NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Sun City West, AZ
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 Sun City West, Arizona since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 27 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 27
- 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 Sun City West
The highest rating among the 27 tornadoes within 25 miles is F2, reached 3 times; the most recent, on June 21, 1972, came within 25 miles. Of the 27, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 4 have come since 2000. The most recent tornado was on November 29, 2019. Sun City West has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 77% of the 134 Arizona cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 15 times since 1968, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Sun City West has more hail reports within 10 miles than 60% of the 134 Arizona cities.
Compare Sun City West's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Sun City West
By decade
- 2010s4
- 1990s6
- 1980s5
- 1970s7
- 1960s4
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 21, 1972 | F2 | 25 mi | 13.5 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Sep 14, 1971 | F2 | 17 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 3, 1968 | F2 | 13 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 3 |
| May 23, 1992 | F1 | 22 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 6, 1992 | F1 | 22 mi | 1.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 9, 1984 | F1 | 16 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 8, 1983 | F1 | 16 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 5, 1981 | F1 | 3 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 25, 1977 | F1 | 12 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 24, 1974 | F1 | 16 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 18, 1971 | F1 | 24 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 20, 1968 | F1 | 20 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 3 |
The strongest 12 of 27, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Sun City West
The Storm Prediction Center has 15 hail reports within 10 miles of Sun City West since 1968, made on 13 separate days. Of these, 8 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on August 15, 2003. The most recent report is from September 26, 2025. August has the most reports, 5.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Sun City West
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Youngtown, AZ, 7 miles southeast of Sun City West at 1,135 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 105°F and low of 80°F; December is the coolest, at 64°F and 40°F. February is the wettest at 1.3 inches of precipitation on average and June the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 8.3 inches over 18 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 176 days a year, almost all from March to November. Lows fall below freezing on about 4 nights a year. That 8.3 inches is more than at 20 of the 76 Arizona stations used on this site (26%). Surprise, 9 miles south, has its own station (Litchfield Park, AZ): 8.4 inches a year, the same as here, and a July average high of 107°F against 105°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 65 | 41 | 1.0 | 2 |
| Feb | 69 | 44 | 1.3 | 3 |
| Mar | 77 | 49 | 1.0 | 2 |
| Apr | 84 | 55 | 0.3 | 1 |
| May | 93 | 64 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Jun | 102 | 72 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Jul | 105 | 80 | 0.8 | 2 |
| Aug | 104 | 79 | 1.0 | 2 |
| Sep | 98 | 73 | 0.7 | 1 |
| Oct | 87 | 60 | 0.6 | 1 |
| Nov | 74 | 48 | 0.6 | 1 |
| Dec | 64 | 40 | 0.9 | 2 |
| Year | 85 | 59 | 8.3 | 18 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Youngtown, AZ (1,135 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 Sun City West
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 128 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Sun City West: 73 thunderstorm wind reports, 34 flash floods, 16 heavy rain events and 5 lightning strikes. They killed 0 people and injured 4, and the NWS estimated $3.9 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on August 14, 1996. Of the 130 Arizona cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 97 have had fewer than Sun City West.
August 8, 2018: lightning strike 6 miles from the centre of Sun City West — 2 injured.
August 17, 2000: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Sun City West — 1 injured.
NWS: “Four house trailers were pushed off their foundations and one was overturnedin the Black Canyon City area. One person was injured.”
October 15, 2022: lightning strike 2 miles from the centre of Sun City West — 1 injured.
NWS: “A 12 year old girl, who lives in the Sun City West Retirement Community, was struck by lightning while playing outside, causing her heart to stop. Her father was able to successfully resuscitate her.”
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
Maricopa County, which includes Sun City West, has been named in 26 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1966, 13 of them major disasters (by incident: 11 fires, 9 floods, 3 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on April 4, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Maricopa County a Very High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for hail, inland flooding, strong wind and heat waves; Relatively High for lightning; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $2.20 billion a year, the highest of 15 Arizona counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $1.12 billion (51%), 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.