NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Santa Cruz, 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 Cruz, 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 Santa Cruz
The highest rating among the 9 tornadoes within 25 miles is F1 or EF1, reached 3 times; the most recent, on December 14, 2024, came within 5 miles. Of the 9, 4 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 6 have come since 2000. Of the 705 California cities on this site, 63% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Santa Cruz. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 13 times since 2006, with stones up to 0.75 inches (penny size). Santa Cruz has more hail reports within 10 miles than 94% of the 705 California cities.
Compare Santa Cruz's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Santa Cruz
By decade
- 2020s1
- 2010s3
- 2000s2
- 1990s1
- 1980s1
- 1960s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 14, 2024 | EF1 | 5 mi | 0.31 mi | 0 / 5 |
| Dec 20, 2001 | F1 | 13 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 1, 1965 | F1 | 12 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 6, 2019 | EF0 | 2 mi | 0.54 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 6, 2019 | EF0 | 2 mi | 0.07 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 22, 2012 | EF0 | 13 mi | 1.07 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 14, 2007 | EF0 | 23 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 5, 1998 | F0 | in town | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 3, 1986 | F0 | 7 mi | 0.2 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 Santa Cruz
The Storm Prediction Center has 13 hail reports within 10 miles of Santa Cruz since 2006, made on 9 separate days. None of them reached 1 inch. The largest, 0.75 inches (penny size), fell on March 9, 2006. The most recent report is from March 29, 2023. March has the most reports, 8.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Santa Cruz
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Santa Cruz, CA, 1 mile east of Santa Cruz at 70 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 76°F and low of 55°F; December is the coolest, at 62°F and 41°F. January is the wettest at 6.4 inches of precipitation on average and July and August the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 30.5 inches over 45 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 6 days a year, almost all from September to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 6 nights a year. That 30.5 inches is more than at 182 of the 226 California stations used on this site (81%). Scotts Valley, 5 miles north, has its own station (Ben Lomond #4, CA): 49.5 inches a year, 19.0 more than here, and an August average high of 90°F against 76°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 63 | 41 | 6.4 | 8 |
| Feb | 64 | 43 | 6.1 | 8 |
| Mar | 67 | 44 | 4.3 | 7 |
| Apr | 69 | 46 | 2.0 | 4 |
| May | 71 | 49 | 0.9 | 2 |
| Jun | 74 | 52 | 0.2 | 1 |
| Jul | 74 | 54 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Aug | 76 | 55 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Sep | 77 | 53 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Oct | 74 | 50 | 1.3 | 2 |
| Nov | 67 | 44 | 3.2 | 5 |
| Dec | 62 | 41 | 6.0 | 8 |
| Year | 70 | 48 | 30.5 | 45 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Santa Cruz, CA (70 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 Cruz
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 63 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Santa Cruz: 37 floods, 12 heavy rain events, 11 flash floods and 3 thunderstorm wind reports. They killed 5 people and injured 3, and the NWS estimated $31.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 91 mph, on December 25, 2025. December has had the most flash floods, 5 of 11. Of the 550 California cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 304 have had fewer than Santa Cruz.
March 16, 2012: heavy rain event 7 miles from the centre of Santa Cruz — 1 killed, 3 injured, $15,000 damage.
February 15, 2009: flood 7 miles from the centre of Santa Cruz — 1 killed, $15,000 damage.
March 18, 2012: heavy rain event in Santa Cruz — 1 killed, $5,000 damage.
NWS: “A 35 year old man crashed his Volkswagon Touareg on the onramp to southbound Highway 1 at State Park Drive about 12:45 am.”
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 Cruz's 3 ZIP codes have filed 251 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $4.1 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Pineapple Express - Southern in 1998: 52 claims (21% of all) and $697,000, then Flooding in 1982 with 39 and California Atmospheric River in 2023 with 17. 47% 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, 377 have fewer than Santa Cruz.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Pineapple Express - Southern1998 | 52 | $697,000 |
| Flooding1982 | 39 | $266,000 |
| California Atmospheric River2023 | 17 | $1.3 million |
Santa Cruz County, which includes Santa Cruz, has been named in 34 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1977, 22 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 fires, 9 severe storms, 8 floods, 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 Cruz County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for inland flooding; Relatively Moderate for lightning and heat waves; Relatively Low for coastal flooding; Very Low for tornadoes, hail and strong wind. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $335.4 million a year, the 19th highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $105.1 million (31%), 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.