NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Santa Maria, 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 Maria, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 5 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 5
- 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 Maria
The strongest of the 5 tornadoes within 25 miles was an EF1 on February 7, 2024; its path came within 18 miles. Of the 5, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 4 have come since 2000. Of the 705 California cities on this site, 79% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Santa Maria.
Compare Santa Maria's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Santa Maria
By decade
- 2020s1
- 2000s3
- 1990s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 7, 2024 | EF1 | 18 mi | 0.69 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 29, 2006 | F0 | 20 mi | — | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 2, 2004 | F0 | 18 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 29, 2001 | F0 | 3 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 29, 1991 | F0 | 21 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 2 |
The strongest 5 of 5, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Santa Maria
The Storm Prediction Center has no hail reports within 10 miles of Santa Maria since 1955.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Santa Maria
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Santa Maria Public Airport, CA, 2 miles southwest of Santa Maria at 242 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 74°F and low of 55°F; December is the coolest, at 64°F and 40°F. February is the wettest at 2.9 inches of precipitation on average and July and August the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 13.4 inches over 26 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 9 nights a year. That 13.4 inches is more than at 82 of the 226 California stations used on this site (36%). Vandenberg Afb, 14 miles southwest, has its own station (Lompoc, CA): 15.5 inches a year, 2.1 more than here, and an August average high of 73°F against 74°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 65 | 41 | 2.7 | 5 |
| Feb | 65 | 43 | 2.9 | 6 |
| Mar | 66 | 44 | 2.6 | 4 |
| Apr | 68 | 45 | 0.9 | 2 |
| May | 69 | 49 | 0.4 | 1 |
| Jun | 71 | 52 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Jul | 73 | 55 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Aug | 74 | 55 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Sep | 75 | 54 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Oct | 75 | 50 | 0.5 | 1 |
| Nov | 70 | 44 | 1.1 | 2 |
| Dec | 64 | 40 | 2.1 | 4 |
| Year | 70 | 48 | 13.4 | 26 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Santa Maria Public Airport, CA (242 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 Maria
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 8 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Santa Maria: 6 flash floods and 2 thunderstorm wind reports. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 77 mph, on December 9, 1996. Of the 550 California cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 202 have had fewer than Santa Maria.
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 Maria's 3 ZIP codes have filed 29 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1992, and were paid $226,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 41% 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, 142 have fewer than Santa Maria.
Santa Barbara County, which includes Santa Maria, 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 Maria
- Nipomo, CA9 mi
- Guadalupe, CA10 mi
- Vandenberg Afb, CA14 mi
- Arroyo Grande, CA16 mi
- Oceano, CA17 mi
- Grover Beach, CA18 mi
- Lompoc, CA19 mi
- Pismo Beach, CA21 mi
- Buellton, CA24 mi
- Solvang, CA26 mi
- Santa Ynez, CA28 mi
- San Luis Obispo, CA28 mi
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