NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Sandpoint, ID
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 Sandpoint, Idaho since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 4 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 4
- 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 Sandpoint
The strongest of the 4 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F2 on April 9, 1991; its path came within 20 miles. The most recent tornado was on June 25, 2004. Of the 90 Idaho cities on this site, 72% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Sandpoint. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 8 times since 1983, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Of the 90 Idaho cities, 57% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Sandpoint.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Sandpoint
By decade
- 2000s1
- 1990s2
- 1970s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 9, 1991 | F2 | 20 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 29, 1994 | F1 | 17 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 19, 1978 | F1 | 5 mi | 1.9 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jun 25, 2004 | F0 | 14 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 4 of 4, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Sandpoint
The Storm Prediction Center has 8 hail reports within 10 miles of Sandpoint since 1983, made on 7 separate days. Of these, 5 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest, 1.75 inches (golf ball size), fell on July 24, 1983. The most recent report is from September 25, 2024.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Sandpoint
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Sandpoint Exp Stn, ID, 5 miles south of Sandpoint at 2,126 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 82°F and low of 52°F; December is the coolest, at 34°F and 23°F. November is the wettest at 4.7 inches of precipitation on average and August the driest at 0.8 inches; the year adds up to 34.0 inches over 82 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 14 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 156 nights a year. Snowfall averages 62.0 inches a year, most of it in January. That 34.0 inches is more than at 62 of the 66 Idaho stations used on this site (94%). Priest River, 17 miles west, has its own station (Priest Rvr Exp Stn, ID): 32.7 inches a year, 1.3 less than here, and a July average high of 83°F against 82°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 34 | 23 | 4.3 | 11 | 20.9 |
| Feb | 38 | 24 | 2.9 | 7 | 8.4 |
| Mar | 46 | 29 | 3.6 | 8 | 6.5 |
| Apr | 56 | 35 | 2.4 | 7 | 0.5 |
| May | 66 | 42 | 2.7 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 72 | 48 | 2.4 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 82 | 52 | 1.2 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 82 | 50 | 0.8 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 72 | 42 | 1.4 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 56 | 34 | 3.0 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 42 | 29 | 4.7 | 10 | 6.4 |
| Dec | 34 | 23 | 4.6 | 11 | 19.3 |
| Year | 57 | 36 | 34.0 | 82 | 62.0 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Sandpoint Exp Stn, ID (2,126 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 Sandpoint
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 21 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Sandpoint: 12 thunderstorm wind reports, 8 floods and 1 heavy rain event. They killed 1 person and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $687,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 69 mph, on May 31, 1997.
September 25, 2024: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Sandpoint — 1 killed, $10,000 damage.
June 29, 2007: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Sandpoint — 1 injured, $220,000 damage.
March 15, 2012: flood 6 miles from the centre of Sandpoint — $200,000 damage.
NWS: “There were numerous reports of water over roadways and washouts. Road closures included the south end of Sagle Road, Talache Road at Camp Stidwell, Blacktail Road near Little Blacktail Mountain Road, Cocolalla Loop Road near address 3900 and Sportsmans Access Road.”
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 Sandpoint's ZIP code 83864 have filed 21 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1982, and were paid $87,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 10% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 19 Idaho cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 11 have fewer than Sandpoint.
Bonner County, which includes Sandpoint, has been named in 18 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1967, 14 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 severe storms, 3 fires, 3 floods, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, on June 30, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Bonner County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for inland flooding; Relatively Low for strong wind, lightning and heat waves; Very Low for tornadoes and hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $35.4 million a year, the 5th highest of 44 Idaho counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $27.7 million (78%), 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 Sandpoint
- Sagle, ID11 mi
- Priest River, ID17 mi
- Oldtown, ID26 mi
- Bonners Ferry, ID29 mi
- Athol, ID29 mi
- Spirit Lake, ID30 mi
- Newport, WA32 mi
- Elk, WA39 mi
- Rathdrum, ID40 mi
- Hayden, ID42 mi
- Chattaroy, WA46 mi
- Coeur D Alene, ID47 mi
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