NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Scotts Valley, 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 Scotts Valley, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 14 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 14
- 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 Scotts Valley
The highest rating among the 14 tornadoes within 25 miles is F2, reached 2 times; the most recent, on May 5, 1998, came within 22 miles. Of the 14, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 6 have come since 2000. December has had the most tornadoes, 5. The most recent tornado was on December 14, 2024. Scotts Valley has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 50% of the 705 California cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 17 times since 2006, with stones up to 0.75 inches (penny size). Scotts Valley has more hail reports within 10 miles than 97% of the 705 California cities.
Compare Scotts Valley's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Scotts Valley
By decade
- 2020s1
- 2010s3
- 2000s2
- 1990s5
- 1980s1
- 1960s1
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 1998 | F2 | 22 mi | 0.6 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jan 11, 1951 | F2 | 22 mi | 5.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 14, 2024 | EF1 | 1 mi | 0.31 mi | 0 / 5 |
| Dec 20, 2001 | F1 | 14 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 5, 1998 | F1 | 23 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Apr 1, 1965 | F1 | 13 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 6, 2019 | EF0 | 7 mi | 0.54 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 6, 2019 | EF0 | 7 mi | 0.07 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 22, 2012 | EF0 | 15 mi | 1.07 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 14, 2007 | EF0 | 23 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 5, 1998 | F0 | 5 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 6, 1998 | F0 | 22 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 14, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Scotts Valley
The Storm Prediction Center has 17 hail reports within 10 miles of Scotts Valley since 2006, made on 11 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 30, 2024. March has the most reports, 9.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Scotts Valley
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Ben Lomond #4, CA, 4 miles northwest of Scotts Valley at 420 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 90°F and low of 51°F; December is the coolest, at 64°F and 37°F. January and December are the wettest at 10.4 inches of precipitation on average and July and August the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 49.5 inches over 50 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 54 days a year, almost all from April to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 37 nights a year. That 49.5 inches is more than at 215 of the 226 California stations used on this site (95%). Soquel, 5 miles southeast, has its own station (Santa Cruz, CA): 30.5 inches a year, 19.0 less than here, and an August average high of 76°F against 90°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 65 | 37 | 10.4 | 9 |
| Feb | 67 | 39 | 9.7 | 9 |
| Mar | 71 | 41 | 7.0 | 8 |
| Apr | 75 | 42 | 3.3 | 4 |
| May | 80 | 46 | 1.2 | 2 |
| Jun | 86 | 49 | 0.2 | 1 |
| Jul | 88 | 51 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Aug | 90 | 51 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Sep | 89 | 49 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Oct | 83 | 44 | 2.2 | 2 |
| Nov | 71 | 40 | 5.0 | 6 |
| Dec | 64 | 37 | 10.4 | 9 |
| Year | 77 | 44 | 49.5 | 50 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Ben Lomond #4, CA (420 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 Scotts Valley
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 79 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Scotts Valley: 45 floods, 18 heavy rain events, 11 flash floods and 5 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 Scotts Valley.
March 16, 2012: heavy rain event 2 miles from the centre of Scotts Valley — 1 killed, 3 injured, $15,000 damage.
NWS: “A fatal accident on the southbound lanes on SR 17 at Laurel Curve due to heavy rain. A 57 year old man lost control of his Nissan Sentra which slid from the southbound lanes into northbound traffic at 10:45 am.”
February 15, 2009: flood 9 miles from the centre of Scotts Valley — 1 killed, $15,000 damage.
March 18, 2012: heavy rain event 6 miles from the centre of Scotts Valley — 1 killed, $5,000 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 Scotts Valley's ZIP code 95066 have filed 37 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1980, and were paid $551,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1982: 14 claims (38% of all) and $97,000. 62% 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, 189 have fewer than Scotts Valley.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1982 | 14 | $97,000 |
Santa Cruz County, which includes Scotts Valley, 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.