NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Yucca Valley, 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 Yucca Valley, California 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 Yucca Valley
The strongest of the 8 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F2 on September 7, 1982; its path came within 5 miles. Of the 8, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 4 have come since 2000. The most recent tornado was on July 19, 2015. Of the 705 California cities on this site, 68% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Yucca Valley. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 9 times since 1997, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Yucca Valley has more hail reports within 10 miles than 85% of the 705 California cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Yucca Valley
By decade
- 2010s1
- 2000s3
- 1980s3
- 1970s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 7, 1982 | F2 | 5 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Aug 4, 2008 | EF1 | 16 mi | 1.08 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 22, 1974 | F1 | 3 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 19, 2015 | EF0 | 10 mi | 0.24 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 14, 2004 | F0 | 12 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 7, 2001 | F0 | 6 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 27, 1987 | F0 | 21 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 1, 1983 | F0 | 8 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 1 |
The strongest 8 of 8, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Yucca Valley
The Storm Prediction Center has 9 hail reports within 10 miles of Yucca Valley since 1997. Of these, 5 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest, 1.75 inches (golf ball size), fell on August 14, 2004. The most recent report is from June 3, 2025.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Yucca Valley
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Yucca Valley, CA, 3 miles southeast of Yucca Valley at 3,249 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 96°F and low of 68°F; December is the coolest, at 58°F and 34°F. January is the wettest at 1.4 inches of precipitation on average and June the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 6.5 inches over 12 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 109 days a year, almost all from April to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 31 nights a year. Snowfall averages 1.7 inches a year, most of it in December. That 6.5 inches is more than at 21 of the 226 California stations used on this site (9%). Joshua Tree, 7 miles east, has its own station (Joshua Tree, CA): 4.6 inches a year, 1.9 less than here, and an August average high of 100°F against 96°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 58 | 38 | 1.4 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Feb | 61 | 39 | 1.2 | 2 | 0.7 |
| Mar | 67 | 40 | 0.8 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Apr | 73 | 47 | 0.3 | 1 | 0.0 |
| May | 82 | 52 | 0.1 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 91 | 59 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 96 | 66 | 0.5 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 96 | 68 | 0.2 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 89 | 60 | 0.2 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 80 | 50 | 0.6 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 66 | 41 | 0.3 | 1 | 0.1 |
| Dec | 58 | 34 | 0.9 | 2 | 0.9 |
| Year | 77 | 49 | 6.5 | 12 | 1.7 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Yucca Valley, CA (3,249 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 Yucca Valley
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 84 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Yucca Valley: 71 flash floods, 5 thunderstorm wind reports, 4 lightning strikes, 2 floods and 2 heavy rain events. They killed 1 person and injured 6, and the NWS estimated $2.4 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 70 mph, on January 22, 1996. August has had the most flash floods, 26 of 71. Of the 550 California cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 547 have had fewer than Yucca Valley.
September 16, 2014: flash flood 5 miles from the centre of Yucca Valley — 1 killed, $750,000 damage.
NWS: “Severe flooding impacted much of Joshua Tree. Many roads were covered with water, mud, and rocks.”
February 28, 2014: flash flood 3 miles from the centre of Yucca Valley — 3 injured, $50,000 damage.
NWS: “Several roads in Yucca Valley were closed due to flooding. The heavy rain also contributed to at least six accidents and three injuries.”
January 26, 2015: heavy rain event 5 miles from the centre of Yucca Valley — 2 injured, $50,000 damage.
NWS: “Rain, low clouds, and fog led to four car crashes in the Morongo Basin with two (indirect) injuries.”
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 Yucca Valley's ZIP code 92284 have filed 37 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1984, and were paid $295,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 2003, with 20. 3% 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, 189 have fewer than Yucca Valley.
San Bernardino County, which includes Yucca Valley, has been named in 61 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 30 of them major disasters (by incident: 33 fires, 13 floods, 7 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 San Bernardino County a Very High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for inland flooding; Relatively High for strong wind, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes and hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $2.08 billion a year, the 3rd highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $959.6 million (46%), 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 Yucca Valley
- Joshua Tree, CA7 mi
- Landers, CA10 mi
- Morongo Valley, CA11 mi
- Desert Hot Springs, CA16 mi
- Twentynine Palms, CA21 mi
- Thousand Palms, CA24 mi
- Palm Springs, CA24 mi
- Sugarloaf, CA25 mi
- Cathedral City, CA25 mi
- Big Bear City, CA26 mi
- Cabazon, CA27 mi
- Rancho Mirage, CA28 mi
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