NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Van Nuys, 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 Van Nuys, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 28 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 28
- 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 Van Nuys
The highest rating among the 28 tornadoes within 25 miles is F2, reached 4 times; the most recent, on March 1, 1983, came within 12 miles. Of the 28, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 4 have come since 2000. November has had the most tornadoes, 6. The most recent tornado was on May 4, 2023. Van Nuys has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 79% of the 705 California cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 4 times since 1993, with stones up to 1 inch (quarter size). Van Nuys has more hail reports within 10 miles than 55% of the 705 California cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Van Nuys
By decade
- 2020s2
- 2010s1
- 2000s1
- 1990s5
- 1980s9
- 1970s2
- 1960s5
- 1950s3
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 1, 1983 | F2 | 12 mi | 3.5 mi | 0 / 30 |
| Nov 9, 1982 | F2 | 1 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 7, 1966 | F2 | 25 mi | 10.3 mi | 0 / 10 |
| Nov 7, 1966 | F2 | 22 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 22, 2023 | EF1 | 23 mi | 0.47 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Mar 20, 1992 | F1 | 17 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 1, 1983 | F1 | 20 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Nov 9, 1982 | F1 | 17 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 29, 1982 | F1 | 22 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 31, 1979 | F1 | 5 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 9, 1964 | F1 | 18 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 14, 1962 | F1 | 24 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 28, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Van Nuys
The Storm Prediction Center has 4 hail reports within 10 miles of Van Nuys since 1993. Of these, 2 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest size, 1 inch (quarter size), was reported on 2 days, most recently March 7, 2024. The most recent report is from March 7, 2024.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Van Nuys
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Van Nuys Airport, CA, 2 miles northwest of Van Nuys at 770 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 93°F and low of 65°F; December is the coolest, at 67°F and 45°F. February is the wettest at 3.8 inches of precipitation on average and July and August the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 13.6 inches over 19 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 77 days a year, almost all from April to November. Lows fall below freezing on about 1 nights a year. That 13.6 inches is more than at 88 of the 226 California stations used on this site (39%). Valley Village, 4 miles southeast, has its own station (Burbank Valley Pump Plt, CA): 16.6 inches a year, 3.0 more than here, and an August average high of 88°F against 93°F.
Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Santa Monica, CA, 13 miles south, averaged 69°F in August and 58°F in January and March over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the Santa Monica tide gauge, 13 miles from Van Nuys, has risen 0.60 ± 0.06 inches per decade from 1933 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 6.0 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 28 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Water °F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 68 | 46 | 2.8 | 3 | 58 |
| Feb | 68 | 46 | 3.8 | 4 | 58 |
| Mar | 72 | 49 | 2.5 | 3 | 58 |
| Apr | 75 | 52 | 0.7 | 1 | 59 |
| May | 79 | 56 | 0.3 | 1 | 62 |
| Jun | 84 | 60 | 0.1 | 0 | 66 |
| Jul | 91 | 64 | 0.0 | 0 | 68 |
| Aug | 93 | 65 | 0.0 | 0 | 69 |
| Sep | 90 | 63 | 0.1 | 0 | 69 |
| Oct | 83 | 57 | 0.5 | 1 | 65 |
| Nov | 75 | 49 | 0.8 | 2 | 62 |
| Dec | 67 | 45 | 2.0 | 3 | 60 |
| Year | 79 | 54 | 13.6 | 19 | 63 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Van Nuys Airport, CA (770 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Santa Monica, CA, 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 Van Nuys
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 46 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Van Nuys: 37 flash floods, 6 thunderstorm wind reports and 3 floods. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $313,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 60 mph, on February 16, 2026. February has had the most flash floods, 17 of 37. Of the 550 California cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 525 have had fewer than Van Nuys.
September 22, 2007: flash flood 9 miles from the centre of Van Nuys — $300,000 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 Van Nuys's 4 ZIP codes have filed 39 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $149,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1983: 11 claims (28% of all) and $12,000. 44% 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, 199 have fewer than Van Nuys.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1983 | 11 | $12,000 |
Los Angeles County, which includes Van Nuys, has been named in 88 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1969, 35 of them major disasters (by incident: 61 fires, 10 floods, 8 severe storms, 3 earthquakes). The latest major disaster declaration was Wildfires and Straight-Line Winds, on January 8, 2025. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Los Angeles County a Very High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for inland flooding and lightning; Relatively High for tornadoes, coastal flooding and heat waves; Relatively Moderate for hail and strong wind. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $7.60 billion a year, the highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $2.81 billion (37%), 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 Van Nuys
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