NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Tacoma, 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 Tacoma, Washington since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 15 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 1 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 15
- EF3 or stronger
- 1
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for Tacoma
The strongest of the 15 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F3 on December 12, 1969; its path came within 20 miles. Of the 15, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 8 have come since 2000. September has had the most tornadoes, 4. The most recent tornado was on October 18, 2019. Tacoma has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 88% of the 226 Washington cities on this site.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Tacoma
By decade
- 2010s4
- 2000s4
- 1990s2
- 1980s1
- 1970s2
- 1960s2(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 12, 1969 | F3 | 20 mi | 3.8 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Dec 18, 2018 | EF2 | 23 mi | 1.35 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 18, 2019 | EF1 | 24 mi | 0.68 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 18, 2015 | EF1 | 11 mi | 4.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 30, 2013 | EF1 | 9 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 6, 2009 | EF1 | 14 mi | 9.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 27, 2001 | F1 | 12 mi | 2.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 31, 1997 | F1 | 2 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 12, 1978 | F1 | 6 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 22, 1971 | F1 | 14 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 28, 1962 | F1 | 21 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 28, 2006 | F0 | 21 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 15, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Tacoma
The Storm Prediction Center has no hail reports within 10 miles of Tacoma since 1955.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Tacoma
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Tacoma #1, WA, 3 miles north of Tacoma at 25 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 77°F and low of 57°F; December is the coolest, at 47°F and 37°F. November is the wettest at 6.5 inches of precipitation on average and July the driest at 0.6 inches; the year adds up to 40.8 inches over 96 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 1 days a year. Lows fall below freezing on about 27 nights a year. That 40.8 inches is more than at 50 of the 86 Washington stations used on this site (58%). University Place, 5 miles west, has its own station (Tacoma Narrows Airport, WA): 42.1 inches a year, 1.3 more than here, and a July average high of 76°F against 77°F.
Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Tacoma, WA, 4 miles north, averaged 56°F in September and 48°F in March over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the Seattle tide gauge, 28 miles from Tacoma, has risen 0.82 ± 0.03 inches per decade from 1899 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 8.2 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 42 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Water °F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 48 | 37 | 6.0 | 13 | 49 |
| Feb | 50 | 37 | 4.0 | 10 | 48 |
| Mar | 55 | 40 | 4.4 | 12 | 48 |
| Apr | 60 | 44 | 3.4 | 9 | 49 |
| May | 67 | 49 | 2.0 | 6 | 51 |
| Jun | 71 | 53 | 1.4 | 4 | 53 |
| Jul | 77 | 57 | 0.6 | 2 | 55 |
| Aug | 77 | 57 | 0.8 | 2 | 56 |
| Sep | 71 | 53 | 1.6 | 4 | 56 |
| Oct | 61 | 47 | 4.1 | 9 | 55 |
| Nov | 52 | 41 | 6.5 | 13 | 53 |
| Dec | 47 | 37 | 6.0 | 14 | 51 |
| Year | 61 | 46 | 40.8 | 96 | 52 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Tacoma #1, WA (25 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Tacoma, WA, 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 Tacoma
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 7 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Tacoma: 2 floods, 2 heavy rain events, 2 lightning strikes and 1 thunderstorm wind report. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $9.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 45 mph, on May 13, 2013.
January 7, 2009: flood 5 miles from the centre of Tacoma — $8.8 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 Tacoma's 16 ZIP codes have filed 338 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $6.9 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1996: 145 claims (43% of all) and $3.1 million. 47% 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, 120 have fewer than Tacoma.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1996 | 145 | $3.1 million |
Pierce County, which includes Tacoma, has been named in 26 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 22 of them major disasters (by incident: 11 floods, 8 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 earthquakes). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, on April 7, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Pierce County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for inland flooding, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Moderate for coastal flooding; Relatively Low for tornadoes and strong wind; Very Low for hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $531.9 million a year, the 2nd highest of 39 Washington counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $121.6 million (23%), 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 Tacoma
- Fife, WA4 mi
- University Place, WA5 mi
- Lakewood, WA6 mi
- Milton, WA6 mi
- Mcchord Afb, WA7 mi
- Puyallup, WA8 mi
- Federal Way, WA8 mi
- Steilacoom, WA8 mi
- Fox Island, WA9 mi
- Spanaway, WA9 mi
- Pacific, WA10 mi
- Joint Base Lewis Mcchord, WA11 mi
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