# Tornadoes in California since 1950: 486, #31 in the US (Map + Data) | InstaMaps

> California has 486 tornadoes (0.7% of the US), #31 by count and #49 per person. From NOAA Storm Prediction Center Severe Weather Database. Map to embed, CSV download.

Source: https://get-instamaps.com/rankings/tornadoes/california

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# Tornadoes in California since 1950

California has recorded **486 tornadoes since 1950**: 0.7% of the US total of 73,424\. That ranks **#31 by count** and **#49 per person** (1.23 per 100,000 residents) of 51.

## Key takeaways

* California has recorded 486 tornadoes since 1950, 0.7% of the US total of 73,424.
* That ranks #31 of 51 by count and #49 per person (1.23 per 100,000 residents).
* Texas has the most, with 9,610.
* California’s busiest year was 2005, with 30 tornadoes; it averages 6.4 a year.
* 0 were rated F4/EF4 or stronger.
* Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center Severe Weather Database, 1950–2025.

#49

national rank (per capita)

486

tornadoes

1.23

per 100k residents

## The data

Source: [NOAA Storm Prediction Center Severe Weather Database](https://www.spc.noaa.gov/wcm/), 1950–2025\. Each tornado at its touchdown point, in the state NOAA records for it. The rating is F-scale before February 2007 and EF-scale after. The 2025 figures can still be revised.

Licence: U.S. government data: no copyright, free to reuse

[California: 486 rows (CSV)](/downloads/tornadoes/california.csv)[All of the US (CSV)](/downloads/tornadoes/us.csv)

## Put this map on your website — free

Local blogs, news sites, parks pages: embed the live interactive map with one snippet. Attribution stays on, that's the whole deal.

`<iframe src="https://get-instamaps.com/embed/rankings/tornadoes/california" width="100%" height="440" style="border:2px solid #111" loading="lazy" title="California tornadoes map — InstaMaps"></iframe>`

## California tornado history, 1950–2025

### By decade

1950s22

1960s26

1970s42

1980s61

1990s137

2000s83

2010s81

2020s34

### By strength

| F0/EF0  | 322 |
| ------- | --- |
| F1/EF1  | 132 |
| F2/EF2  | 24  |
| F3/EF3  | 2   |
| F4/EF4  | 0   |
| F5/EF5  | 0   |
| Unrated | 6   |

F-scale before February 2007, Enhanced Fujita (EF) after. Busiest year: 2005 (30).

## Cite this

"California has recorded 486 tornadoes since 1950, #31 in the US by count and #49 per person (NOAA Storm Prediction Center Severe Weather Database, 1950–2025, mapped by InstaMaps)." Free to quote with a link to this page. Population: US Census 2024 estimates.