $860,000 damage.
NWS: “Significant flooding in the Tijuana River Valley resulted in the deaths of a Tijuana man and numerous ranch and farm animals. At least 21 people had to be rescued, including 6 by helicopter.”
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 Diego County, which includes San Ysidro, 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.
Cities near San Ysidro
- Imperial Beach, CA4 mi
- Chula Vista, CA5 mi
- Bonita, CA8 mi
- National City, CA8 mi
- Coronado, CA11 mi
- Spring Valley, CA12 mi
- Lemon Grove, CA12 mi
- La Mesa, CA15 mi
- Jamul, CA17 mi
- San Diego, CA17 mi
- El Cajon, CA19 mi
- Santee, CA20 mi
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