Menlo Park, CA Tornado History — 11 Tornadoes Since 1950
How many tornadoes has Menlo Park, CA had?
Menlo Park has had 11 tornadoes on record within 25 miles since 1950.
When was the most recent tornado near Menlo Park?
The most recent tornado within 25 miles of Menlo Park was a F1 on March 20, 2005.
When is tornado season in Menlo Park?
January is historically the peak month for tornadoes near Menlo Park, with 2 on record. Spring through early summer (April–June) generally sees the highest activity across most of the central and southern United States.
At a Glance
Tornadoes by Decade
Tornadoes by Enhanced Fujita Rating
F0–F5 ratings (pre-2007) are grouped with their EF equivalents. The Enhanced Fujita scale replaced the original Fujita scale in February 2007.
Tornadoes by Month
Have any tornadoes near Menlo Park been fatal?
No fatalities are on record within 25 miles of Menlo Park from any of the 11 tornadoes since 1950, though 3 injuries have been reported. NOAA Storm Prediction Center records.
Notable Tornadoes Near Menlo Park
About Tornadoes in Menlo Park
This overview was written April 23, 2026. The tornado counts and notable-event figures elsewhere on this page reflect the latest data and may differ from this summary.
Menlo Park, California, situated on the San Francisco Peninsula, has experienced 11 documented tornadoes within a 25-mile radius since 1950, according to the NOAA Storm Prediction Center. This relatively modest count reflects the region's location along the Pacific Coast, where tornado formation is far less common than in the central United States due to cooler ocean temperatures and different atmospheric dynamics that rarely produce the severe thunderstorms necessary for tornadic development.
The recorded tornadoes have been distributed unevenly across the decades, with the 1990s accounting for more than half of all events with six tornadoes, while the 1950s and 1980s each saw two tornadoes, and the 2000s recorded one. In terms of intensity, the storms have remained on the lower end of the Enhanced Fujita scale: five were rated EF0, four reached EF1 intensity, and two achieved EF2 status. Notably, none of the tornadoes on record resulted in any fatalities, underscoring both their relatively weak nature and the area's lower population density during earlier events.
January emerges as the peak month for tornado activity near Menlo Park with two recorded events, an unusual pattern compared to the spring and early summer peak seen in most tornado-prone regions of the country. The costliest and longest-tracked tornado occurred on January 11, 1951, when an F2-rated storm carved a 5.7-mile path with a maximum width of just 10 yards, causing $2,750,000 in property damage. The widest tornado on record touched down on May 6, 1998, reaching 100 yards across during its 0.6-mile track, though it caused minimal documented damage.
The most recent tornado struck on March 20, 2005, when an F1 tornado traveled three miles with a maximum width of 30 yards, resulting in negligible property damage. The Enhanced Fujita scale, implemented in 2007 to replace the original Fujita scale, rates tornadoes from EF0 to EF5 based on estimated wind speeds and the damage they inflict on structures and vegetation, providing meteorologists with a standardized method for assessing tornado intensity after the fact.