NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Santa Rosa, 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 Rosa, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 11 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 11
- 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 Rosa
The strongest of the 11 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F2 on June 1, 1958; its path came within 4 miles. Of the 11, 6 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 2 have come since 2000. December has had the most tornadoes, 6. The most recent tornado was on March 18, 2011. Of the 705 California cities on this site, 55% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Santa Rosa. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 8 times since 2017, with stones up to 0.25 inches. Santa Rosa has more hail reports within 10 miles than 82% of the 705 California cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Santa Rosa
By decade
- 2010s1
- 2000s1
- 1990s6
- 1980s1
- 1960s1
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 1, 1958 | F2 | 4 mi | 15 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 18, 2011 | EF1 | in town | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 5, 1998 | F1 | in town | 1.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 23, 1996 | F1 | 15 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 22, 1996 | F1 | 7 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 2, 1992 | F1 | 9 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 2, 1992 | F1 | 7 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 2, 1992 | F1 | 4 mi | 7.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 27, 1983 | F1 | in town | 0.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 10, 1964 | F1 | 7 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 29, 2004 | F0 | in town | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 11 of 11, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Santa Rosa
The Storm Prediction Center has 8 hail reports within 10 miles of Santa Rosa since 2017, made on 7 separate days. None of them reached 1 inch. The largest size, 0.25 inches, was reported on 7 days, most recently March 10, 2021. The most recent report is from March 10, 2021.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Santa Rosa
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Santa Rosa, CA, in Santa Rosa at 166 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 83°F and low of 53°F; December is the coolest, at 59°F and 38°F. December is the wettest at 6.5 inches of precipitation on average and July and August the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 31.7 inches over 52 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 26 days a year, almost all from June to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 15 nights a year. That 31.7 inches is more than at 183 of the 226 California stations used on this site (81%). Sebastopol, 8 miles southwest, has its own station (Graton, CA): 40.0 inches a year, 8.3 more than here, and an August average high of 84°F against 83°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 60 | 38 | 5.8 | 9 |
| Feb | 64 | 40 | 6.4 | 9 |
| Mar | 67 | 42 | 4.3 | 8 |
| Apr | 71 | 44 | 2.0 | 5 |
| May | 75 | 48 | 1.3 | 3 |
| Jun | 80 | 51 | 0.3 | 1 |
| Jul | 82 | 52 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Aug | 83 | 53 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Sep | 84 | 51 | 0.2 | 0 |
| Oct | 79 | 48 | 1.6 | 2 |
| Nov | 67 | 42 | 3.3 | 5 |
| Dec | 59 | 38 | 6.5 | 9 |
| Year | 72 | 46 | 31.7 | 52 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Santa Rosa, CA (166 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 Rosa
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 139 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Santa Rosa: 125 floods, 9 flash floods, 4 heavy rain events and 1 lightning strike. They killed 4 people and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $214.1 million in property and crop damage. January has had the most flash floods, 5 of 9. Of the 550 California cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 263 have had fewer than Santa Rosa.
January 7, 2019: flood 1 mile from the centre of Santa Rosa — 1 killed.
NWS: “com/california/sonomavalley/body-recovered-santa-rosa-creek.”
January 9, 2023: flood 10 miles from the centre of Santa Rosa — 1 killed.
February 4, 2025: flood 8 miles from the centre of Santa Rosa — 1 killed.
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 Rosa's 6 ZIP codes have filed 125 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $1.9 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1995: 40 claims (32% of all) and $674,000, then Pineapple Express - Southern in 1998 with 17. The year with the most claims was 2005, with 19. 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, 336 have fewer than Santa Rosa.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1995 | 40 | $674,000 |
| Pineapple Express - Southern1998 | 17 | $65,000 |
Sonoma County, which includes Santa Rosa, has been named in 36 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 23 of them major disasters (by incident: 11 fires, 9 floods, 9 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, on April 3, 2023. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Sonoma County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for inland flooding; Relatively Moderate 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 $604.7 million a year, the 12th highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $279.8 million (46%), 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 Rosa
- Rohnert Park, CA7 mi
- Sebastopol, CA8 mi
- Cotati, CA8 mi
- Windsor, CA8 mi
- Penngrove, CA10 mi
- Forestville, CA11 mi
- Glen Ellen, CA12 mi
- Calistoga, CA12 mi
- Healdsburg, CA15 mi
- Petaluma, CA15 mi
- Saint Helena, CA15 mi
- Guerneville, CA16 mi
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