3,441 first-hand accounts of flood events in California, ranked by impact. Each is a NOAA-written narrative of the moment.
A series of systems fed by a continued influx of very moist air was pushed into the central California interior through an atmospheric river set-up for several days.
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 →The month picked up where August left off, with an active monsoon pattern bringing periods of showers and thunderstorms to the mountains and deserts.
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 →Thunderstorms over the higher terrain of northern Arizona pushed southwest into the lower deserts during the evening of the 18th. These thunderstorms continued in a favorable environment characterized by abundant moisture (PWATs around 1.8-1.9) and high instability (MUCAPE…
Read the full account →Late evening monsoon thunderstorms developed across far eastern Riverside County on September 1st, and some of the stronger storms generated locally heavy rainfall with peak rain rates that exceeded one inch per hour.
Read the full account →Flooding along the Santa Ana River destroyed a barn, tractors, livestock, a house, bridges, 3 golf courses, and a sewer line. An estimated 2 to 3 million gallons of untreated sewage spilled into the river. One man had to be rescued after he fell in the river.
Read the full account →A strong atmospheric river produced widespread moderate to heavy rainfall across Southern California March 14-15. Rain amounts of 1 to 3 inches were observed across the coastal basin, with heavier amounts up to 4 inches reported in the mountains.
Read the full account →An atmospheric river (300-400 IVT) brought widespread heavy rain to Southern California on April 6th. A few showers lingered into April 7th, but it was low impact.
Read the full account →Two significant waves of precipitation associated with an atmospheric river brought heavy rain and higher elevation (mainly above 6500 feet) snowfall to northeast California.
Read the full account →Heavy surf began on Sunday, January 7 and continued through Friday, January 12. The highest Spring Tides of the year were occurring during this same time period during the morning hours.
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 brought several rounds of showers and thunderstorms across portions of southeast CA, mainly from the late morning through the late afternoon hours.
Read the full account →Two rounds of thunderstorms developed across portions of southeast California, one round during the very early morning hours, between midnight through 4 am local time and another round during the mid to late afternoon hours.
Read the full account →Heavy rain showers and thunderstorms brought record rainfall and flooding issues to portions of the Central Valley and foothills. There were 2 berm levees which failed in Tehama County, flooding over 200 homes and damaging farms and orchards.
Read the full account →A nearly stationary upper level low pressure system parked off the northern Baja California coast spread deep moisture northward and into Imperial County on January 20th.
Read the full account →A weakening inverted trough over northern Sonora along with an upper level jet positioned along the West Coast provided the necessary forcing needed to get thunderstorm development during the afternoon and evening across southeast California on the 30th.
Read the full account →An MCS developed in the afternoon in western Arizona and spread southwest through Riverside and Imperial counties during the evening and early overnight hours.
Read the full account →Torrential rain from an atmospheric river with locally heavy convective showers brought flash flooding to portions of the northern Sierra and Motherlode foothills.
Read the full account →Torrential rain from an atmospheric river with locally heavy convective showers brought flash flooding to portions of the northern Sierra and Motherlode foothills.
Read the full account →Torrential rain from an atmospheric river with locally heavy convective showers brought flash flooding to portions of the northern Sierra and Motherlode foothills.
Read the full account →An upper-level trough situated just off the California Coast resulted in an influx of moisture into southeast California. Showers and thunderstorms developed in the afternoon hours across the eastern half of Riverside County with a northward motion.
Read the full account →An atmospheric river (300-400 IVT) brought widespread heavy rain to Southern California on April 6th. A few showers lingered into April 7th, but it was low impact.
Read the full account →An atmospheric river (300-400 IVT) brought widespread heavy rain to Southern California on April 6th. A few showers lingered into April 7th, but it was low impact.
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