NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Truckee, 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 Truckee, 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 Truckee
The highest rating among the 4 tornadoes within 25 miles is F0 or EF0, reached 4 times; the most recent, on September 21, 2017, came within 25 miles. Of the 705 California cities on this site, 83% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Truckee. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 15 times since 1986, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Truckee has more hail reports within 10 miles than 95% of the 705 California cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Truckee
By decade
- 2010s2
- 2000s2
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 21, 2017 | EF0 | 25 mi | 0.44 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 13, 2017 | EF0 | 17 mi | 2.01 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 2, 2003 | F0 | 17 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 2, 2003 | F0 | 17 mi | 0.1 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 Truckee
The Storm Prediction Center has 15 hail reports within 10 miles of Truckee since 1986, made on 13 separate days. Of these, 10 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest, 1.75 inches (golf ball size), fell on July 23, 2003. The most recent report is from June 8, 2023. July has the most reports, 7.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Truckee
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Donner Mem Sp, CA, 1 mile south of Truckee at 5,937 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 82°F and low of 44°F; December is the coolest, at 39°F and 17°F. December is the wettest at 6.9 inches of precipitation on average and July and August the driest at 0.4 inches; the year adds up to 39.0 inches over 57 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 6 days a year, almost all from July to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 226 nights a year. Snowfall averages 182.9 inches a year, most of it in December. That 39.0 inches is more than at 199 of the 226 California stations used on this site (88%). Tahoe City, 12 miles south, has its own station (Tahoe City, CA): 33.3 inches a year, 5.7 less than here, and a July average high of 78°F against 82°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 41 | 17 | 6.7 | 9 | 40.0 |
| Feb | 43 | 18 | 6.6 | 8 | 37.7 |
| Mar | 48 | 22 | 6.2 | 8 | 32.9 |
| Apr | 54 | 26 | 2.7 | 5 | 15.4 |
| May | 63 | 33 | 2.1 | 4 | 3.4 |
| Jun | 73 | 38 | 0.7 | 2 | 0.5 |
| Jul | 82 | 44 | 0.4 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 81 | 42 | 0.4 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 75 | 36 | 0.5 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 63 | 29 | 2.2 | 3 | 2.4 |
| Nov | 49 | 23 | 3.6 | 5 | 10.1 |
| Dec | 39 | 17 | 6.9 | 9 | 40.5 |
| Year | 59 | 29 | 39.0 | 57 | 182.9 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Donner Mem Sp, CA (5,937 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 Truckee
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 49 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Truckee: 40 heavy rain events, 6 floods, 1 flash flood, 1 thunderstorm wind report and 1 lightning strike. They killed 1 person and injured 0, and the NWS estimated $2.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 60 mph, on July 29, 2009.
July 23, 2012: lightning strike 1 mile from the centre of Truckee — 1 killed.
NWS: “A 71-yr-old man was struck and killed by lightning during an early morning thunderstorm at Donner Memorial State Park just west of Truckee, CA. He had been camping with family in the Park and was outside in an area of tall trees.”
December 31, 2005: flood 5 miles from the centre of Truckee — $1.0 million damage.
NWS: “Interstate 80 was closed because of a large mudslide approximately 5 miles east of Truckee. The mudslide occurred at around 3 am on December 31st, blocking both directions on the Interstate.”
December 31, 2005: flood 8 miles from the centre of Truckee — $1.0 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 Truckee's ZIP code 96161 have filed 17 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1996, and were paid $133,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 41% 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, 68 have fewer than Truckee.
Nevada County, which includes Truckee, has been named in 23 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 16 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 fires, 7 severe storms, 5 floods, 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 Nevada County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for inland flooding and lightning; Relatively Low for hail and heat waves; Very Low for tornadoes and strong wind. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $80.6 million a year, the 39th highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $37.4 million (46%), 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 Truckee
- Tahoe City, CA12 mi
- Kings Beach, CA13 mi
- Incline Village, NV16 mi
- Verdi, NV17 mi
- Washoe Valley, NV24 mi
- Reno, NV25 mi
- Carson City, NV28 mi
- Sun Valley, NV30 mi
- Stateline, NV31 mi
- South Lake Tahoe, CA32 mi
- Sparks, NV32 mi
- Minden, NV34 mi
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