NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Sparks, NV
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 Sparks, Nevada since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 13 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 13
- 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 Sparks
The highest rating among the 13 tornadoes within 25 miles is F1 or EF1, reached 4 times; the most recent, on August 15, 2020, came within 24 miles. Of the 13, 4 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 7 have come since 2000. August has had the most tornadoes, 5. Sparks has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 90% of the 32 Nevada cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 24 times since 1957, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Sparks has more hail reports within 10 miles than 81% of the 32 Nevada cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Sparks
By decade
- 2020s3
- 2000s4
- 1990s3
- 1970s2
- 1960s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 15, 2020 | EF1 | 24 mi | 0.09 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 15, 2020 | EF1 | 24 mi | 0.43 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 3, 1973 | F1 | 24 mi | 25.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 16, 1973 | F1 | 3 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jul 24, 2004 | F0 | 6 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 2, 2003 | F0 | 16 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 1, 2002 | F0 | 1 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 10, 2000 | F0 | 4 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 13, 1999 | F0 | 4 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 30, 1998 | F0 | 8 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 11, 1998 | F0 | 25 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 23, 1964 | F0 | 9 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 13, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Sparks
The Storm Prediction Center has 24 hail reports within 10 miles of Sparks since 1957, made on 20 separate days. Of these, 9 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on June 24, 2005. The most recent report is from July 27, 2025. July has the most reports, 8.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Sparks
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Sparks, NV, 2 miles south of Sparks at 4,357 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 92°F and low of 55°F; December is the coolest, at 47°F and 25°F. January is the wettest at 1.3 inches of precipitation on average and September the driest at 0.2 inches; the year adds up to 8.4 inches over 23 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 59 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 141 nights a year. Snowfall averages 6.8 inches a year, most of it in January. That 8.4 inches is more than at 14 of the 27 Nevada stations used on this site (52%). Sun Valley, 3 miles west, has its own station (Reno WFO, NV): 8.0 inches a year, 0.4 less than here, and a July average high of 93°F against 92°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 48 | 25 | 1.3 | 4 | 2.2 |
| Feb | 53 | 27 | 1.0 | 3 | 1.0 |
| Mar | 60 | 32 | 0.9 | 2 | 1.0 |
| Apr | 65 | 36 | 0.5 | 2 | 0.1 |
| May | 74 | 43 | 0.7 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 84 | 49 | 0.4 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 92 | 55 | 0.4 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 91 | 53 | 0.3 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 84 | 46 | 0.2 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 72 | 37 | 0.9 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 57 | 29 | 0.7 | 2 | 0.8 |
| Dec | 47 | 25 | 1.1 | 3 | 1.7 |
| Year | 69 | 38 | 8.4 | 23 | 6.8 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Sparks, NV (4,357 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 Sparks
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 96 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Sparks: 36 heavy rain events, 32 thunderstorm wind reports, 17 flash floods, 9 floods and 2 lightning strikes. They killed 0 people and injured 4, and the NWS estimated $8.5 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 77 mph, on July 20, 2013. July has had the most flash floods, 9 of 17. Of the 29 Nevada cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 19 have had fewer than Sparks.
September 24, 2011: lightning strike 10 miles from the centre of Sparks — 4 injured.
June 19, 2026: flash flood 6 miles from the centre of Sparks — $5.0 million damage.
July 27, 2025: flash flood 8 miles from the centre of Sparks — $1.5 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 Sparks's 4 ZIP codes have filed 260 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1984, and were paid $18.5 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1997: 113 claims (43% of all) and $10.8 million. 43% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 14 Nevada cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 11 have fewer than Sparks.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1997 | 113 | $10.8 million |
Washoe County, which includes Sparks, has been named in 54 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 7 of them major disasters (by incident: 43 fires, 4 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 floods). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on April 4, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Washoe County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for inland flooding and lightning; Relatively Moderate for strong wind; Relatively Low for hail and heat waves; Very Low for tornadoes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $273.8 million a year, the 2nd highest of 17 Nevada counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $80.0 million (29%), 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 Sparks
- Sun Valley, NV3 mi
- Reno, NV7 mi
- Verdi, NV17 mi
- Washoe Valley, NV22 mi
- Dayton, NV25 mi
- Incline Village, NV27 mi
- Fernley, NV29 mi
- Kings Beach, CA29 mi
- Silver Springs, NV29 mi
- Carson City, NV29 mi
- Truckee, CA32 mi
- Tahoe City, CA36 mi
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