NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Three Rivers, 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 Three Rivers, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 4 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 4
- 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 Three Rivers
The strongest of the 4 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F1 on February 19, 1962; its path came within 24 miles. The most recent tornado was on March 22, 2018. Of the 705 California cities on this site, 83% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Three Rivers.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Three Rivers
By decade
- 2010s1
- 1990s1
- 1980s1
- 1960s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 19, 1962 | F1 | 24 mi | 0.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 22, 2018 | EF0 | 21 mi | 1.19 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 20, 1997 | F0 | 14 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 1, 1988 | F0 | 25 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 4 of 4, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Three Rivers
The Storm Prediction Center has no hail reports within 10 miles of Three Rivers since 1955.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Three Rivers
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Three Rivers Edison Ph 1, CA, 2 miles north of Three Rivers at 1,140 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 97°F and low of 65°F; December is the coolest, at 58°F and 35°F. January is the wettest at 4.8 inches of precipitation on average and August the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 22.8 inches over 37 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 114 days a year, almost all from April to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 31 nights a year. That 22.8 inches is more than at 157 of the 226 California stations used on this site (69%). Woodlake, 14 miles west, has its own station (Lemon Cove, CA): 14.1 inches a year, 8.7 less than here, and a July average high of 100°F against 97°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 58 | 36 | 4.8 | 6 |
| Feb | 62 | 38 | 3.6 | 7 |
| Mar | 67 | 41 | 4.1 | 6 |
| Apr | 73 | 44 | 2.4 | 4 |
| May | 82 | 51 | 1.0 | 2 |
| Jun | 91 | 58 | 0.3 | 0 |
| Jul | 97 | 65 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Aug | 96 | 64 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Sep | 92 | 58 | 0.2 | 0 |
| Oct | 79 | 49 | 0.9 | 2 |
| Nov | 66 | 40 | 1.7 | 4 |
| Dec | 58 | 35 | 3.7 | 6 |
| Year | 77 | 48 | 22.8 | 37 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Three Rivers Edison Ph 1, CA (1,140 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 Three Rivers
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 34 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Three Rivers: 26 floods, 4 flash floods, 3 heavy rain events and 1 thunderstorm wind report. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $1.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 58 mph, on October 29, 2007.
January 10, 2023: flood 2 miles from the centre of Three Rivers — $1.0 million damage.
NWS: “The Tulare County Emergency Manager reported that the town of Three Rivers was trapped behind flood waters moving over the egress route. This resulted in several emergency response personnel being trapped behind the flood waters who were in place to limit flood waters impact on structures.”
January 7, 2017: flash flood 9 miles from the centre of Three Rivers — $160,000 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 Three Rivers's ZIP code 93271 have filed 24 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1995, and were paid $396,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1997: 10 claims (42% of all) and $140,000. 79% 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, 120 have fewer than Three Rivers.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1997 | 10 | $140,000 |
Tulare County, which includes Three Rivers, has been named in 23 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1967, 15 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 floods, 4 fires, 4 severe storms, 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 Tulare County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for inland flooding, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Moderate for hail; Relatively Low for tornadoes and strong wind. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $214.1 million a year, the 23rd highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $130.3 million (61%), 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 Three Rivers
- Woodlake, CA14 mi
- Exeter, CA16 mi
- Ivanhoe, CA20 mi
- Lindsay, CA20 mi
- Springville, CA20 mi
- Farmersville, CA21 mi
- Orosi, CA23 mi
- Strathmore, CA24 mi
- Cutler, CA24 mi
- Visalia, CA25 mi
- Squaw Valley, CA26 mi
- Porterville, CA27 mi
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