States › California › 1991
California, 1991
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 1991 was 26 against 23 in 1990.
Counties with the most recorded events
Notable events
| Date | County | Event type | Magnitude | Property damage | Deaths | Injuries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 Dec 1991 | Santa Barbara | Tornado | F0 | $250 | — | 2 |
| 28 Feb 1991 | Tulare | Tornado | F1 | $250,000 | — | 1 |
| 17 Mar 1991 | Kern | Tornado | F1 | $250,000 | — | — |
| 19 Mar 1991 | San Diego | Tornado | F1 | $250,000 | — | — |
| 26 Mar 1991 | San Joaquin | Tornado | F0 | — | — | — |
| 26 Mar 1991 | Merced | Tornado | F0 | — | — | — |
| 27 Mar 1991 | Orange | Tornado | F1 | — | — | — |
| 27 Mar 1991 | San Diego | Tornado | F1 | — | — | — |
| 19 Mar 1991 | Los Angeles | Tornado | F0 | — | — | — |
| 20 Mar 1991 | Riverside | Tornado | F0 | — | — | — |
| 20 Mar 1991 | San Bernardino | Tornado | F0 | — | — | — |
| 20 Mar 1991 | Madera | Tornado | F0 | — | — | — |
| 25 Mar 1991 | Kern | Tornado | F0 | — | — | — |
| 12 Oct 1991 | Kings | Tornado | F0 | — | — | — |
| 28 Feb 1991 | Orange | Tornado | F0 | — | — | — |
| 26 Mar 1991 | Kern | Tornado | F0 | — | — | — |
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 1991
| Declared | Number | Type | Incident | Title | Counties |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 Oct 1991 | DR-919 | Major disaster | Fire | Oakland Hills Fire | 1 |
| 11 Feb 1991 | DR-894 | Major disaster | Freezing | Severe Freeze | 33 |
Flood insurance claims with a 1991 date of loss
267 NFIP claims, 126 of them paid, for $1,199,995.
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.