1,636 flood insurance claims·$21.2M paid·15 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 Riverside 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.
Flash flooding and standard riverine flooding driven by Pacific storms and atmospheric rivers dominate the flood risk profile of Riverside County. Over the last 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database recorded 295 flash flood events resulting in 3 deaths, alongside 135 flood events resulting in 3 deaths, and 5 tropical storm events.
Recent history illustrates these hazards, such as the cold Pacific storm combined with an atmospheric river in February 2025 that brought heavy rain and snow, producing 3-day precipitation amounts of 4 to 7 inches in the mountains, rainfall rates of 0.5 to 0.9 inches per hour in the Santa Ana and San Bernardino/San Gabriel mountains, and a total rainfall of 6 inches with a maximum one-hour rate of 0.65 inches that caused significant debris flows and flash flooding.
Property owners and real estate professionals should pay close attention based on historical NFIP claim data across different zones. Zone X properties recorded the highest average payout at $47,082 with an average water depth of 5 inches, followed by Zone A claims averaging $25,928 with an average water depth of 10 inches. Properties in Zone UNKNOWN experienced 581 claims with an average payout of $7,515 and an average water depth of 2 inches, while Zone X_UNSHADED and Zone X_SHADED recorded average payouts of $6,365 and $6,311 respectively, both with an average water depth of 2 inches.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
42% of Riverside County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
753 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 4 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 1980, with 340 claims and $2.5M paid, the year of Severe Storms, Mudslides & 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.
255 NOAA storm reports from Riverside County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the California flood stories →
65 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 15 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Airport Fire | Sep 11, 2024 |
| Hawarden Fire | Jul 21, 2024 |
| Tropical Storm Hilary | Aug 19, 2023 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides | Jan 8, 2023 |
| Fairview Fire | Sep 5, 2022 |
| Blue Ridge Fire | Oct 26, 2020 |
| Apple Fire | Aug 2, 2020 |
| 46 Fire | Oct 31, 2019 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
435 since 1996: 295 flash floods and 135 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Dec 25, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Aug 25, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 18, 2025 | $20,000 |
| Flash Flood | Sep 18, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 17, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Nov 15, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 13, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 13, 2025 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Dec 25, 2025. A very strong area of low pressure, tapped into an atmospheric river driving up subtropical moisture, produced substantial rainfall across southern California. This led to some areas within the San Bernardino mountains receiving well over a foot of total rain on Christmas Eve, and resulted in significant flooding for the city of Wrightwood. There also road closures due to debris flow along Highway 2.
Flood · Aug 25, 2025. An upper level low combined with monsoonal moisture produced numerous thunderstorms, which resulted in several reports of heavy rainfall, flooding, and severe wind. Most of the impacts occurred on the afternoon of August 25th over the mountains, deserts, and inland valleys.
Flash Flood · Sep 18, 2025. The combination of an upper-level low off the CA coast and the remnants of Tropical Cyclone Mario resulted in a significant moisture increase with PWATs rising to 1.5 on the 17th and upwards of 1.8-2.0 on the 18th. Thunderstorms on the 17th were concentrated mainly across the higher terrain areas of southeast CA, mainly across the Chocolate Mountains, while on the 18th, the activity was more widespread as upper-le…
Flash Flood · Sep 17, 2025. The combination of an upper-level low off the CA coast and the remnants of Tropical Cyclone Mario resulted in a significant moisture increase with PWATs rising to 1.5 on the 17th and upwards of 1.8-2.0 on the 18th. Thunderstorms on the 17th were concentrated mainly across the higher terrain areas of southeast CA, mainly across the Chocolate Mountains, while on the 18th, the activity was more widespread as upper-le…
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 Riverside 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.