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California

The recorded hazard history of every county in California: storm events since 1950, federal disaster declarations since 1953, and National Flood Insurance Program claims since 1978.

California has 40,849 weather events in the NCEI Storm Events record since 1950 across 58 counties, led by damaging wind: 26.2 per 100 square miles against 56.0 nationally.

NCEI attributes 1,170 deaths and 4,735 injuries to those events, with property damage estimated at $30B. By events per 100 square miles the leading counties are San Francisco, Santa Cruz and Orange.

FEMA lists 397 disaster declarations touching the state since 1953, most recently Gann Fire (4 Aug 2026). NFIP policyholders filed 53,563 flood claims since 1978, $761M paid; 140,683 residential policies are in force.

1,233events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

40,849events since 195026.2 per 100 sq mi (US 56.0)

397disaster declarations since 1953last 4 Aug 2026

53,563NFIP flood claims$761M paid

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. Storm records through 30 Jun 2026; declarations refreshed 29 Sep 2026; claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

Compared with the United States

Measure	California	US
Recorded events since 1950	40,849	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	26.2	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	10.4	59.6
Deaths recorded by NCEI	1,170	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$30B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	1.4	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$21K	$43K
Residential flood policies in force	140,683	3,139,862

Hazard mix

Wind10,880

Flood7,136

Winter6,961

Other3,621

Heat2,691

Fog2,448

Drought1,870

Cold1,815

Wildfire1,592

Hail936

Tornado488

Lightning355

Tropical56

Hazard	Events	Share of US	Deaths
■ Wind	10,880	1.5%	133
■ Flood	7,136	3.9%	121
■ Winter	6,961	2.4%	76
■ Other	3,621	7.9%	136
■ Heat	2,691	4.8%	230
■ Fog	2,448	13.3%	94
■ Drought	1,870	2.2%	—
■ Cold	1,815	3.4%	64
■ Wildfire	1,592	16.7%	293
■ Hail	936	0.2%	2
■ Tornado	488	0.6%	—
■ Lightning	355	2.0%	16
■ Tropical	56	0.5%	5

Events by decade

Hail: 16Tornado: 22Wind: 27

Hail: 8Tornado: 26Wind: 9

Hail: 9Tornado: 42Wind: 36

Hail: 38Tornado: 63Wind: 95

Hail: 123Tornado: 134Flood: 531Wind: 795Winter: 716Tropical: 19Heat: 34Cold: 107Drought: 2Wildfire: 132Lightning: 44Fog: 55Other: 264

Hail: 302Tornado: 83Flood: 1021Wind: 2357Winter: 2012Tropical: 17Heat: 365Cold: 575Drought: 313Wildfire: 713Lightning: 162Fog: 474Other: 767

Hail: 325Tornado: 83Flood: 2647Wind: 3364Winter: 1935Tropical: 3Heat: 479Cold: 606Drought: 539Wildfire: 398Lightning: 106Fog: 928Other: 1588

Hail: 115Tornado: 35Flood: 2937Wind: 4197Winter: 2298Tropical: 17Heat: 1813Cold: 527Drought: 1016Wildfire: 349Lightning: 43Fog: 991Other: 1002

651950s431960s871970s1961980s2,9561990s9,1612000s13,0012010s15,3402020s

Recorded events in California by decade and hazard group, including events recorded by forecast zone. HailTornadoFloodWindWinterTropicalHeatColdDroughtWildfireLightningFogOther NCEI recorded only tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind before 1996.

Counties by events per 100 square miles

County	Events	Last 12 mo	Per 100 sq mi	Per 10k residents	Dominant	Tornadoes	Hail	Declarations	NFIP claims	NRI risk
San Francisco County	271	8	577.7	3.3	Flood	0	10	11	147	Very High
Santa Cruz County	214	5	48.1	8.0	Flood	8	21	34	1,633	Relatively High
Orange County	352	14	44.4	1.1	Flood	31	13	42	3,839	Very High
San Mateo County	178	19	39.7	2.4	Flood	4	9	24	1,110	Relatively High
Alameda County	241	17	32.7	1.5	Flood	3	20	24	568	Very High
Marin County	167	3	32.1	6.4	Flood	1	12	26	3,301	Relatively High
Mono County	915	30	30.0	690.7	Winter	0	10	14	46	Relatively Low
Sonoma County	423	16	26.8	8.7	Flood	13	21	36	7,403	Relatively High
San Diego County	1,079	32	25.6	3.3	Flood	27	52	51	2,442	Very High
Sacramento County	246	45	25.5	1.5	Flood	15	9	23	3,864	Relatively High
Santa Clara County	271	6	21.0	1.4	Flood	6	35	25	1,630	Very High
Mariposa County	251	0	17.3	146.4	Flood	3	10	24	0	Relatively Moderate
Contra Costa County	108	3	15.1	0.9	Flood	5	14	21	1,202	Very High
Fresno County	863	4	14.5	8.5	Flood	31	85	20	278	Relatively High
El Dorado County	240	12	14.1	12.4	Other	5	22	27	207	Relatively Moderate
Nevada County	126	8	13.2	12.2	Other	1	18	23	63	Relatively Moderate
Napa County	97	3	13.0	7.1	Flood	1	7	39	1,361	Relatively High
Riverside County	933	22	12.9	3.8	Flood	27	31	66	1,636	Very High
Merced County	249	0	12.8	8.7	Flood	17	11	19	499	Relatively High
Los Angeles County	507	52	12.5	0.5	Flood	50	30	88	9,104	Very High
Placer County	167	16	11.9	4.1	Other	6	12	26	628	Relatively Moderate
Tulare County	555	4	11.5	11.6	Flood	14	29	23	366	Relatively High
Kings County	157	0	11.3	10.2	Other	8	24	19	10	Relatively Moderate
Butte County	181	11	11.1	8.7	Flood	18	11	39	335	Relatively Moderate
Kern County	832	24	10.2	9.1	Flood	16	41	40	280	Relatively High
Madera County	207	0	9.7	13.0	Flood	11	24	25	63	Relatively High
Ventura County	166	16	9.0	2.0	Flood	8	5	53	1,331	Relatively High
San Joaquin County	116	16	8.3	1.5	Flood	19	5	25	421	Relatively High
San Bernardino County	1,642	64	8.2	7.5	Flood	33	67	61	864	Very High
Monterey County	247	13	7.5	5.6	Flood	5	21	33	1,492	Relatively High
Yolo County	75	6	7.4	3.5	Flood	4	3	22	340	Relatively Moderate
Humboldt County	235	29	6.6	17.2	Flood	2	29	27	201	Relatively High
Sierra County	60	2	6.3	182.8	Other	0	6	16	26	Very Low
Solano County	52	4	6.3	1.2	Flood	4	6	30	594	Relatively High
Imperial County	257	51	6.2	14.3	Flood	7	10	15	103	Relatively High
Modoc County	246	1	6.2	284.0	Cold	0	7	17	0	Very Low
Alpine County	44	1	6.0	356.3	Other	0	5	15	5	Very Low
Yuba County	38	1	6.0	4.6	Other	4	1	28	320	Relatively Low
Santa Barbara County	157	20	5.7	3.5	Flood	6	6	43	1,309	Relatively High
Sutter County	33	2	5.5	3.3	Flood	6	4	20	199	Relatively Moderate
Stanislaus County	80	5	5.3	1.4	Other	13	4	20	242	Relatively High
Shasta County	193	18	5.1	10.6	Flood	0	26	41	256	Relatively Moderate
Amador County	29	2	4.9	7.0	Flood	0	2	21	78	Relatively Low
Plumas County	120	2	4.7	60.3	Other	0	20	23	57	Relatively Moderate
Tehama County	139	9	4.7	21.2	Flood	13	26	25	428	Relatively Moderate
Calaveras County	47	4	4.6	10.2	Flood	2	3	24	74	Relatively Moderate
Del Norte County	46	2	4.6	16.4	Other	6	3	21	37	Relatively High
Lake County	53	4	4.2	7.7	Flood	0	2	35	1,432	Relatively Moderate
Mendocino County	139	14	4.0	15.2	Flood	4	3	33	183	Relatively High
Glenn County	50	2	3.8	17.4	Flood	11	8	21	195	Relatively Low
Colusa County	35	4	3.0	16.0	Flood	4	1	19	160	Relatively Moderate
Inyo County	302	14	3.0	159.2	Flood	2	6	16	4	Relatively Low
Tuolumne County	66	0	3.0	11.8	Flood	1	6	22	20	Relatively Moderate
San Benito County	38	3	2.7	5.7	Flood	3	3	18	129	Relatively Moderate
Lassen County	112	5	2.5	33.8	Other	4	16	19	52	Relatively Low
San Luis Obispo County	81	10	2.5	2.9	Flood	4	5	28	613	Relatively High
Siskiyou County	151	0	2.4	34.2	Flood	1	23	23	67	Relatively Moderate
Trinity County	72	2	2.3	44.8	Other	0	21	32	23	Relatively Low

Events are county-recorded plus zone-recorded events whose zone is named for the county. NRI risk is FEMA's National Risk Index overall rating (December 2025).

Counties by flood claims per 100 policies in force

County	Claims, last 10 years	Policies in force	Claims per 100 policies	Claims since 1978	Paid
Sonoma County	968	1,790	54.1	7,403	$132M
Calaveras County	30	108	27.8	74	$2.3M
El Dorado County	61	244	25.0	207	$4.0M
Monterey County	244	1,190	20.5	1,492	$42M
Lake County	166	871	19.1	1,432	$14M
Santa Cruz County	375	2,095	17.9	1,633	$25M
Santa Barbara County	396	2,383	16.6	1,309	$31M
Nevada County	18	115	15.7	63	$1.1M
Shasta County	63	551	11.4	256	$4.9M
San Luis Obispo County	132	1,183	11.2	613	$8.6M
San Diego County	560	6,088	9.2	2,442	$48M
San Francisco County	18	204	8.8	147	$2.9M
Los Angeles County	826	10,584	7.8	9,104	$72M
Tehama County	35	523	6.7	428	$5.6M
San Mateo County	221	3,346	6.6	1,110	$20M

Counties with at least 100 residential policies in force. Claims by year of loss in the ten years to 2026, divided by residential policies in force as of 3 Aug 2026; a rough ratio, since policies in force today differ from those in force when the losses occurred.

Federal disaster declarations by year

195319902026

Declarations touching California by year declared, 1953 to 2026; each disaster number counted once.

Incident type	Declarations
Fire	299
Flood	41
Severe Storm	23
Earthquake	14
Hurricane	3
Dam/Levee Break	3
Freezing	3
Biological	2
Coastal Storm	2
Chemical	1

Most recent declarations (each disaster number once, with the number of counties designated):

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Counties
4 Aug 2026	FM-5662	Fire management assistance	Fire	Gann Fire	1
26 Jul 2026	FM-5652	Fire management assistance	Fire	Dove Fire	1
25 May 2026	EM-3646	Emergency	Chemical	Chemical Release	1
20 May 2026	FM-5636	Fire management assistance	Fire	Bain Fire	1
18 May 2026	FM-5635	Fire management assistance	Fire	Sandy Fire	1
3 Sep 2025	FM-5612	Fire management assistance	Fire	2-7 Fire	1
8 Aug 2025	FM-5605	Fire management assistance	Fire	Canyon Fire	1
8 Jan 2025	FM-5551	Fire management assistance	Fire	Hurst Fire	1
8 Jan 2025	FM-5550	Fire management assistance	Fire	Eaton Fire	1
8 Jan 2025	DR-4856	Major disaster	Fire	Wildfires And Straight-Line Winds	1
7 Jan 2025	FM-5549	Fire management assistance	Fire	Palisades Fire	1
10 Dec 2024	FM-5548	Fire management assistance	Fire	Franklin Fire	1
6 Nov 2024	FM-5545	Fire management assistance	Fire	Mountain Fire	1
11 Sep 2024	FM-5538	Fire management assistance	Fire	Airport Fire	1
11 Sep 2024	FM-5537	Fire management assistance	Fire	Bridge Fire	2

Flood insurance claims by year

197820022026

NFIP claims in California by year of loss, 1978 to 2026.

53,563 claims, 35,517 paid, $761M in total; 3,456 repetitive-loss and 537 severe repetitive-loss properties. ZIP codes in California with flood claims (969).

Year by year

Each year's events, declarations and claims: 2026 · 2025 · 2024 · 2023 · 2022 · 2021 · 2020 · 2019 · 2018 · 2017 · 2016 · 2015 · 2014 · 2013 · 2012 · 2011 · 2010 · 2009 · 2008 · 2007 · 2006 · 2005 · 2004 · 2003 · 2002 · 2001 · 2000 · 1999 · 1998 · 1997 · and earlier years back to 1951

Questions and answers

Which California counties have the most recorded tornadoes?

Los Angeles (50), San Bernardino (33) and Fresno (31), by NCEI count since 1950. Larger counties record more events; the state table also ranks by events per 100 square miles.

Which California counties have the most flood insurance claims?

Los Angeles (9,104), Sonoma (7,403) and Sacramento (3,864) since 1978, in the OpenFEMA NFIP claims file.

How many federal disaster declarations has California had?

397 declarations since 1953 (major disaster, emergency and fire management assistance declarations combined), 5 of them in 2026 so far.

How does California compare with the national rate?

26.2 recorded events per 100 square miles against 56.0 nationally; 1.4 NFIP claims per 1,000 residents against 8.1.

Provenance

NOAA NCEI Storm Events through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2 refreshed 29 Sep 2026; OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 as of 8 Sep 2026; NfipResidentialPenetrationRates v1 (3 Aug 2026); FEMA National Risk Index December 2025; US Census Bureau 2021 population and area. Built 30 Sep 2026. Methodology.