States › California › Plumas County

Plumas County, California

Recorded hazard history: storm events since 1950, federal disaster declarations since 1953, flood insurance claims since 1978, and FEMA's risk index.

FIPS 06063 · 19,915 residents (2021) · 2,553 sq mi · dominant hazard Other

Hail · 20Tornado · 0Flood · 18Wind · 2Winter · 0

Plumas County within California. Dots: HailFloodWind event locations in the kept record. Boundaries: US Census Bureau.

NCEI notes that Storm Data is compiled from a variety of sources including the National Weather Service, other federal, state and local agencies, the media and the public; that property and crop damage figures are estimates; and that some events are recorded by NWS forecast zone rather than by county. FEMA notes that NFIP claim records are redacted and aggregated to protect the privacy of policyholders. NCEI storm records through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA declarations refreshed 1 Oct 2026; NFIP claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

Plumas County, California, has 120 weather events in the NCEI Storm Events record since 1950, most of them other events.

That is 4.7 events per 100 square miles, below the California figure of 26.2, and 60.3 per 10,000 residents against 10.4 statewide.

2 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 1 death and 0 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $27M and crop damage at $5K.

FEMA has designated the county in 23 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Severe Winter Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides (major disaster, 3 Apr 2023).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 57 claims since 1978, of which 40 were paid, totalling $1.1M (about $28K per paid claim). FEMA counts 77 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Relatively Moderate" and its expected annual loss as "Relatively Low" ($41M a year across 18 hazards).

2events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

120events since 19501 death, 0 injuries recorded

23disaster declarationslast 3 Apr 2023

57NFIP flood claims$1.1M paid

Compared with California and the United States

Measure	Plumas County	California	US
Recorded events since 1950	120	40,849	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	4.7	26.2	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	60.3	10.4	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	2	1,233	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	1	1,170	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$27M	$30B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	2.9	1.4	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$28K	$21K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	20.8	5.0	16.1

County-recorded events plus zone-recorded events whose forecast zone is named for the county. State and US rows include events recorded only by forecast zone. Rates use 2021 Census population and land area.

Events by decade

Hail: 1Flood: 2Wildfire: 2

Hail: 11Flood: 2Wildfire: 1Lightning: 1Other: 12

Hail: 7Flood: 7Wind: 2Other: 41

Hail: 1Flood: 7Other: 23

01950s01960s01970s01980s51990s272000s572010s312020s

Recorded events in Plumas County by decade and hazard group. HailFloodWindWildfireLightningOther NCEI recorded only tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind before 1996.

Trend: 94 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 25 in the 20 years before. Reporting practice changed in 1996 and again with automated reports in the 2000s, so decade totals measure the record as much as the weather.

Events by type

Other76

Hail20

Flood18

Wildfire3

Wind2

Lightning1

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Other	76	—	2.1%
■ Hail	20	—	2.1%	detail
■ Flood	18	—	0.3%	detail
■ Wildfire	3	—	0.2%
■ Wind	2	—	0.0%
■ Lightning	1	1	0.3%

Hazard pages exist for hail, tornado, flood, wind and winter where the county has at least 10 recorded events. "Other" covers heavy rain, debris flow, dust, funnel clouds and similar reports.

Largest recorded events

Date	Event type	Group	Magnitude	Property damage	Crop damage	Deaths	Injuries	Geography
3 Jun 2009	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	1	—	County
1 Sep 2000	Wildfire	Wildfire	—	$23M	—	—	—	County
7 Feb 2017	Flood	Flood	—	$2.0M	—	—	—	County
31 Dec 2005	Flood	Flood	—	$1.0M	—	—	—	County
3 Jul 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	49 mph	$525K	—	—	—	County
3 Jul 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	49 mph	$150K	—	—	—	County
3 Jul 2015	Flood	Flood	—	$100K	—	—	—	County

Ranked by deaths, then injuries, then NCEI's damage estimate. Deaths and injuries are NCEI counts (direct plus indirect); no personal details are recorded here.

Federal disaster declarations

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Programs
3 Apr 2023	DR-4699	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides	Public assistance
10 Mar 2023	EM-3592	Emergency	Flood	Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides	Public assistance
24 Aug 2021	DR-4610	Major disaster	Fire	Wildfires	Individual assistance, Public assistance
20 Jul 2021	FM-5400	Fire management assistance	Fire	Dixie Fire	Public assistance
9 Sep 2020	FM-5363	Fire management assistance	Fire	Bear Fire	Public assistance
22 Aug 2020	DR-4558	Major disaster	Fire	Wildfires	Public assistance
22 Mar 2020	DR-4482	Major disaster	Biological	Covid-19 Pandemic	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Mar 2020	EM-3428	Emergency	Biological	Covid-19	Public assistance
1 Apr 2017	DR-4308	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides	Public assistance
14 Feb 2017	DR-4301	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides	Public assistance
28 Jun 2008	EM-3287	Emergency	Fire	Wildfires	Public assistance
3 Feb 2006	DR-1628	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Flooding, Mudslides, And Landslides	Public assistance
13 Sep 2005	EM-3248	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Katrina Evacuation	Public assistance
1 Sep 1999	EM-3140	Emergency	Fire	Ca-Wildfires-08/25/1999	Public assistance
4 Jan 1997	DR-1155	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Flooding, Mud And Landslides	Individual assistance, Public assistance
12 Mar 1995	DR-1046	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storms, Flooding Landslides, Mud Flow	Individual assistance, Public assistance
10 Jan 1995	DR-1044	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, Mud Flows	Individual assistance, Public assistance
3 Feb 1993	DR-979	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Winter Storm, Mud & Land Slides, & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
21 Feb 1986	DR-758	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
20 Jan 1977	EM-3023	Emergency	Drought	Drought	Public assistance
16 Feb 1970	DR-283	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
26 Jan 1969	DR-253	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
24 Dec 1964	DR-183	Major disaster	Flood	Heavy Rains & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance

Declarations in which FEMA designated this county, from the OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2). DR: major disaster; EM: emergency; FM: fire management assistance. Programs show whether individual or public assistance was made available.

Flood insurance claims

197820022026

NFIP claims by year of loss in Plumas County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 197857

Paid claims40

Total paid$1.1M

Average paid claim$28K

Repetitive-loss properties41 severe

Residential policies in force770.5% of 14,909 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2019	1	0	$0	—
2017	15	9	$419,854	$46,650
2005	2	2	$10,605	$5,303
2004	1	1	$4,733	$4,733
2000	1	1	$2,800	$2,800
1999	1	0	$0	—
1997	18	15	$491,235	$32,749
1996	6	5	$118,065	$23,613
1995	7	4	$80,808	$20,202
1994	2	1	$288	$288
1993	2	1	$1,626	$1,626
1986	1	1	$2,315	$2,315

OpenFEMA NFIP claims (v3, as of 8 Sep 2026), aggregated by year of loss; amounts are building, contents and increased-cost-of-compliance payments as recorded. Repetitive-loss counts from the NFIP Multiple Loss Properties file (2 Aug 2026); policies in force from the NFIP Residential Penetration Rates file (3 Aug 2026).

National Risk Index

Overall riskRelatively Moderatescore 86.4 of 100

Expected annual loss$41MRelatively Low

Social vulnerabilityVery High

Community resilienceRelatively High

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Inland flooding	Relatively Moderate	$21,791,919
Wildfire	Relatively High	$13,180,493
Earthquake	Relatively Moderate	$5,145,142
Lightning	Relatively Moderate	$493,921
Drought	Relatively Low	$162,410
Heat wave	Very Low	$75,978
Winter weather	Relatively Moderate	$73,205
Tornado	Very Low	$41,717
Landslide	Relatively Moderate	$34,233
Strong wind	Very Low	$28,904
Hail	Very Low	$27,259
Volcanic activity	Relatively Low	$7,686
Avalanche	Very Low	$216

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 release. Ratings are FEMA's relative comparison of counties; expected annual loss is FEMA's modelled estimate of average yearly building, population and agriculture loss. See how to read the NRI.

Hurricane and tropical storm passes

No HURDAT2 track at tropical-storm strength passes within 100 miles of the county's centre point (through the 2025 season).

ZIP codes with flood claims

95947 12
95971 12
96103 11
95984 8
96122 6

ZIP codes whose NFIP claims carry this county's code, with the number of claims. Five or more claims are needed for a ZIP page to be indexed.

Questions and answers

How often does it hail in Plumas County, CA?

NCEI records 20 hail events in Plumas County since 1950, in 12 different years; that is about 0.3 recorded events a year. 2 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Plumas County had a tornado?

NCEI records no tornado in Plumas County since 1950.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Plumas County?

3 Apr 2023: Severe Winter Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides, a major disaster declaration for severe storm. The county appears in 23 declarations since 1953.

How many flood insurance claims have been filed in Plumas County, and how much was paid?

57 NFIP claims since 1978, 40 of them paid, for $1.1M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

Is Plumas County in the National Risk Index's high-risk band?

FEMA's National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the county "Relatively Moderate" for overall risk, "Relatively Low" for expected annual loss, "Very High" for social vulnerability and "Relatively High" for community resilience. These ratings are FEMA's relative comparison across all US counties.

How does Plumas County compare with the rest of California?

4.7 recorded events per 100 square miles against 26.2 statewide, and 2.9 NFIP claims per 1,000 residents against 1.4. The comparison table on this page shows each measure beside the state and national figures.

Provenance

Storm events: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, yearly details files through 30 Jun 2026 (public domain). Declarations: OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2, refreshed 1 Oct 2026. Flood claims: OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 as of 8 Sep 2026; NfipMultipleLossProperties v1 (2 Aug 2026); NfipResidentialPenetrationRates v1 (3 Aug 2026). Risk index: FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025. Hurricane tracks: NHC HURDAT2 through 2025. Population and area: US Census Bureau, 2021 vintage. Built 1 Oct 2026; see the methodology and corrections pages. Hazard hubs: Hail · Tornado · Flood · Wind · Winter.