States › California › 2018

California, 2018

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

1,633events recorded1,870 in 2017

152deaths recorded400 injuries

$19Bproperty damage (estimates)$150M crop damage

17disaster declarations395 NFIP claims, $22M 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

Wind319

Other313

Winter311

Flood274

Fog132

Heat102

Hail79

Cold48

Wildfire40

Lightning9

Tornado6

Includes events recorded by forecast zone. The state's yearly total for 2018 was 1,633 against 1,870 in 2017.

Counties with the most recorded events

County	Events in 2018
Mono County	74
San Bernardino County	62
Sonoma County	43
Riverside County	39
El Dorado County	34
Alameda County	30
Santa Clara County	23
San Francisco County	22
Mariposa County	21
Fresno County	20
Sierra County	19
Contra Costa County	18
Lassen County	18
Kern County	18
Placer County	18
Plumas County	16
Inyo County	16
Marin County	15
Nevada County	15
San Diego County	15
Tulare County	14
Alpine County	13
San Mateo County	12
Monterey County	12
Modoc County	11

Notable events

Date	County	Event type	Magnitude	Property damage	Deaths	Injuries
8 Nov 2018	Forecast zone	Wildfire	—	$17,000,000,000	86	12
9 Jan 2018	Santa Barbara	Debris Flow	—	$617,000,000	21	168
23 Jul 2018	Forecast zone	Wildfire	—	$1,500,000,000	4	—
26 Jul 2018	Forecast zone	High Wind	154 mph	—	4	6
8 Nov 2018	Forecast zone	Wildfire	—	—	3	—
8 Nov 2018	Forecast zone	Wildfire	—	—	3	—
8 Nov 2018	Forecast zone	Wildfire	—	—	3	—
8 Nov 2018	Forecast zone	Wildfire	—	—	3	—
8 Nov 2018	Forecast zone	Wildfire	—	—	3	—
13 Jul 2018	Forecast zone	Wildfire	—	—	2	9
13 Jul 2018	Forecast zone	Wildfire	—	—	2	9
22 Mar 2018	Mariposa	Flash Flood	—	$2,000,000	2	—
4 Mar 2018	Forecast zone	Winter Weather	—	—	2	—
25 Dec 2018	Forecast zone	Cold/Wind Chill	—	—	2	—
6 Jul 2018	Forecast zone	Excessive Heat	—	—	1	50
27 Jul 2018	Forecast zone	Wildfire	—	$56,000,000	1	16
14 May 2018	Mariposa	Heavy Rain	—	—	1	1
30 Sep 2018	Riverside	Flash Flood	—	$50,000	1	—
1 Mar 2018	Forecast zone	Blizzard	—	—	1	—
22 Feb 2018	Mono	Winter Weather	—	—	1	—
21 Jun 2018	Forecast zone	Heat	—	—	1	—
3 Jun 2018	Forecast zone	Heat	—	—	1	—
5 Jul 2018	Forecast zone	Wildfire	—	—	1	—
22 Apr 2018	Forecast zone	Cold/Wind Chill	—	—	1	—
31 Dec 2018	Forecast zone	Strong Wind	40 mph	—	1	—
15 Oct 2018	Forecast zone	High Wind	58 mph	—	1	—
30 May 2018	Forecast zone	Dense Fog	—	—	—	20
1 Aug 2018	Forecast zone	Wildfire	—	—	—	19
1 Aug 2018	Forecast zone	Wildfire	—	—	—	19
18 Feb 2018	Humboldt	Hail	0.25 in	—	—	16
1 Aug 2018	Forecast zone	Wildfire	—	—	—	9
21 Mar 2018	Forecast zone	Dense Fog	—	—	—	7
3 Mar 2018	Mono	Avalanche	—	—	—	6
2 Mar 2018	Forecast zone	Avalanche	—	—	—	5
2 Jun 2018	Forecast zone	Wildfire	—	—	—	5
22 Mar 2018	Tuolumne	Flash Flood	—	$43,000,000	—	—
23 Jul 2018	Forecast zone	Wildfire	—	$500,000	—	3
23 Jun 2018	Forecast zone	Wildfire	—	$100,000	—	3
6 Jul 2018	Forecast zone	Wildfire	—	$500,000	—	1
30 Sep 2018	Riverside	Flash Flood	—	$200,000	—	1

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 2018

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Counties
12 Nov 2018	DR-4407	Major disaster	Fire	Wildfires	3
9 Nov 2018	FM-5280	Fire management assistance	Fire	Woolsey Fire	2
9 Nov 2018	EM-3409	Emergency	Fire	Wildfires	3
8 Nov 2018	FM-5279	Fire management assistance	Fire	Hill Fire	1
8 Nov 2018	FM-5278	Fire management assistance	Fire	Camp Fire	1
9 Aug 2018	FM-5268	Fire management assistance	Fire	Holy Fire	1
4 Aug 2018	DR-4382	Major disaster	Fire	Wildfires And High Winds	2
28 Jul 2018	FM-5262	Fire management assistance	Fire	Mendocino Fire Complex	2
28 Jul 2018	EM-3398	Emergency	Fire	Wildfire	1
25 Jul 2018	FM-5260	Fire management assistance	Fire	Cranston Fire	1
23 Jul 2018	FM-5259	Fire management assistance	Fire	Carr Fire	2
7 Jul 2018	FM-5252	Fire management assistance	Fire	Holiday Fire	1
6 Jul 2018	FM-5251	Fire management assistance	Fire	West Fire	1
5 Jul 2018	FM-5250	Fire management assistance	Fire	Klamathon Fire	1
25 Jun 2018	FM-5245	Fire management assistance	Fire	Creek Fire	1
24 Jun 2018	FM-5244	Fire management assistance	Fire	Pawnee Fire	1
2 Jan 2018	DR-4353	Major disaster	Fire	Wildfires, Flooding, Mudflows, And Debris Flows	4

Flood insurance claims with a 2018 date of loss

395 NFIP claims, 230 of them paid, for $22,230,433.

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.