NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Sonora, 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 Sonora, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 2 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 2
- 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 Sonora
The highest rating among the 2 tornadoes within 25 miles is EF1, reached 2 times; the most recent, on March 11, 2023, came within 11 miles. Of the 705 California cities on this site, 91% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Sonora. Hail has been reported within 10 miles once, in 2023, with stones of 1 inch (quarter size). Of the 705 California cities, 72% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Sonora.
Compare Sonora's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Sonora
By decade
- 2020s2
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 11, 2023 | EF1 | 11 mi | 0.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 10, 2023 | EF1 | 23 mi | 0.39 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 2 of 2, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Sonora
The Storm Prediction Center has one hail report within 10 miles of Sonora, from March 11, 2023: 1 inch (quarter size).
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Sonora
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Sonora, CA, 3 miles southwest of Sonora at 1,675 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 93°F and low of 57°F; December is the coolest, at 55°F and 32°F. January is the wettest at 6.3 inches of precipitation on average and July the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 32.6 inches over 48 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 75 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 66 nights a year. That 32.6 inches is more than at 186 of the 226 California stations used on this site (82%). Tuolumne, 7 miles east, has its own station (Groveland 2, CA): 38.6 inches a year, 6.0 more than here, and a July average high of 91°F against 93°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 56 | 33 | 6.3 | 8 |
| Feb | 58 | 34 | 5.5 | 8 |
| Mar | 62 | 37 | 5.4 | 7 |
| Apr | 67 | 40 | 3.0 | 5 |
| May | 76 | 46 | 1.5 | 3 |
| Jun | 85 | 51 | 0.3 | 1 |
| Jul | 93 | 57 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Aug | 92 | 56 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Sep | 87 | 51 | 0.2 | 1 |
| Oct | 76 | 43 | 1.6 | 3 |
| Nov | 63 | 36 | 3.2 | 5 |
| Dec | 55 | 32 | 5.5 | 8 |
| Year | 72 | 43 | 32.6 | 48 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Sonora, CA (1,675 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 Sonora
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 20 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Sonora: 7 floods, 5 heavy rain events, 5 thunderstorm wind reports and 3 flash floods. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $1.1 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 105 mph, on March 21, 2017.
March 21, 2017: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Sonora — $1.0 million 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 Sonora's ZIP code 95370 have filed 14 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1986, and were paid $205,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 57% 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, 36 have fewer than Sonora.
Tuolumne County, which includes Sonora, has been named in 22 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 15 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 floods, 6 severe storms, 5 fires, 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 Tuolumne County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for inland 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 $50.6 million a year, the 44th highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $18.6 million (37%), 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 Sonora
- Tuolumne, CA7 mi
- Twain Harte, CA7 mi
- Jamestown, CA12 mi
- Murphys, CA12 mi
- Angels Camp, CA14 mi
- Copperopolis, CA17 mi
- Groveland, CA19 mi
- Coulterville, CA20 mi
- San Andreas, CA21 mi
- La Grange, CA21 mi
- Mokelumne Hill, CA26 mi
- Valley Springs, CA30 mi
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