57 flood insurance claims·$1.1M 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 Plumas 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 flooding driven by winter storms and atmospheric rivers dominates Plumas County's flood profile, backed by 16 historical flood events compared to 3 flash flood events over the last 30 years. Recent events include a strong winter storm in February 2025 that brought heavy mountain snow, moderate to heavy rain, and river and roadway flooding, as well as a series of atmospheric rivers in December 2025 that produced moderate to heavy precipitation.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data shows impacts across multiple zones. Zone A accounts for the majority of claims with 45 filings averaging a payout of $29,082 and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches. Additionally, Zone X recorded 9 claims averaging $27,803 with an average water depth of 2 inches, while Zone X unshaded recorded 3 claims averaging $20,891 with an average water depth of 1 inch.
Homeowners and real estate agents with properties located in Zone A face the highest average water depths and claim frequencies during heavy winter precipitation and should pay the closest attention to flood risk, though properties in Zone X also show a history of insurance claims.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
6% of Plumas County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
48 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 6 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 1997, with 18 claims and $491,235 paid.
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.
9 NOAA storm reports from Plumas County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the California flood stories →
23 federal disaster declarations since 1964, 7 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Mar 9, 2023 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 21, 2023 |
| Dixie Fire | Jul 20, 2021 |
| Wildfires | Jul 14, 2021 |
| Bear Fire | Aug 17, 2020 |
| Wildfires | Aug 14, 2020 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides | Feb 1, 2017 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides | Jan 3, 2017 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
19 since 1996: 3 flash floods and 16 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Dec 22, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 4, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Dec 28, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Nov 24, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Mar 13, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Jun 13, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Jan 9, 2017 | — |
| Flood | Jan 8, 2017 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Dec 22, 2025. A series of atmospheric rivers brought moderate to heavy precipitation to interior northern California in the third week of December through the Christmas holiday. A Convergence Zone set up over Redding/Shasta County around 1 PM on Sunday, December 21. Heavy rain fell until around 7 PM, where there was a lull before another line redeveloped and brought additional moderate to heavy rain into the late evening. Over…
Flood · Feb 4, 2025. A strong winter storm brought heavy mountain snow, moderate to heavy rain with river and roadway flooding, and gusty southerly winds February 3rd through 5th. Multiple feet of heavy snow were observed above 5000 feet, with 2 to 5 inches of rain observed in the Valley and foothills and southerly wind gusts of up to 50 mph. There were numerous reports of flooding in the Valley that led to multiple search and rescue…
Flood · Dec 28, 2024. Multiple waves of precipitation brought periods of heavy rain, mountain snow and gusty winds to interior Northern California over the Christmas holiday and through the end of the month. Storm total snow amounts of 10 to 40 inches were measured in the northern Sierra Nevada and southern Cascades from December 24th through 29th that led to periods of chain restrictions along the mountain passes. Additionally, there…
Flood · Nov 24, 2024. Another weather system brought continued periods of heavy mountain snow with mountain travel delays and chain restrictions, widespread rain with flooding impacts, and gusty winds in the from November 22nd through November 26th.
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 Plumas 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.