NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Spokane, WA
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 Spokane, Washington since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 17 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 17
- 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 Spokane
The highest rating among the 17 tornadoes within 25 miles is F2, reached 2 times; the most recent, on May 6, 1957, came within 17 miles. Of the 17, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 6 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 6. The most recent tornado was on April 18, 2024. Spokane has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 93% of the 226 Washington cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 24 times since 1963, with stones up to 2 inches (hen egg size). Spokane has more hail reports within 10 miles than any other of the 226 Washington cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Spokane
By decade
- 2020s3
- 2010s2
- 2000s1
- 1990s4
- 1980s3
- 1970s1
- 1960s1
- 1950s2
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 6, 1957 | F2 | 17 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 15, 1954 | F2 | 18 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 31, 1997 | F1 | 13 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 12, 1984 | F1 | 9 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 17, 1983 | F1 | 15 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 22, 1981 | F1 | 19 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 29, 1970 | F1 | 16 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 18, 2024 | EF0 | 7 mi | 0.01 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 6, 2022 | EF0 | 4 mi | 2.14 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 6, 2022 | EF0 | 5 mi | 0.59 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 9, 2016 | EF0 | 10 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 22, 2016 | EF0 | 7 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 17, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Spokane
The Storm Prediction Center has 24 hail reports within 10 miles of Spokane since 1963, made on 17 separate days. Of these, 9 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2 inches (hen egg size), fell on May 31, 1997. The most recent report is from July 22, 2016. July has the most reports, 8.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Spokane
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Spokane Felts Field, WA, 4 miles east of Spokane at 1,953 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 87°F and low of 56°F; December is the coolest, at 37°F and 26°F. December is the wettest at 2.2 inches of precipitation on average and August the driest at 0.5 inches; the year adds up to 17.4 inches over 56 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 29 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 123 nights a year. That 17.4 inches is more than at 28 of the 86 Washington stations used on this site (33%). Airway Heights, 9 miles west, has its own station (Spokane WFO, WA): 17.3 inches a year, the same as here, and a July average high of 83°F against 87°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 38 | 26 | 2.0 | 7 |
| Feb | 43 | 27 | 1.3 | 5 |
| Mar | 51 | 32 | 1.8 | 7 |
| Apr | 60 | 37 | 1.5 | 4 |
| May | 70 | 44 | 1.7 | 5 |
| Jun | 76 | 50 | 1.5 | 5 |
| Jul | 87 | 56 | 0.7 | 1 |
| Aug | 86 | 55 | 0.5 | 2 |
| Sep | 76 | 47 | 0.7 | 2 |
| Oct | 60 | 38 | 1.5 | 5 |
| Nov | 45 | 31 | 2.0 | 7 |
| Dec | 37 | 26 | 2.2 | 8 |
| Year | 61 | 39 | 17.4 | 56 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Spokane Felts Field, WA (1,953 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 Spokane
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 83 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Spokane: 53 thunderstorm wind reports, 15 floods, 6 flash floods, 5 lightning strikes and 4 heavy rain events. They killed 0 people and injured 15, and the NWS estimated $6.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 75 mph, on May 31, 1997. June has had the most flash floods, 3 of 6. Of the 66 Washington cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 58 have had fewer than Spokane.
June 21, 2005: thunderstorm wind 1 mile from the centre of Spokane — 12 injured.
August 12, 2005: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Spokane — 2 injured, $100,000 damage.
April 4, 2000: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Spokane — 1 injured, $80,000 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 Spokane's 10 ZIP codes have filed 26 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $1.1 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 1997, with 10. 19% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 128 Washington cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 32 have fewer than Spokane.
Spokane County, which includes Spokane, has been named in 33 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 14 of them major disasters (by incident: 17 fires, 6 floods, 4 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Wildfires, on February 15, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Spokane County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for strong wind; Relatively Moderate for inland flooding, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Low for tornadoes and hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $98.8 million a year, the 11th highest of 39 Washington counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $52.9 million (54%), 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 Spokane
- Spokane Valley, WA9 mi
- Airway Heights, WA9 mi
- Colbert, WA11 mi
- Nine Mile Falls, WA12 mi
- Mead, WA12 mi
- Fairchild Afb, WA14 mi
- Otis Orchards, WA14 mi
- Medical Lake, WA15 mi
- Liberty Lake, WA15 mi
- Newman Lake, WA17 mi
- Chattaroy, WA17 mi
- Cheney, WA17 mi
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