NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Santa Ana, 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 Santa Ana, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 45 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 45
- 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 Santa Ana
The highest rating among the 45 tornadoes within 25 miles is F2, reached 3 times; the most recent, on November 9, 1982, came within 14 miles. Of the 45, 6 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 13 have come since 2000. January and February have had the most tornadoes, 9 each. The most recent tornado was on March 13, 2025. Santa Ana has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 90% of the 705 California cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 7 times since 1979, with stones up to 2 inches (hen egg size). Santa Ana has more hail reports within 10 miles than 76% of the 705 California cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Santa Ana
By decade
- 2020s5
- 2010s1
- 2000s7
- 1990s17
- 1980s6
- 1970s3
- 1960s5
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 9, 1982 | F2 | 14 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 7, 1966 | F2 | 7 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 7, 1966 | F2 | 20 mi | 10.3 mi | 0 / 10 |
| Mar 22, 2023 | EF1 | 23 mi | 0.47 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jan 19, 2010 | EF1 | 10 mi | 4.62 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 9, 1998 | F1 | 17 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Dec 21, 1997 | F1 | 9 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 11, 1997 | F1 | 5 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 14, 1993 | F1 | 10 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 7, 1992 | F1 | 7 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 7, 1992 | F1 | 7 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 27, 1991 | F1 | 5 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 45, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Santa Ana
The Storm Prediction Center has 7 hail reports within 10 miles of Santa Ana since 1979, made on 6 separate days. Of these, 4 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2 inches (hen egg size), fell on January 31, 1979. The most recent report is from March 20, 2019.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Santa Ana
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Santa Ana Fire Stn, CA, in Santa Ana at 135 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 85°F and low of 65°F; December is the coolest, at 68°F and 48°F. February is the wettest at 3.2 inches of precipitation on average and July and August the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 12.6 inches over 22 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 30 days a year, almost all from April to November. A night below freezing comes less than once a year on average. That 12.6 inches is more than at 75 of the 226 California stations used on this site (33%). Orange, 5 miles northeast, has its own station (Anaheim, CA): 13.6 inches a year, 1.0 more than here, and an August average high of 89°F against 85°F.
Sea level at the Los Angeles tide gauge, 23 miles from Santa Ana, has risen 0.42 ± 0.04 inches per decade from 1923 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 4.2 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 24 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 69 | 49 | 2.9 | 5 |
| Feb | 69 | 50 | 3.2 | 5 |
| Mar | 71 | 52 | 1.7 | 3 |
| Apr | 73 | 54 | 0.8 | 2 |
| May | 75 | 58 | 0.3 | 1 |
| Jun | 78 | 61 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Jul | 83 | 65 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Aug | 85 | 65 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Sep | 84 | 64 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Oct | 79 | 59 | 0.5 | 1 |
| Nov | 74 | 53 | 0.8 | 2 |
| Dec | 68 | 48 | 2.2 | 4 |
| Year | 76 | 56 | 12.6 | 22 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Santa Ana Fire Stn, CA (135 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 Santa Ana
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 81 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Santa Ana: 34 floods, 17 flash floods, 15 heavy rain events and 15 thunderstorm wind reports. They killed 0 people and injured 14, and the NWS estimated $1.4 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 93 mph, on January 19, 2010. December has had the most flash floods, 5 of 17. Of the 550 California cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 418 have had fewer than Santa Ana.
December 15, 2008: heavy rain event 5 miles from the centre of Santa Ana — 14 injured, $250,000 damage.
January 19, 2010: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Santa Ana — $350,000 damage.
January 9, 2005: flash flood 10 miles from the centre of Santa Ana — $300,000 damage.
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 Santa Ana's 6 ZIP codes have filed 447 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $1.5 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1995: 165 claims (37% of all) and $534,000, then Pineapple Express - Southern in 1998 with 54. 51% 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, 396 have fewer than Santa Ana.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1995 | 165 | $534,000 |
| Pineapple Express - Southern1998 | 54 | $120,000 |
Orange County, which includes Santa Ana, has been named in 43 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1969, 24 of them major disasters (by incident: 20 fires, 11 floods, 5 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 22, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Orange County a Very High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for inland flooding; Relatively High for coastal flooding and heat waves; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail, strong wind and lightning. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $1.93 billion a year, the 5th highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $819.9 million (43%), 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 Santa Ana
- Tustin, CA4 mi
- Orange, CA5 mi
- Fountain Valley, CA5 mi
- Garden Grove, CA5 mi
- Costa Mesa, CA6 mi
- Villa Park, CA6 mi
- Midway City, CA6 mi
- Anaheim, CA7 mi
- Westminster, CA7 mi
- Irvine, CA7 mi
- Huntington Beach, CA8 mi
- Newport Beach, CA8 mi
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