States › California › 1979
California, 1979
The year's recorded storm events, federal disaster declarations and flood insurance claims.
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.
Events by hazard
Includes events recorded by forecast zone. The state's yearly total for 1979 was 10 against 20 in 1978.
Counties with the most recorded events
| County | Events in 1979 |
|---|---|
| Orange County | 4 |
| Los Angeles County | 3 |
| San Diego County | 1 |
| Fresno County | 1 |
| Riverside County | 1 |
Notable events
| Date | County | Event type | Magnitude | Property damage | Deaths | Injuries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 Jan 1979 | Los Angeles | Tornado | — | $2,500,000 | — | — |
| 14 Mar 1979 | Fresno | Tornado | — | $25,000 | — | — |
| 18 Jan 1979 | San Diego | Tornado | F0 | $30 | — | — |
| 31 Jan 1979 | Orange | Tornado | F1 | — | — | — |
Up to 40 events with deaths, injuries, damage of $50,000 or more, or a tornado rating, ranked by deaths, injuries and damage.
Federal disaster declarations in 1979
| Declared | Number | Type | Incident | Title | Counties |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 Oct 1979 | DR-609 | Major disaster | Earthquake | Earthquake | 1 |
| 27 Jul 1979 | DR-594 | Major disaster | Flood | Heavy Rains, Flash Floods & Mud Flows | 1 |
Flood insurance claims with a 1979 date of loss
629 NFIP claims, 381 of them paid, for $2,067,849.
Sources: NOAA NCEI Storm Events through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2 (1 Oct 2026); OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 (8 Sep 2026). Built 1 Oct 2026.