States › California › Sonoma County

Sonoma 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 06097 · 485,887 residents (2021) · 1,576 sq mi · dominant hazard Flood

Hail · 21Tornado · 13Flood · 300Wind · 1Winter · 0

Sonoma County within California. Dots: HailTornadoFloodWind 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.

Sonoma County, California, has 423 weather events in the NCEI Storm Events record since 1950, most of them floods and flash floods.

That is 26.8 events per 100 square miles, in line with the California figure of 26.2, and 8.7 per 10,000 residents against 10.4 statewide.

16 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 10 deaths and 9 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $219M and crop damage at $26M.

FEMA has designated the county in 36 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 7,403 claims since 1978, of which 6,240 were paid, totalling $132M (about $21K per paid claim). FEMA counts 1,790 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Relatively High" and its expected annual loss as "Relatively High" ($605M a year across 18 hazards).

16events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

423events since 195010 deaths, 9 injuries recorded

36disaster declarationslast 3 Apr 2023

7,403NFIP flood claims$132M paid

Compared with California and the United States

Measure	Sonoma County	California	US
Recorded events since 1950	423	40,849	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	26.8	26.2	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	8.7	10.4	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	16	1,233	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	10	1,170	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$219M	$30B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	15.2	1.4	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$21K	$21K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	54.1	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

Tornado: 2

Tornado: 1

Tornado: 6Flood: 13Other: 2

Hail: 1Tornado: 2Flood: 6Lightning: 1Other: 4

Hail: 14Tornado: 1Flood: 216Lightning: 1Other: 75

Hail: 6Flood: 65Wind: 1Lightning: 1Other: 4

21950s11960s01970s11980s211990s142000s3072010s772020s

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

Trend: 378 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 29 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

Flood300

Other85

Hail21

Tornado13

Lightning3

Wind1

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Flood	300	6	4.2%	detail
■ Other	85	4	2.3%
■ Hail	21	—	2.2%	detail
■ Tornado	13	—	2.7%	detail
■ Lightning	3	—	0.8%
■ Wind	1	—	0.0%

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
22 Dec 2012	Heavy Rain	Other	—	$30K	—	1	2	County
5 May 2009	Heavy Rain	Other	—	$50K	—	1	1	County
16 Dec 2008	Heavy Rain	Other	—	$25K	—	1	—	County
31 Dec 1996	Flash Flood	Flood	—	—	—	1	—	County
7 Jan 2019	Flood	Flood	—	—	—	1	—	County
16 Jan 2019	Heavy Rain	Other	—	—	—	1	—	County
9 Jan 2023	Flood	Flood	—	—	—	1	—	County
23 Nov 2024	Flood	Flood	—	—	—	1	—	County
4 Feb 2025	Flood	Flood	—	—	—	1	—	County
5 Feb 2025	Flood	Flood	—	—	—	1	—	County
31 Dec 2005	Flood	Flood	—	$104M	$3.0M	—	—	County
1 Jan 2006	Flood	Flood	—	$104M	$3.0M	—	—	County
5 Feb 2025	Flood	Flood	—	$10	—	—	2	County
4 Jun 2011	Heavy Rain	Other	—	—	$20M	—	—	County
25 Jan 2001	Lightning	Lightning	—	$1.0M	—	—	1	County
3 Feb 1998	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$200K	$159K	—	1	County
23 Dec 1996	Tornado	Tornado	F0	$500	$500	—	1	County
2 Jan 1998	Heavy Rain	Other	—	—	—	—	1	County
3 Feb 1998	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$5.0M	—	—	—	County
2 Feb 1998	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$2.0M	—	—	—	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
14 Jan 2023	DR-4683	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides	Public assistance
9 Jan 2023	EM-3591	Emergency	Flood	Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides	Public assistance
16 Oct 2020	DR-4569	Major disaster	Fire	Wildfires	Individual assistance, Public assistance
27 Sep 2020	FM-5376	Fire management assistance	Fire	Glass Fire	Public assistance
22 Aug 2020	DR-4558	Major disaster	Fire	Wildfires	Individual assistance, Public assistance
18 Aug 2020	FM-5331	Fire management assistance	Fire	Lnu Lightning Fire Complex	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
24 Oct 2019	FM-5295	Fire management assistance	Fire	Kincade Fire	Public assistance
17 May 2019	DR-4434	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides	Public assistance
10 Oct 2017	DR-4344	Major disaster	Fire	Wildfires	Individual assistance, Public assistance
9 Oct 2017	FM-5222	Fire management assistance	Fire	Partrick Fire	Public assistance
9 Oct 2017	FM-5220	Fire management assistance	Fire	Nuns Fire	Public assistance
9 Oct 2017	FM-5215	Fire management assistance	Fire	Tubbs Fire	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
13 Sep 2015	FM-5112	Fire management assistance	Fire	Valley Fire	Public assistance
5 Jun 2006	DR-1646	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides	Public assistance
3 Feb 2006	DR-1628	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Flooding, Mudslides, And Landslides	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Sep 2005	EM-3248	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Katrina Evacuation	Public assistance
4 Sep 2004	FM-2554	Fire management assistance	Fire	Ca-Geysers Fire-09-04-2004	Public assistance
9 Feb 1998	DR-1203	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance, 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
13 Sep 1994	DR-1038	Major disaster	Fishing Losses	The El Nino (The Salmon Industry)	Individual assistance
3 Feb 1993	DR-979	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Winter Storm, Mud & Land Slides, & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
11 Feb 1991	DR-894	Major disaster	Freezing	Severe Freeze	Individual assistance
21 Feb 1986	DR-758	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
9 Feb 1983	DR-677	Major disaster	Coastal Storm	Coastal Storms, Floods, Slides & Tornadoes	Individual assistance, Public assistance
7 Jan 1982	DR-651	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms, Flood, Mudslides & High Tide	Individual assistance, Public assistance
20 Jan 1977	EM-3023	Emergency	Drought	Drought	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 Sonoma County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 19787,403

Paid claims6,240

Total paid$132M

Average paid claim$21K

Repetitive-loss properties875242 severe

Residential policies in force1,7901.1% of 167,061 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2026	3	1	$38,653	$38,653
2025	29	22	$1,015,480	$46,158
2024	33	29	$353,099	$12,176
2023	38	33	$229,405	$6,952
2022	1	1	$11,394	$11,394
2021	5	4	$137,251	$34,313
2019	735	654	$29,133,280	$44,546
2018	4	2	$157,378	$78,689
2017	121	94	$2,121,309	$22,567
2016	5	3	$5,821	$1,940
2015	1	1	$6,293	$6,293
2014	33	25	$419,893	$16,796
2012	8	5	$103,492	$20,698
2011	4	1	$995	$995
2010	4	2	$31,078	$15,539
2008	19	17	$769,332	$45,255
2007	1	1	$927	$927
2006	162	146	$4,019,743	$27,532
2005	524	487	$17,568,542	$36,075
2004	37	28	$394,464	$14,088
2003	9	6	$37,510	$6,252
2002	56	39	$532,380	$13,651
2001	15	7	$82,790	$11,827
2000	5	4	$37,825	$9,456
1999	11	7	$55,644	$7,949

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 Highscore 99.1 of 100

Expected annual loss$605MRelatively High

Social vulnerabilityRelatively Low

Community resilienceRelatively High

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Earthquake	Relatively High	$283,623,246
Inland flooding	Relatively High	$279,786,337
Wildfire	Relatively High	$16,831,009
Drought	Relatively High	$14,405,968
Landslide	Relatively High	$5,043,958
Heat wave	Relatively Moderate	$2,984,808
Coastal flooding	Relatively Moderate	$1,074,879
Lightning	Relatively Moderate	$341,477
Tsunami	Very Low	$243,872
Tornado	Very Low	$162,646
Strong wind	Very Low	$118,873
Hail	Very Low	$59,923
Winter weather	Very Low	$6,414
Volcanic activity	Relatively Low	$2,854
Avalanche	Very Low	$10

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

95446 3,952
95462 1,090
95436 855
94952 457
95448 126
95472 125
95421 95
95476 93
95430 75
95471 61
95401 52
95492 40
94954 38
95441 38
95442 38
95425 33
95452 30
95404 21
95407 20
95465 20
95486 16
94923 13
95403 11
95405 11
95409 10
95466 10
94922 9
94931 6
94131 5
94928 5
95450 5

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 Sonoma County, CA?

NCEI records 21 hail events in Sonoma County since 1950, in 6 different years; that is about 0.3 recorded events a year. 0 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Sonoma County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 13 tornadoes in Sonoma County since 1950, 1 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 0.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Sonoma 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 36 declarations since 1953.

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

7,403 NFIP claims since 1978, 6,240 of them paid, for $132M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

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

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

How does Sonoma County compare with the rest of California?

26.8 recorded events per 100 square miles against 26.2 statewide, and 15.2 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.