NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Yakima, WA
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 Yakima, Washington since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 8 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 8
- 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 Yakima
The strongest of the 8 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F2 on April 30, 1957; its path came within 3 miles. Of the 8, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 5 have come since 2000. The most recent tornado was on April 7, 2008. Yakima has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 57% of the 226 Washington cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 8 times since 2005, with stones up to 1 inch (quarter size). Yakima has more hail reports within 10 miles than 91% of the 226 Washington cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Yakima
By decade
- 2000s5
- 1990s2
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 30, 1957 | F2 | 3 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 7, 2008 | EF0 | 3 mi | 0.05 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 9, 2005 | F0 | 4 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 23, 2005 | F0 | 20 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 23, 2005 | F0 | 25 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 15, 2000 | F0 | 18 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 9, 1999 | F0 | 6 mi | — | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 26, 1997 | F0 | 17 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 8 of 8, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Yakima
The Storm Prediction Center has 8 hail reports within 10 miles of Yakima since 2005, 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 July 31, 2010. The most recent report is from May 23, 2015.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Yakima
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Yakima #2, WA, 1 mile southwest of Yakima at 1,142 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 88°F and low of 60°F; December is the coolest, at 38°F and 26°F. December is the wettest at 1.4 inches of precipitation on average and August the driest at 0.2 inches; the year adds up to 8.6 inches. Highs reach 90°F on about 38 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 109 nights a year. That 8.6 inches is more than at 10 of the 86 Washington stations used on this site (12%). Selah, 9 miles north, has its own station (Selah 2 NE, WA): 8.6 inches a year, the same as here, and the same July average high, 88°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 40 | 27 | 1.2 |
| Feb | 48 | 30 | 0.9 |
| Mar | 57 | 34 | 0.7 |
| Apr | 65 | 40 | 0.6 |
| May | 74 | 48 | 0.8 |
| Jun | 80 | 54 | 0.6 |
| Jul | 88 | 60 | 0.3 |
| Aug | 88 | 59 | 0.2 |
| Sep | 79 | 51 | 0.3 |
| Oct | 64 | 40 | 0.7 |
| Nov | 49 | 32 | 0.9 |
| Dec | 38 | 26 | 1.4 |
| Year | 64 | 42 | 8.6 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Yakima #2, WA (1,142 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 Yakima
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 23 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Yakima: 12 floods, 6 thunderstorm wind reports, 4 flash floods and 1 heavy rain event. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $1.9 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 70 mph, on May 21, 2015.
January 7, 2009: flood 10 miles from the centre of Yakima — $1.6 million damage.
March 6, 2016: flood 4 miles from the centre of Yakima — $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 Yakima's 4 ZIP codes have filed 175 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $1.4 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1996: 46 claims (26% of all) and $161,000. 27% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 128 Washington cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 106 have fewer than Yakima.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1996 | 46 | $161,000 |
Yakima County, which includes Yakima, has been named in 39 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 17 of them major disasters (by incident: 20 fires, 10 floods, 3 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, on April 7, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Yakima County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for hail, inland flooding, strong wind, lightning and heat waves; Very Low for tornadoes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $119.8 million a year, the 8th highest of 39 Washington counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $43.5 million (36%), 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 Yakima
- Selah, WA9 mi
- Wapato, WA10 mi
- Moxee, WA11 mi
- Tieton, WA12 mi
- Zillah, WA18 mi
- Toppenish, WA20 mi
- Naches, WA21 mi
- Granger, WA25 mi
- Ellensburg, WA29 mi
- Sunnyside, WA32 mi
- Mattawa, WA33 mi
- Mabton, WA38 mi
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