1,432 flood insurance claims·$14.1M paid·7 federal flood & hurricane disasters
Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.
Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Lake County, California. Zoomed out they are simplified; at street level the map switches to FEMA’s exact layer. Tap anywhere to check that spot, or search an address above.
River and general flooding dominate the historical flood profile of Lake County, accounting for 21 recorded events and one death over the last thirty years, alongside two flash flood events. Recent severe weather events underscore this risk, including a series of atmospheric rivers and rising river threats in February 2025, as well as heavy rain and a cyclone in February 2024 that generated some of the highest flows on local creeks in recent years.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data demonstrates that flood risks extend across multiple zones, with the vast majority concentrated in high-risk areas. Zone A has accumulated 1,215 claims with an average payout of $13,288 and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches. Moderate-to-low risk areas also experience impacts, including 75 claims in unshaded Zone X averaging $9,077 with an average depth of 5 inches, 74 claims in shaded Zone X averaging $12,822 with an average depth of 4 inches, and 59 claims in Zone X averaging $14,229 with an average depth of 4 inches. An additional 6 claims were recorded in unknown zones with an average payout of $4,369 and an average depth of 1 inch.
Homeowners and real estate professionals near creeks, rivers, and low-elevation areas within Zone A should pay the closest attention to flood risks, while properties in various Zone X designations must also account for documented historical claims and standing water depths.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
11% of Lake County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
1,364 NFIP claims with a recorded rated flood zone, 1978 to date. The zone is the one FEMA used to rate that policy, which may not match today’s map. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 5 inches.
Drawn to scale against an 80-inch door. Even a few inches soaks flooring, the bottom of the drywall and anything plugged in near the floor.
Average of the depths reported on claims (zero and implausible values left out); FEMA’s record doesn’t say exactly where each depth was measured. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
The worst year was 1998, with 477 claims and $4.7M paid, the year of Severe Winter Storms and Flooding.
Bar height is scaled by square root so ordinary years stay visible next to the worst one. NFIP claims by year of loss. Source: OpenFEMA.
6 NOAA storm reports from Lake County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the California flood stories →
35 federal disaster declarations since 1964, 7 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Boyles Fire | Sep 8, 2024 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Mar 9, 2023 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 21, 2023 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides | Jan 8, 2023 |
| Wildfires | Aug 14, 2021 |
| Lnu Lightning Fire Complex | Aug 17, 2020 |
| Wildfires | Aug 14, 2020 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 24, 2019 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
23 since 1996: 2 flash floods and 21 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Feb 13, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 4, 2025 | $25,000 |
| Flood | Feb 4, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 19, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Feb 4, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Mar 10, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Jan 9, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Jan 5, 2023 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Feb 13, 2025. A frontal system approaches the area with moisture and cold temperatures aloft, bringing low elevation winter precipitation in some areas.
Flood · Feb 4, 2025. Low elevation snow, atmospheric rivers and rising river threats characterized February. Several storm systems with some weaker cold weather breaks filled the timeline, with a few dry spells.
Flood · Feb 19, 2024. A storm system brought rain and wind to Northwest California a couple weeks following the major wind event on February 4th. This system was more convective and resulted in periodic wind gusts in excess of 58 mph on ridgetops across the region.
Flood · Feb 4, 2024. A cyclone bombed very close to the central California coast developing widespread damaging wind gusts across Mendocino and Lake counties. Heavy rain also was observed with some of the highest flows on creeks in Lake County in the last several years. The low then moved north off of the extreme northwestern California coast bringing strong gusts into Humboldt and Del Norte counties as well, though damage was limited.
National Weather Service narratives, lightly trimmed. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Every colour on the map above is a place on this drawing: where the ground sits relative to the flood FEMA plans for.
If a building in Lake County is in a high-risk zone (A or V) and its mortgage comes from a federally regulated or insured lender, or is federally backed, flood insurance is required.
Outside those zones it is optional, and often worth having: from 2014 to 2024 nearly one-third of NFIP claims came from outside the high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area. Since Risk Rating 2.0, NFIP premiums are set for each building, so the only reliable price is a quote: FloodSmart.gov or a local agent.