NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Santa Barbara, 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 Barbara, California 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 Santa Barbara
The strongest of the 4 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F1 on January 3, 1977; its path came within 5 miles. The most recent tornado was on March 21, 2023. Of the 705 California cities on this site, 83% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Santa Barbara. Hail has been reported within 10 miles once, in 1982, with stones of 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Of the 705 California cities, 72% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Santa Barbara.
Compare Santa Barbara's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Santa Barbara
By decade
- 2020s1
- 2010s1
- 1990s1
- 1970s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 3, 1977 | F1 | 5 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 21, 2023 | EF0 | 11 mi | 0.24 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jan 19, 2010 | EF0 | 8 mi | 0.14 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 24, 1994 | F0 | 2 mi | 0.1 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 Santa Barbara
The Storm Prediction Center has one hail report within 10 miles of Santa Barbara, from January 20, 1982: 1.75 inches (golf ball size).
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Santa Barbara
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Santa Barbara, CA, 3 miles east of Santa Barbara at 16 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 78°F and low of 60°F; December is the coolest, at 66°F and 46°F. January and February are the wettest at 4.4 inches of precipitation on average and July and August the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 18.9 inches over 25 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 5 days a year, almost all from September to October. A night below freezing comes less than once a year on average. That 18.9 inches is more than at 133 of the 226 California stations used on this site (59%). Goleta, 12 miles west, has its own station (Santa Barbara Municipal Airport, CA): 17.2 inches a year, 1.7 less than here, and an August average high of 75°F against 78°F.
Sea level at the Santa Barbara tide gauge, 3 miles from Santa Barbara, has risen 0.41 ± 0.16 inches per decade from 1973 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 4.1 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 23 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 67 | 47 | 4.4 | 5 |
| Feb | 67 | 47 | 4.4 | 5 |
| Mar | 68 | 49 | 3.2 | 4 |
| Apr | 71 | 51 | 1.0 | 2 |
| May | 72 | 54 | 0.4 | 1 |
| Jun | 73 | 57 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Jul | 76 | 60 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Aug | 78 | 60 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Sep | 78 | 60 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Oct | 76 | 56 | 0.8 | 1 |
| Nov | 71 | 50 | 1.4 | 2 |
| Dec | 66 | 46 | 3.1 | 4 |
| Year | 72 | 53 | 18.9 | 25 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Santa Barbara, CA (16 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 Barbara
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 39 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Santa Barbara: 29 flash floods and 10 thunderstorm wind reports. They killed 1 person and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $32,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on September 3, 2017. December has had the most flash floods, 9 of 29. Of the 550 California cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 499 have had fewer than Santa Barbara.
January 3, 2026: flash flood 4 miles from the centre of Santa Barbara — 1 killed.
NWS: “Heavy rainfall generated flash flooding from Maria Ygnacio Creek. One man was swept down the creek and drowned.”
September 3, 2017: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Santa Barbara — 2 injured.
NWS: “A severe thunderstorm generate damaging microburst winds across the city of Santa Barbara. Thunderstorm wind gusts up to 80 MPH were reported.”
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 Barbara's 7 ZIP codes have filed 923 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $26.8 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1995: 333 claims (36% of all) and $3.8 million, then Mid-Winter California Flooding in 2018 with 168 and California Atmospheric River in 2023 with 90. 75% 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, 408 have fewer than Santa Barbara.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1995 | 333 | $3.8 million |
| Mid-Winter California Flooding2018 | 168 | $16.2 million |
| California Atmospheric River2023 | 90 | $2.8 million |
| Pineapple Express - Southern1998 | 85 | $457,000 |
| December California Flooding2023 | 14 | $243,000 |
Santa Barbara County, which includes Santa Barbara, has been named in 43 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1969, 27 of them major disasters (by incident: 15 fires, 13 floods, 7 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, on April 13, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Santa Barbara County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for inland flooding; Relatively Low for coastal flooding, lightning and heat waves; Very Low for tornadoes, hail and strong wind. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $477.3 million a year, the 14th highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $166.8 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.
Cities near Santa Barbara
- Goleta, CA12 mi
- Carpinteria, CA12 mi
- Santa Ynez, CA23 mi
- Oak View, CA25 mi
- Solvang, CA26 mi
- Ojai, CA27 mi
- Buellton, CA30 mi
- Ventura, CA30 mi
- Oxnard, CA36 mi
- Port Hueneme, CA36 mi
- Santa Paula, CA38 mi
- Somis, CA42 mi
All California cities →All hurricanes since 1851 →Compare Santa Barbara with another place →