States › California › 1983
California, 1983
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 1983 was 38 against 32 in 1982.
Counties with the most recorded events
Notable events
| Date | County | Event type | Magnitude | Property damage | Deaths | Injuries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Mar 1983 | Los Angeles | Tornado | F2 | $25,000,000 | — | 30 |
| 1 Oct 1983 | Los Angeles | Tornado | F1 | $2,500 | — | 3 |
| 1 Aug 1983 | San Bernardino | Tornado | F0 | $250,000 | — | 1 |
| 30 Sep 1983 | Los Angeles | Tornado | F0 | $250,000 | — | — |
| 22 Mar 1983 | Sacramento | Tornado | F1 | $250,000 | — | — |
| 22 Mar 1983 | Placer | Tornado | F1 | $250,000 | — | — |
| 27 Feb 1983 | Sonoma | Tornado | F1 | $25,000 | — | — |
| 11 Dec 1983 | Mendocino | Tornado | F0 | $2,500 | — | — |
| 1 Mar 1983 | Los Angeles | Tornado | F0 | $250 | — | — |
| 3 Mar 1983 | Placer | Tornado | F0 | $30 | — | — |
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 1983
| Declared | Number | Type | Incident | Title | Counties |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 Sep 1983 | DR-690 | Major disaster | Flood | Flash Flooding | 2 |
| 1 Jul 1983 | DR-687 | Major disaster | Flood | Flooding | 3 |
| 5 May 1983 | DR-682 | Major disaster | Earthquake | Coalinga Earthquake | 1 |
| 9 Feb 1983 | DR-677 | Major disaster | Coastal Storm | Coastal Storms, Floods, Slides & Tornadoes | 40 |
Flood insurance claims with a 1983 date of loss
4,652 NFIP claims, 3,134 of them paid, for $30,841,614.
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.