NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Sandy, 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 Sandy, Oregon since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 12 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 1 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 12
- 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 Sandy
The strongest of the 12 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F3 on April 5, 1972; its path came within 21 miles, and it killed 6 people. Of the 12, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 5 have come since 2000. October has had the most tornadoes, 6. The most recent tornado was on October 22, 2022. Sandy has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 55% of the 149 Oregon cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 4 times since 1999, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Sandy has more hail reports within 10 miles than 63% of the 149 Oregon cities.
Compare Sandy's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Sandy
By decade
- 2020s2
- 2010s1
- 2000s2
- 1990s3
- 1980s1
- 1970s1(1 EF3+)
- 1960s1
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 5, 1972 | F3 | 21 mi | 8.7 mi | 6 / 300 |
| Oct 9, 2000 | F1 | 18 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 12, 1991 | F1 | 15 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 12, 1957 | F1 | 3 mi | 2.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 22, 2022 | EF0 | 3 mi | 0.87 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 13, 2020 | EF0 | 11 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 1, 2019 | EF0 | 23 mi | 1.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 26, 2009 | EF0 | 15 mi | 0.35 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 3, 1998 | F0 | 25 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 9, 1991 | F0 | 14 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 26, 1984 | F0 | 22 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 13, 1968 | F0 | 11 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 12, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Sandy
The Storm Prediction Center has 4 hail reports within 10 miles of Sandy since 1999. Of these, one was 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest, 1.75 inches (golf ball size), fell on August 4, 1999. The most recent report is from April 14, 2022.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Sandy
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Headworks Portland Wtr B, OR, 6 miles northeast of Sandy at 748 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 78°F and low of 54°F; December is the coolest, at 43°F and 35°F. December is the wettest at 11.7 inches of precipitation on average and July the driest at 1.0 inches; the year adds up to 79.1 inches over 139 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 10 days a year, almost all from July to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 32 nights a year. Snowfall averages 2.9 inches a year, most of it in February. That 79.1 inches is more than at 69 of the 77 Oregon stations used on this site (90%). Eagle Creek, 6 miles west, has its own station (Estacada 2 SE, OR): 57.9 inches a year, 21.2 less than here, and an August average high of 83°F against 78°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 44 | 35 | 10.3 | 17 | 0.7 |
| Feb | 47 | 36 | 8.0 | 14 | 1.2 |
| Mar | 52 | 37 | 8.5 | 16 | 0.2 |
| Apr | 57 | 41 | 7.3 | 15 | 0.0 |
| May | 64 | 46 | 5.7 | 11 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 69 | 50 | 4.0 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 77 | 54 | 1.0 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 78 | 54 | 1.2 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 72 | 51 | 3.4 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 60 | 45 | 7.4 | 12 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 49 | 40 | 10.6 | 16 | 0.2 |
| Dec | 43 | 35 | 11.7 | 18 | 0.6 |
| Year | 59 | 44 | 79.1 | 139 | 2.9 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Headworks Portland Wtr B, OR (748 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 Sandy
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 21 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Sandy: 17 floods, 3 heavy rain events and 1 thunderstorm wind report. They killed 1 person and injured 0, and the NWS estimated $12.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 60 mph, on June 4, 2009.
January 2, 2009: flood 9 miles from the centre of Sandy — 1 killed, $250,000 damage.
January 16, 2011: flood 6 miles from the centre of Sandy — $9.0 million damage.
November 7, 2006: flood 4 miles from the centre of Sandy — $3.0 million damage.
NWS: “3 on November 7th.”
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 Sandy's ZIP code 97055 have filed 12 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $20,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 42% 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, 8 have fewer than Sandy.
Clackamas County, which includes Sandy, has been named in 23 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 15 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 severe storms, 7 fires, 4 floods, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, on April 7, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Clackamas County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for inland flooding, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Moderate for heat waves; Relatively Low for tornadoes; Very Low for hail and coastal flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $219.1 million a year, the 4th highest of 36 Oregon counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $76.6 million (35%), 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.