3,441 first-hand accounts of flood events in California, ranked by impact. Each is a NOAA-written narrative of the moment.
After a wet start to the month, a series of 3 storms traversed the region between the 19th and 24th of January. The storms produced flooding rains, extreme mountain snowfall, and strong winds from the coast to the deserts.
Read the full account →An east west oriented atmospheric river impacted San Diego County and northern Baja on the 27th and 28th of February, resulting in a prolonged period of moderate to heavy rain.
Read the full account →A powerful Pacific storm fed by warmer than normal El Nino conditions in the eastern Pacific, slammed into southern California with strong winds, thunderstorms, and very heavy rain. This was the final in a series of heavy storms which pummelled the region this month.
Read the full account →A major atmospheric river impacted Southern California February 13th through 15th bringing heavy rain and high winds. Over the course of 48 hours, many mountain locales recorded 8 to 10 inches of rain, with Palomar Mountain (San Diego County) recording over 10 inches of rain in…
Read the full account →A high impact mini atmospheric river impacted Southern California January 14th and 15th which brought heavy rain and snow to the region. Seal Beach reported 2 inches of rain in 2 hours, which caused extensive flash flooding.
Read the full account →A strong and very moist upper low pressure system approached the central California coast on March 5. This system pulled up a deep fetch of moisture of sub-tropical origin which pushed into the area during the evening of March 5 then stalled over the southern portion of central…
Read the full account →A slow moving low pressure system near the California coast spread moisture inland during the evening of March 19 and the morning of March 20. This produced a band of mainly light rainfall which was most noticeable north of Fresno County.
Read the full account →Officials at Prado Dam were forced to release water at 10,000 cfs into the Santa Ana River after a coffer dam began to spill water into an area of an earthen dam that was under construction. Hundreds of residents downstream were forced to evacuate.
Read the full account →A very cold Pacific Storm system dropped out of the Gulf of Alaska on February 3 and slowly moved across the regions on February 4 and 5. This system brought moderate to heavy precipitation to portions of the San Joaquin Valley on February 4 and heavy snow to elevations as low…
Read the full account →A low pressure system moved over Southern California, bringing rain and high level mountain snow. Coast and valley areas received between 0.50 inch and 1 inch, with locally higher amounts up to 2 inches in the valleys.
Read the full account →The new year (and decade) began with the latest in a series of Pacific storms that stretched back to December 17th, 2010. This storm brought strong, gusty winds to the region, especially to the base of the Grapevine, where gusts up to 89 mph were recorded on January 2nd.
Read the full account →Locally heavy rain from a band of thunderstorms that became quasi-stationary in the previous 12-18 hours brought flooding again to the Merced City and some outlying Merced County areas.
Read the full account →An upper-level low pressure area moving slowly northeast over the lower deserts, and an associated weak disturbance aloft triggered a slow moving thunderstorm in the lower Coachella Valley near the community of Mecca just after midnight PST.
Read the full account →Monsoon thunderstorms with locally heavy rain developed over portions of Joshua Tree National Park during the middle of the afternoon on August 16th. The stronger storms generated intense rainfall that was sufficient to cause episodes of flash flooding within the park.
Read the full account →Tropical Storm Kay moving northward just west of Baja California pushed deep tropical moisture towards southern CA, where objective analysis showed PWATs in excess of 2 inches.
Read the full account →Widespread flooding affected the county during the severe winter storm. Approximately 2 to 4 inches of rain fell in less than a 24 hour period, causing urban and small stream flooding. The most severe flooding occurred in San Leandro, Alameda, Oakland and Berkeley.
Read the full account →An atmospheric river event beginning early December 11th brought periods of heavy rainfall, flooding from overly saturated grounds and high river/stream water levels, and heavy snow above 7000 ft.
Read the full account →After a wet start to the month, a series of 3 storms traversed the region between the 19th and 24th of January. The storms produced flooding rains, extreme mountain snowfall, and strong winds from the coast to the deserts.
Read the full account →A powerful Pacific storm fed by warmer than normal El Nino conditions in the eastern Pacific, slammed into southern California with strong winds, thunderstorms, and very heavy rain. This was the final in a series of heavy storms which pummelled the region this month.
Read the full account →Moisture from Tropical Storm Sergio made its way into Southern California on October 12th and 13th, bringing heavy rain to the region. The Riverside County mountains and the Coachella Valley received the most precipitation in the region, with some areas exceeding 1 inch of…
Read the full account →A nearly stationary cold low pressure system from the Pacific Northwest moved into central California and tropical moisture being fed from the Pacific with a continued atmospheric river set-up, brought thunderstorms and heavy rainfall to the Sierra Nevada Mountains and…
Read the full account →A cold, late-season upper-level low moved inland over southern California on the 14th and 15th, bringing another round of winter storm-like conditions and precipitation.
Read the full account →After a wet start to the month, a series of 3 storms traversed the region between the 19th and 24th of January. The storms produced flooding rains, extreme mountain snowfall, and strong winds from the coast to the deserts.
Read the full account →An atmospheric river event beginning early December 11th brought periods of heavy rainfall, flooding from overly saturated grounds and high river/stream water levels, and heavy snow above 7000 ft.
Read the full account →