NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Visalia, 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 Visalia, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 18 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 18
- 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 Visalia
The strongest of the 18 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F2 on April 5, 1980; its path came within 9 miles. Of the 18, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 4 have come since 2000. March has had the most tornadoes, 7. The most recent tornado was on March 22, 2018. Visalia has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 59% of the 705 California cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 9 times since 1983, with stones up to 1 inch (quarter size). Visalia has more hail reports within 10 miles than 85% of the 705 California cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Visalia
By decade
- 2010s2
- 2000s2
- 1990s7
- 1980s6
- 1970s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 5, 1980 | F2 | 9 mi | 15 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Feb 28, 1991 | F1 | 8 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Mar 8, 1986 | F1 | 22 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 28, 1982 | F1 | 18 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Mar 22, 2018 | EF0 | 11 mi | 1.19 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 9, 2012 | EF0 | 16 mi | 0.27 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 27, 2008 | EF0 | 1 mi | 2.03 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 20, 2004 | F0 | 10 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 20, 1997 | F0 | 10 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 1, 1996 | F0 | 12 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 12, 1996 | F0 | 19 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 12, 1996 | F0 | 19 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 18, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Visalia
The Storm Prediction Center has 9 hail reports within 10 miles of Visalia since 1983, made on 8 separate days. 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 April 11, 2012. The most recent report is from April 5, 2024.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Visalia
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Visalia, CA, in Visalia at 303 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 94°F and low of 67°F; December is the coolest, at 55°F and 38°F. January is the wettest at 2.0 inches of precipitation on average and July and August the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 10.4 inches over 26 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 95 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 9 nights a year. That 10.4 inches is more than at 45 of the 226 California stations used on this site (20%). Exeter, 11 miles east, has its own station (Lemon Cove, CA): 14.1 inches a year, 3.7 more than here, and a July average high of 100°F against 94°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 55 | 38 | 2.0 | 5 |
| Feb | 61 | 42 | 1.6 | 5 |
| Mar | 67 | 45 | 1.8 | 4 |
| Apr | 73 | 49 | 1.0 | 2 |
| May | 81 | 55 | 0.4 | 1 |
| Jun | 89 | 62 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Jul | 94 | 67 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Aug | 93 | 65 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Sep | 88 | 60 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Oct | 78 | 52 | 0.6 | 1 |
| Nov | 64 | 43 | 1.0 | 2 |
| Dec | 55 | 38 | 1.8 | 4 |
| Year | 75 | 51 | 10.4 | 26 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Visalia, CA (303 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 Visalia
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 62 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Visalia: 46 floods, 10 thunderstorm wind reports, 4 heavy rain events and 2 flash floods. They killed 2 people and injured 0, and the NWS estimated $6.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 71 mph, on October 29, 2007.
January 10, 2023: flood 7 miles from the centre of Visalia — 2 killed, $100,000 damage.
NWS: “The Tulare County Emergency Manager reported that flooding from heavy rainfall resulted in a large eucalyptus tree falling on northbound SR 99 causing a multi-car chain reaction crash at the intersection of SR 99 and Betty Dr. in Goshen which caused one fatality.”
January 3, 2011: flood 1 mile from the centre of Visalia — $4.5 million damage.
NWS: “5) million dollars estimated damage to Tulare County roads from December 17th to Jjanuary 2nd storms.”
December 19, 2010: flood 1 mile from the centre of Visalia — $1.0 million damage.
NWS: “Local emergency management reported Highway 198 was shut down east of Akers Ave in Visalia due to severe flooding. The roadway was closed off and on for several days due to periodic flooding.”
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 Visalia's 3 ZIP codes have filed 75 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $387,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 2006, with 11. 15% 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, 287 have fewer than Visalia.
Tulare County, which includes Visalia, 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 Visalia
- Ivanhoe, CA6 mi
- Farmersville, CA6 mi
- Tulare, CA10 mi
- Exeter, CA11 mi
- Cutler, CA12 mi
- Woodlake, CA13 mi
- Dinuba, CA14 mi
- Lindsay, CA16 mi
- Orosi, CA16 mi
- Kingsburg, CA18 mi
- Strathmore, CA18 mi
- Hanford, CA19 mi
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