States › California › 2004

California, 2004

The year's recorded storm events, federal disaster declarations and flood insurance claims.

756events recorded811 in 2003

9deaths recorded90 injuries

$55Mproperty damage (estimates)$350K crop damage

23disaster declarations506 NFIP claims, $6.3M 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.

Events by hazard

Winter178

Wind168

Flood128

Other69

Wildfire63

Cold49

Fog40

Heat17

Hail16

Tornado10

Drought8

Lightning7

Tropical3

Includes events recorded by forecast zone. The state's yearly total for 2004 was 756 against 811 in 2003.

Counties with the most recorded events

County	Events in 2004
San Bernardino County	57
San Diego County	48
Riverside County	25
Mono County	24
Orange County	15
Los Angeles County	12
Modoc County	10
Santa Barbara County	9
Fresno County	9
Ventura County	7
Kern County	7
Tulare County	5
San Mateo County	5
Plumas County	4
Merced County	4
Mariposa County	4
San Francisco County	4
San Luis Obispo County	3
Inyo County	3
Napa County	3
Santa Cruz County	3
Siskiyou County	3
Santa Clara County	2
Lassen County	2
Imperial County	2

Notable events

Date	County	Event type	Magnitude	Property damage	Deaths	Injuries
15 Aug 2004	Inyo	Flash Flood	—	$20,000,000	2	—
19 Oct 2004	Forecast zone	Winter Storm	—	—	2	—
10 Sep 2004	San Bernardino	Lightning	—	—	1	1
27 Nov 2004	Forecast zone	Strong Wind	47 mph	—	1	1
20 Oct 2004	San Bernardino	Flash Flood	—	$100,000	1	—
30 Dec 2004	San Luis Obispo	Heavy Rain	—	—	1	—
20 Oct 2004	Los Angeles	Flash Flood	—	—	1	—
1 Apr 2004	Forecast zone	Dense Fog	—	$1,450,000	—	24
3 May 2004	Forecast zone	Wildfire	—	$3,600,000	—	10
29 Jun 2004	Forecast zone	Dense Fog	—	$75,000	—	10
2 May 2004	Forecast zone	Wildfire	—	$4,470,000	—	8
13 Jul 2004	Forecast zone	Wildfire	—	$520,000	—	7
11 Jul 2004	Forecast zone	Wildfire	—	—	—	7
22 Jul 2004	Forecast zone	Wildfire	—	—	—	3
13 Jul 2004	Forecast zone	Wildfire	—	$25,000	—	3
14 Jul 2004	Forecast zone	Wildfire	—	—	—	3
9 Jan 2004	Forecast zone	High Wind	58 mph	$40,000	—	2
2 Feb 2004	Forecast zone	Cold/Wind Chill	—	—	—	2
14 Aug 2004	San Bernardino	Flash Flood	—	$5,000,000	—	1
17 Jul 2004	Forecast zone	Wildfire	—	$163,500	—	1
22 Jan 2004	Forecast zone	High Wind	58 mph	$150,000	—	1
25 Feb 2004	Forecast zone	Strong Wind	41 mph	$50,000	—	1
22 Feb 2004	San Diego	Flash Flood	—	$20,000	—	1
2 Jul 2004	Mono	Lightning	—	—	—	1
16 Dec 2004	Forecast zone	Wildfire	—	—	—	1
1 Jul 2004	Forecast zone	Wildfire	—	—	—	1
21 Jul 2004	Forecast zone	Wildfire	—	—	—	1
29 Dec 2004	San Diego	Thunderstorm Wind	58 mph	$5,000,000	—	—
25 Feb 2004	San Francisco	Flood	—	$3,000,000	—	—
25 Apr 2004	Forecast zone	Wildfire	—	$1,920,000	—	—
10 Sep 2004	San Diego	Flash Flood	—	$1,000,000	—	—
20 Oct 2004	San Bernardino	Flash Flood	—	$1,000,000	—	—
20 Oct 2004	San Bernardino	Flash Flood	—	$700,000	—	—
25 Feb 2004	San Mateo	Flood	—	$500,000	—	—
14 Aug 2004	San Bernardino	Flash Flood	—	$500,000	—	—
20 Oct 2004	Riverside	Flash Flood	—	$500,000	—	—
20 Oct 2004	San Bernardino	Flash Flood	—	$320,000	—	—
3 Sep 2004	Forecast zone	Wildfire	—	$250,000	—	—
21 Nov 2004	Forecast zone	Heavy Snow	—	$250,000	—	—
25 Feb 2004	Forecast zone	Strong Wind	46 mph	$150,000	—	—

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 2004

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Counties
13 Sep 2004	FM-2555	Fire management assistance	Fire	Rix-Ca-Old Highway Wildfire 9/13/04	1
4 Sep 2004	FM-2554	Fire management assistance	Fire	Ca-Geysers Fire-09-04-2004	2
3 Sep 2004	FM-2553	Fire management assistance	Fire	Ca-Pattison Fire-09-03-2004	1
2 Sep 2004	FM-2552	Fire management assistance	Fire	Ca-Bear Fire-09-02-2004	1
14 Aug 2004	FM-2548	Fire management assistance	Fire	Ca-Lake Fire 08-14-2004	1
14 Aug 2004	FM-2547	Fire management assistance	Fire	Ca-French Fire 08-14-2004	1
11 Aug 2004	FM-2545	Fire management assistance	Fire	Ca Oregon Fire 08-11-2004	1
11 Aug 2004	FM-2544	Fire management assistance	Fire	Ca-Bear Fire-08-11-2004	1
8 Aug 2004	FM-2541	Fire management assistance	Fire	Ca-Stevens Fire-08--8-2004	1
7 Aug 2004	FM-2540	Fire management assistance	Fire	Ca-Calaveras Complex-08-07-2004	1
21 Jul 2004	FM-2535	Fire management assistance	Fire	Ca-Crown Wildfire-07-21-2004	1
18 Jul 2004	FM-2534	Fire management assistance	Fire	Ca-Foothill Wildfire-07-18-2004	1
18 Jul 2004	FM-2533	Fire management assistance	Fire	Ca-Melton Wildfire-07-18-2004	1
14 Jul 2004	FM-2532	Fire management assistance	Fire	Ca-Hollow Fire-07-14-2004	1
14 Jul 2004	FM-2530	Fire management assistance	Fire	Ca-Lakeview-07-14-2004	1
14 Jul 2004	FM-2529	Fire management assistance	Fire	Ca - Mataguay Fire - 7-13-2004	1
14 Jul 2004	FM-2528	Fire management assistance	Fire	Ca - Pine Fire - 7-13-2004	1
30 Jun 2004	DR-1529	Major disaster	Dam/Levee Break	Flooding As A Result Of A Levee Break	1
5 Jun 2004	FM-2519	Fire management assistance	Fire	Ca-Gaviota Fire-06-05-2004	1
4 May 2004	FM-2517	Fire management assistance	Fire	Ca-Cerritos Fire-5-04-2004	1
4 May 2004	FM-2516	Fire management assistance	Fire	Ca-Eagle Fire-05-04-2004	1
26 Apr 2004	FM-2515	Fire management assistance	Fire	Ca - Pleasure Fire - 04-25-2004	1
13 Jan 2004	DR-1505	Major disaster	Earthquake	Earthquake	2

Flood insurance claims with a 2004 date of loss

506 NFIP claims, 328 of them paid, for $6,334,800.

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.