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California Flood Stories

3,441 first-hand accounts of flood events in California, ranked by impact. Each is a NOAA-written narrative of the moment.

Flash Flood$200K damage

San Diego, CA · Jan 22, 2024

Historic flooding occurred on January 22nd. Heavy rainfall occurred between 8 am and noon across western San Diego county. The heaviest rainfall occurred between 9 am and 11 am in the east side of the city of San Diego in Encanto and Lemon Grove to Spring Valley.

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Flood$2.0M damage

San Benito, CA · Jan 27, 2021

A plume of moisture from the tropical Pacific brought an Atmospheric River to the Bay Area January 26th-29th. This system generated heavy rain rates causing flooding and debris flows over area burn scars as well as 15 to 20 inches of rain in the Santa Lucia Mountains.

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Flood$2.0M damage

San Benito, CA · Jan 27, 2021

A plume of moisture from the tropical Pacific brought an Atmospheric River to the Bay Area January 26th-29th. This system generated heavy rain rates causing flooding and debris flows over area burn scars as well as 15 to 20 inches of rain in the Santa Lucia Mountains.

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Flood$2.0M damage

San Benito, CA · Jan 27, 2021

A plume of moisture from the tropical Pacific brought an Atmospheric River to the Bay Area January 26th-29th. This system generated heavy rain rates causing flooding and debris flows over area burn scars as well as 15 to 20 inches of rain in the Santa Lucia Mountains.

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Flash Flood$200K damage

Riverside, CA · Sep 30, 2018

Moisture from Tropical Storm Rosa advanced into Southern California on September 30th and brought rain and thunderstorms to the region. The areas that experienced significant rainfall on the 30th were the San Bernardino Mountains and the Coachella Valley.

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Flash Flood$5.0M damage

San Bernardino, CA · Feb 14, 2019

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…

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Flash Flood$1.0M damage

Imperial, CA · Aug 31, 2021

A similar pattern existed on the 31st compared to the previous day with an upper level low in the eastern Pacific near the west coast of the Baja Peninsula promoting diffluent flow across southeast California.

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Flood$40K damage

San Diego, CA · Mar 5, 2000

A winter storm started out on the evening of Saturday, March 4 with heavy wet snow at the higher elevations and heavy rain and flooding at the lower elevations. Sustained 40 knot winds overnight caused heavy surf and several boats to lose their anchorage.

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Flood$8.0M damage

Tuolumne, CA · Mar 21, 2018

Torrential rain from an atmospheric river with locally heavy convective showers brought flash flooding to portions of the northern Sierra and Motherlode foothills.

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Flood$35K damage

Butte, CA · 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.

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Flash Flood$3.0M damage

Riverside, CA · Feb 14, 2019

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…

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Flash Flood$3.0M damage

Riverside, CA · Feb 14, 2019

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…

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Flash Flood$30K damage

Imperial, CA · 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.

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Flash Flood$200K damage

San Bernardino, CA · Sep 12, 2022

September 12 flash flood and debris and surveyed areas. Debris flow Oak Glen Potato Canyon Birch creek (caught on video time lapse) which as 100,000 cubic yards of debris. Debris flow Valley of the Falls on Prospect street (death) up to 8 feet high with large boulders.

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Flash Flood$20K damage

Riverside, CA · 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.

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Flash Flood$20K damage

Imperial, CA · Sep 27, 2025

An upper-level low situated over southern CA provided strong upper-level forcing for ascent across the area. Cold 500 mb temperatures of -12 to -13 degrees Celsius and steep lapse rates led to moderate instability values with MLCAPE peaking close to 1000 J/kg.

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Flood$7.0M damage

Calaveras, CA · Feb 9, 2017

Storms brought a range of significant weather impacts to northern interior California. The first storm was very wet and warm, the second not quite as wet but cooler with lower snow levels. Both storms brought strong, damaging winds.

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Flood$7.0M damage

Lake, CA · Feb 9, 2017

Storms brought a range of significant weather impacts to northern interior California. The first storm was very wet and warm, the second not quite as wet but cooler with lower snow levels. Both storms brought strong, damaging winds.

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Flood$6.8M damage

Sierra, CA · Feb 9, 2017

Two significant waves of precipitation associated with an atmospheric river brought heavy rain and higher elevation (mainly above 6500 feet) snowfall to northeast California.

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Flash Flood$30K damage

San Diego, CA · Jan 22, 2024

Historic flooding occurred on January 22nd. Heavy rainfall occurred between 8 am and noon across western San Diego county. The heaviest rainfall occurred between 9 am and 11 am in the east side of the city of San Diego in Encanto and Lemon Grove to Spring Valley.

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Flood$250K damage

San Benito, CA · Jan 27, 2021

A plume of moisture from the tropical Pacific brought an Atmospheric River to the Bay Area January 26th-29th. This system generated heavy rain rates causing flooding and debris flows over area burn scars as well as 15 to 20 inches of rain in the Santa Lucia Mountains.

Read the full account →
Flood$250K damage

San Benito, CA · Jan 27, 2021

A plume of moisture from the tropical Pacific brought an Atmospheric River to the Bay Area January 26th-29th. This system generated heavy rain rates causing flooding and debris flows over area burn scars as well as 15 to 20 inches of rain in the Santa Lucia Mountains.

Read the full account →
Flood$5.0M damage

Placer, CA · Jan 9, 2017

Two strong storms brought a range of significant weather impacts to northern interior California. The first storm was very wet and warm, the second not quite as wet but cooler with lower snow levels. Both storms brought strong, damaging winds.

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Flood$5.0M damage

San Diego, CA · Feb 27, 2017

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.

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