NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Sonoma, 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 Sonoma, 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 Sonoma
The strongest of the 14 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F2 on June 1, 1958; its path came within 17 miles. Of the 14, none had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 3 have come since 2000. December has had the most tornadoes, 7. The most recent tornado was on April 7, 2011. Sonoma has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 50% of the 705 California cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 5 times since 2014, with stones up to 0.5 inches (marble size). Sonoma has more hail reports within 10 miles than 62% of the 705 California cities.
Compare Sonoma's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Sonoma
By decade
- 2010s2
- 2000s1
- 1990s8
- 1980s1
- 1960s1
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 1, 1958 | F2 | 17 mi | 15 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 18, 2011 | EF1 | 18 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 5, 1998 | F1 | 17 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 23, 1996 | F1 | 20 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 22, 1996 | F1 | 24 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 2, 1992 | F1 | 21 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 2, 1992 | F1 | 17 mi | 7.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 27, 1983 | F1 | 17 mi | 0.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 10, 1964 | F1 | 25 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 7, 2011 | EF0 | 19 mi | 0.11 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 29, 2004 | F0 | 17 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 5, 1998 | F0 | 25 mi | 1.5 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 Sonoma
The Storm Prediction Center has 5 hail reports within 10 miles of Sonoma since 2014. None of them reached 1 inch. The largest, 0.5 inches (marble size), fell on September 26, 2014. The most recent report is from March 25, 2020.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Sonoma
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Sonoma, CA, 2 miles north of Sonoma at 97 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 86°F and low of 54°F; December is the coolest, at 57°F and 38°F. December is the wettest at 5.8 inches of precipitation on average and July the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 28.3 inches over 47 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 44 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 21 nights a year. That 28.3 inches is more than at 175 of the 226 California stations used on this site (77%). Petaluma, 10 miles west, has its own station (Petaluma Airport, CA): 25.6 inches a year, 2.7 less than here, and a July average high of 81°F against 86°F.
Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Richmond, CA, 24 miles south, averaged 66°F in August and September and 53°F in January over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the Richmond tide gauge, 24 miles from Sonoma, has risen 1.32 ± 0.29 inches per decade from 1979 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 13.2 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 78 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Water °F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 57 | 38 | 5.5 | 8 | 53 |
| Feb | 62 | 40 | 5.4 | 8 | 54 |
| Mar | 65 | 42 | 3.8 | 7 | 55 |
| Apr | 69 | 44 | 1.8 | 4 | 58 |
| May | 75 | 48 | 1.0 | 2 | 60 |
| Jun | 83 | 51 | 0.3 | 1 | 62 |
| Jul | 86 | 54 | 0.0 | 0 | 65 |
| Aug | 86 | 53 | 0.1 | 0 | 66 |
| Sep | 85 | 51 | 0.1 | 0 | 66 |
| Oct | 78 | 47 | 1.5 | 2 | 63 |
| Nov | 65 | 42 | 3.0 | 5 | 59 |
| Dec | 57 | 38 | 5.8 | 9 | 54 |
| Year | 72 | 46 | 28.3 | 47 | 60 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Sonoma, CA (97 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Richmond, CA, from NOAA Tides & Currents. 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 Sonoma
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 77 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Sonoma: 56 floods, 14 flash floods, 5 heavy rain events and 2 lightning strikes. They killed 4 people and injured 3, and the NWS estimated $958,000 in property and crop damage. January has had the most flash floods, 6 of 14. Of the 550 California cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 363 have had fewer than Sonoma.
December 22, 2012: heavy rain event 5 miles from the centre of Sonoma — 1 killed, 2 injured, $30,000 damage.
NWS: “California Highway Patrol reported a two car accident during heavy rainfall in Napa County. At 2:25 PM on Saturday the 22nd of December, a car heading southbound on Highway 121 near the Viansa winery lost control on a curve, crossed the center line and was hit broadside by oncoming traffic.”
May 5, 2009: heavy rain event in Sonoma — 1 killed, 1 injured, $50,000 damage.
NWS: “Heavy rain caused many trees throughout Sonoma County to fall resulting in closed roads, damaged homes, injuries and even a death of a five-year-old boy. An oak tree fell onto an occupied car on Bennett Valley Road killing the child and injuring his father.”
December 16, 2008: heavy rain event 2 miles from the centre of Sonoma — 1 killed, $25,000 damage.
NWS: “Heavy rain caused a fatality of a 32 year-old man when his vehicle collided with another vehicle. Highways 116 and 121 were closed for about three hours after the collision.”
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 Sonoma's ZIP code 95476 have filed 93 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $2.3 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1995: 28 claims (30% of all) and $243,000. The year with the most claims was 2005, with 21. 35% 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, 304 have fewer than Sonoma.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1995 | 28 | $243,000 |
Sonoma County, which includes Sonoma, 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 Sonoma
- Glen Ellen, CA7 mi
- Petaluma, CA10 mi
- Napa, CA10 mi
- Yountville, CA10 mi
- Penngrove, CA11 mi
- Rohnert Park, CA13 mi
- Cotati, CA13 mi
- American Canyon, CA14 mi
- Novato, CA14 mi
- Saint Helena, CA16 mi
- Vallejo, CA17 mi
- Santa Rosa, CA18 mi
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