3,441 first-hand accounts of flood events in California, ranked by impact. Each is a NOAA-written narrative of the moment.
Frequent lightning, heavy rain, and small hail were observed at many locations as a band of thunderstorms moved north and west across Southwest California. A roof collapsed from heavy rain in El Cajon.
Read the full account →Almost two inches of rain fell in a two hour period, causing low lying roads and most creeks to flood. In Carlsbad, 5 women tried to cross a flooded bridge in a car, which stalled midway then floated downstream and overturned. Two women escaped, the other three drowned.
Read the full account →Almost two inches of rain fell in a two hour period, causing low lying roads and most creeks to flood. In Carlsbad, 5 women tried to cross a flooded bridge in a car, which stalled midway then floated downstream and overturned. Two women escaped, the other three drowned.
Read the full account →The first strong cold front of the winter season moved slowly across Southwest California. Steady rain fell over a two day period. The heaviest amounts were in the mountains and ranged from over 10 inches in the San Bernardino Mountains to around 4 inches in the San Diego…
Read the full account →An area of high pressure developed in the eastern Pacific around mid December, centered near Hawaii. This high pressure feature caused a series of major Pacific storms to ride over the high pressure and into California, carried by very strong upper-atmosphere winds (jet stream…
Read the full account →The fourth, and strongest, in a series of winter storms pounded the region on the 21st and 22nd, bringing another round of gusty winds, heavy rain, thunderstorms, several feet of snow in the mountains, and flooding throughout the CWA.
Read the full account →The first in a series of low pressure systems, rotating around an upper level low pressure system centered off the coast of the Pacific Northwest, moved through the central California interior, during the night of the 16th into the 17th, bringing copious amounts of moisture to…
Read the full account →Several storms fueled with moisture by an atmospheric river brought heavy rain and mountain snow, along with gusty winds. Some minor urban and small stream flooding occurred, mainly over the northern Sacramento Valley.
Read the full account →An upper level low pressure system spread considerable moisture into southeast California, and led the development of scattered thunderstorms over Riverside county on the 13th of September.
Read the full account →Considerable moisture from Hurricane Dolores to the south, along with monsoon moisture from the southeast resulted in widespread showers and thunderstorms over most of the HSA for the 17th-19th.
Read the full account →A strong low pressure system made its way through Northern and Central California accompanied by deep tropical moisture and very strong winds. Heavy rain combined with the wind to cause numerous trees, tree limbs and pole/telephone powers to fall.
Read the full account →Thunderstorm activity lead to locally heavy rain, mud slides, and full streams the afternoon and early evening of the 14th in the Tulare County foothills of the S.Sierra Nevada.
Read the full account →There was a break in the weather on December 23rd and 24th, as a weak upper-level ridge moved into California. Light winds and a stable airmass aloft allowed areas of dense fog to develop over parts of the central and southern San Joaquin Valley.
Read the full account →A relatively warm storm with a concentrated moisture plume brought heavy rain, especially in the mountains and foothills. Rain amounts from 5 to 8 inches were reported in the Sierra, and runoff caused minor flooding.
Read the full account →A large moisture surge moved over the area as monsoon flow rotated around the western edge of an upper high over the southern plains and into southern California.
Read the full account →The stable weather pattern continued through November 27th. The first in a series of east-Pacific storms approached the northern part of the central California interior that evening.
Read the full account →The stable weather pattern continued through November 27th. The first in a series of east-Pacific storms approached the northern part of the central California interior that evening.
Read the full account →The stable weather pattern continued through November 27th. The first in a series of east-Pacific storms approached the northern part of the central California interior that evening.
Read the full account →An upper-level short-wave moved into California on April 10th, flattening the ridge. ||This set the stage for back-to-back strong storms to move through the central California interior on the 11th, 12th, and 13th.
Read the full account →OCTOBER 2012 WEATHER SUMMARY|FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR||By Gary Sanger, Climate Services Focal Point and Brian Ochs, Assistant Climate Focal Point, WFO San Joaquin Valley-Hanford.
Read the full account →A Pacific storm brought moderate to heavy rain and flash flooding to the region from the 2nd through the 4th. Two-day rainfall totals of 1 to 2 inches were recorded west of the mountains, while the southern slopes of the San Bernardino County mountains saw up to 5 inches of rain…
Read the full account →An Atmospheric River event brought heavy rain and gusty winds with a strong winter storm that impacted the Bay Area for several days in mid-December. Cyclogenesis occurred with a 979 mb low forming off the Northern California coast.
Read the full account →An Atmospheric River event brought heavy rain and gusty winds with a strong winter storm that impacted the Bay Area for several days in mid-December. Cyclogenesis occurred with a 979 mb low forming off the Northern California coast.
Read the full account →After an exceptional period with little to no rainfall, much needed rain fell across the Bay Area February 6th through the 9th. In fact, the lack of rainfall lead to the largest deficit of rain in recorded history for the Bay Area.||The first storm system began to develop on…
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