NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Winchester, 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 Winchester, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 19 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 19
- 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 Winchester
The strongest of the 19 tornadoes within 25 miles was an EF2 on May 22, 2008; its path came within 19 miles. Of the 19, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 16 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 5. The most recent tornado was on October 8, 2022. Winchester has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 62% of the 705 California cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 6 times since 1990, with stones up to 1 inch (quarter size). Winchester has more hail reports within 10 miles than 69% of the 705 California cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Winchester
By decade
- 2020s1
- 2010s4
- 2000s11
- 1990s2
- 1970s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 22, 2008 | EF2 | 19 mi | 2.8 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Feb 19, 2005 | F1 | 11 mi | 2.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 20, 1974 | F1 | 10 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Oct 8, 2022 | EF0 | 7 mi | 1.56 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 16, 2018 | EF0 | 23 mi | 0.24 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 17, 2015 | EF0 | 4 mi | 0.04 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 9, 2012 | EF0 | 12 mi | 0.01 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 12, 2012 | EF0 | 11 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 22, 2008 | EF0 | 18 mi | 0.36 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 22, 2008 | EF0 | 19 mi | 0.96 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 22, 2008 | EF0 | 16 mi | 0.89 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 23, 2006 | F0 | 7 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 19, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Winchester
The Storm Prediction Center has 6 hail reports within 10 miles of Winchester since 1990, made on 5 separate days. Of these, one was 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest, 1 inch (quarter size), fell on August 20, 2014. The most recent report is from September 8, 2024.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Winchester
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is San Jacinto, CA, 12 miles northeast of Winchester at 1,525 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 97°F and low of 64°F; December is the coolest, at 65°F and 39°F. February is the wettest at 2.8 inches of precipitation on average and June and August the driest at 0.1 inches; the year adds up to 12.4 inches over 23 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 120 days a year, almost all from March to November. Lows fall below freezing on about 15 nights a year. That 12.4 inches is more than at 72 of the 226 California stations used on this site (32%). Menifee, 7 miles northwest, has its own station (Elsinore, CA): 11.8 inches a year, 0.6 less than here, and an August average high of 98°F against 97°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 66 | 40 | 2.7 | 4 |
| Feb | 66 | 42 | 2.8 | 5 |
| Mar | 70 | 45 | 1.7 | 4 |
| Apr | 74 | 48 | 0.8 | 2 |
| May | 80 | 53 | 0.5 | 1 |
| Jun | 89 | 58 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Jul | 95 | 64 | 0.2 | 0 |
| Aug | 97 | 64 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Sep | 92 | 61 | 0.3 | 1 |
| Oct | 82 | 53 | 0.5 | 1 |
| Nov | 73 | 44 | 0.8 | 2 |
| Dec | 65 | 39 | 1.9 | 3 |
| Year | 79 | 51 | 12.4 | 23 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at San Jacinto, CA (1,525 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 Winchester
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 43 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Winchester: 19 thunderstorm wind reports, 10 floods, 8 flash floods, 5 heavy rain events and 1 lightning strike. They killed 0 people and injured 10, and the NWS estimated $2.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 86 mph, on August 29, 1998. Of the 550 California cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 247 have had fewer than Winchester.
January 20, 2017: flood 7 miles from the centre of Winchester — 10 injured.
August 16, 2012: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Winchester — $2.0 million damage.
August 6, 2005: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Winchester — $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
Riverside County, which includes Winchester, has been named in 66 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 31 of them major disasters (by incident: 38 fires, 13 floods, 7 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Tropical Storm Hilary, on November 21, 2023. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Riverside County a Very High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for inland flooding; Relatively High for heat waves; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail, strong wind and lightning; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $2.27 billion a year, the 2nd highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $1.13 billion (50%), 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.