NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Wilmington, 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 Wilmington, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 52 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 52
- 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 Wilmington
The highest rating among the 52 tornadoes within 25 miles is F2, reached 5 times; the most recent, on March 1, 1983, came within 15 miles. Of the 52, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 13 have come since 2000. January has had the most tornadoes, 10. The most recent tornado was on March 13, 2025. Wilmington has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 94% of the 705 California cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 2 times since 1979, with stones up to 1.5 inches (ping pong ball size). Of the 705 California cities, 57% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Wilmington.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Wilmington
By decade
- 2020s5
- 2010s2
- 2000s6
- 1990s15
- 1980s10
- 1970s4
- 1960s8
- 1950s2
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 1, 1983 | F2 | 15 mi | 3.5 mi | 0 / 30 |
| Nov 9, 1982 | F2 | 3 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 7, 1966 | F2 | 22 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 7, 1966 | F2 | 6 mi | 10.3 mi | 0 / 10 |
| Nov 7, 1966 | F2 | 8 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 22, 2023 | EF1 | 17 mi | 0.47 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jan 19, 2010 | EF1 | 9 mi | 4.62 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 9, 1998 | F1 | 5 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Dec 21, 1997 | F1 | 17 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 14, 1993 | F1 | 19 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 7, 1992 | F1 | 20 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 7, 1992 | F1 | 15 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 52, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Wilmington
The Storm Prediction Center has 2 hail reports within 10 miles of Wilmington, all from January 31, 1979. All were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest was 1.5 inches (ping pong ball size).
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Wilmington
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Torrance Airport, CA, 5 miles west of Wilmington at 90 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 78°F and low of 62°F; December is the coolest, at 66°F and 46°F. February is the wettest at 3.7 inches of precipitation on average and August the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 13.8 inches over 22 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 6 days a year, almost all from September to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 1 nights a year. That 13.8 inches is more than at 90 of the 226 California stations used on this site (40%). Signal Hill, 5 miles east, has its own station (Long Beach Daugherty Field, CA): 12.3 inches a year, 1.5 less than here, and an August average high of 83°F against 78°F.
Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Santa Monica, CA, 21 miles northwest, averaged 69°F in August and 58°F in January and March over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the Los Angeles tide gauge, 5 miles from Wilmington, has risen 0.42 ± 0.04 inches per decade from 1923 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 4.2 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 24 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Water °F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 67 | 47 | 3.4 | 5 | 58 |
| Feb | 66 | 48 | 3.7 | 5 | 58 |
| Mar | 68 | 50 | 2.0 | 3 | 58 |
| Apr | 70 | 52 | 0.6 | 1 | 59 |
| May | 72 | 55 | 0.3 | 1 | 62 |
| Jun | 74 | 59 | 0.1 | 0 | 66 |
| Jul | 77 | 62 | 0.1 | 0 | 68 |
| Aug | 78 | 62 | 0.0 | 0 | 69 |
| Sep | 78 | 61 | 0.1 | 0 | 69 |
| Oct | 76 | 57 | 0.5 | 1 | 65 |
| Nov | 71 | 51 | 0.8 | 2 | 62 |
| Dec | 66 | 46 | 2.2 | 4 | 60 |
| Year | 72 | 54 | 13.8 | 22 | 63 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Torrance Airport, CA (90 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 Wilmington
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 27 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Wilmington: 13 flash floods, 7 floods, 6 thunderstorm wind reports and 1 heavy rain event. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $3.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on April 18, 2000. February has had the most flash floods, 5 of 13. Of the 550 California cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 341 have had fewer than Wilmington.
January 19, 2010: flash flood 4 miles from the centre of Wilmington — $3.2 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
Los Angeles County, which includes Wilmington, 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 Wilmington
- Playa Vista, CA2 mi
- Harbor City, CA3 mi
- Lomita, CA3 mi
- Carson, CA4 mi
- San Pedro, CA4 mi
- Signal Hill, CA5 mi
- Long Beach, CA5 mi
- Torrance, CA6 mi
- Rancho Palos Verdes, CA6 mi
- Rolling Hills Estates, CA7 mi
- Gardena, CA8 mi
- Compton, CA8 mi
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