NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Yelm, 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 Yelm, Washington since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 11 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 11
- 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 Yelm
The strongest of the 11 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F2 on November 10, 1965; its path came within 21 miles. Of the 11, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 6 have come since 2000. The most recent tornado was on October 4, 2019. Yelm has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 73% of the 226 Washington cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles once, in 1997, with stones of 1.5 inches (ping pong ball size). Yelm has more hail reports within 10 miles than 46% of the 226 Washington cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Yelm
By decade
- 2010s3
- 2000s3
- 1990s2
- 1980s1
- 1970s1
- 1960s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 10, 1965 | F2 | 21 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 30, 2013 | EF1 | 16 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 27, 2004 | F1 | 18 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 31, 1997 | F1 | 24 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 12, 1978 | F1 | 19 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 27, 2014 | EF0 | 15 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 28, 2006 | F0 | 10 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 15, 2003 | F0 | 3 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 6, 1994 | F0 | 20 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 24, 1981 | F0 | 13 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 4, 2019 | Unrated | 15 mi | 0.05 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 11 of 11, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Yelm
The Storm Prediction Center has one hail report within 10 miles of Yelm, from September 1, 1997: 1.5 inches (ping pong ball size).
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Yelm
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Olympia Airport, WA, 17 miles west of Yelm at 188 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 78°F and low of 51°F; December is the coolest, at 45°F and 33°F. November is the wettest at 8.2 inches of precipitation on average and July the driest at 0.5 inches; the year adds up to 50.8 inches over 105 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 7 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 77 nights a year. Snowfall averages 3.9 inches a year, most of it in January. That 50.8 inches is more than at 62 of the 86 Washington stations used on this site (72%). Roy, 6 miles northeast, has its own station (Mcmillin Rsvr, WA): 45.2 inches a year, 5.6 less than here, and an August average high of 77°F against 78°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 46 | 33 | 7.8 | 14 | 2.0 |
| Feb | 49 | 32 | 5.1 | 11 | 0.6 |
| Mar | 54 | 35 | 5.7 | 13 | 0.1 |
| Apr | 59 | 38 | 3.7 | 10 | 0.0 |
| May | 66 | 43 | 2.3 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 71 | 47 | 1.5 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 78 | 51 | 0.5 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 78 | 51 | 1.0 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 72 | 46 | 2.0 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 60 | 41 | 5.1 | 10 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 51 | 36 | 8.2 | 14 | 0.0 |
| Dec | 45 | 33 | 7.9 | 14 | 1.2 |
| Year | 61 | 40 | 50.8 | 105 | 3.9 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Olympia Airport, WA (188 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.
Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings
Flood insurance policyholders in Yelm's ZIP code 98597 have filed 61 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1990, and were paid $592,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1996: 28 claims (46% of all) and $398,000. 54% 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, 78 have fewer than Yelm.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1996 | 28 | $398,000 |
Thurston County, which includes Yelm, has been named in 30 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 26 of them major disasters (by incident: 14 floods, 9 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 earthquakes). 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 Thurston County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for inland flooding and heat waves; Relatively Low for coastal flooding, strong wind and lightning; Very Low for tornadoes and hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $190.6 million a year, the 5th highest of 39 Washington counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $49.7 million (26%), 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 Yelm
- Rainier, WA5 mi
- Roy, WA6 mi
- Tenino, WA13 mi
- Joint Base Lewis Mcchord, WA13 mi
- Eatonville, WA13 mi
- Dupont, WA14 mi
- Spanaway, WA15 mi
- Lacey, WA15 mi
- Graham, WA16 mi
- Mcchord Afb, WA16 mi
- Olympia, WA17 mi
- Lakewood, WA19 mi
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