San Diego County, California: hazard history
What federal records show has already happened here: disaster declarations, storms, and flood insurance claims. This is a record of the past. It is not a forecast and not a hazard score.
At a glance
What this means
- The event NOAA recorded most often here is High Wind, with 551 records.
- The costliest single record is Wildfire in 2003: $1.0B in property damage, in the dollars of that year.
- The deadliest record is Winter Weather in 1997, with 14 deaths.
- FEMA has declared 51 disasters that named this county, most often for fire.
- The worst year for flood insurance claims was 1980, with 273 claims.
What this can't tell you
- What happens next. Past events do not set the odds of the next one.
- Anything before 1996 from NOAA. That is when NOAA began recording every event type; earlier files hold only tornado, hail and wind, so they are left out on purpose.
- Today's cost. Damage and payments are in the dollars of the year they happened.
- A flood rate. NFIP counts claims but not how many homes were insured, and many flooded homes carry no flood insurance.
- Earthquakes, wildfire perimeters or radar-detected hail. Those records are not tied to counties.
Federal disaster declarations (FEMA)
FEMA declared 51 disasters that named San Diego County between 1965 and 2024.
| Incident type | Disasters | Most recent |
|---|---|---|
| Fire | 28 | 2020 |
| Flood | 12 | 2024 |
| Severe Storm | 5 | 2005 |
| Biological | 2 | 2020 |
| Freezing | 2 | 2007 |
| Coastal Storm | 1 | 1983 |
| Hurricane | 1 | 2005 |
Most recent declarations
- DR-4758 2024 · Flood · Severe Storm And Flooding
- EM-3591 2023 · Flood · Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides
- DR-4683 2022 · Flood · Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides
- DR-4569 2020 · Fire · Wildfires
- DR-4482 2020 · Biological · Covid-19 Pandemic
- EM-3428 2020 · Biological · Covid-19
- FM-5251 2018 · Fire · West Fire
- FM-5228 2017 · Fire · Lilac Fire
- DR-4353 2017 · Fire · Wildfires, Flooding, Mudflows, And Debris Flows
- EM-3396 2017 · Fire · Wildfires
Not counted above: 34 statewide declarations, which covered every county in California. A declaration is a decision to send federal help, not a measure of how bad an event was. Records run from 1953. Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries.
Storms recorded by NOAA, by type
| Event type | Records | Deaths | Injuries | Property damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Wind | 551 | 2 | 11 | $33.5M |
| Flash Flood | 256 | 5 | 14 | $51.6M |
| Flood | 252 | 7 | 11 | $29.6M |
| Dense Fog | 225 | 5 | 9 | $515K |
| Wildfire | 209 | 31 | 582 | $2.0B |
| Heavy Rain | 140 | 4 | 9 | $46.5M |
| Drought | 131 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| High Surf | 117 | 6 | 64 | $1.5M |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 111 | 5 | 5 | $7.2M |
| Excessive Heat | 100 | 2 | 131 | $500K |
| Strong Wind | 92 | 5 | 13 | $3.8M |
| Heat | 89 | 15 | 189 | $0 |
| Funnel Cloud | 58 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Hail | 47 | 0 | 5 | $72K |
| Heavy Snow | 47 | 8 | 45 | $105K |
| Lightning | 43 | 1 | 7 | $183K |
| Debris Flow | 40 | 1 | 0 | $51.5M |
| Rip Current | 27 | 17 | 71 | $80K |
| Winter Storm | 23 | 6 | 67 | $720K |
| Coastal Flood | 21 | 0 | 0 | $60K |
| Winter Weather | 21 | 14 | 68 | $110K |
| Dust Storm | 18 | 0 | 40 | $30K |
| Frost/Freeze | 17 | 0 | 0 | $215K |
| Tornado | 13 | 0 | 0 | $220K |
| Waterspout | 13 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Storm Surge/Tide | 9 | 0 | 1 | $884K |
| Cold/Wind Chill | 7 | 4 | 15 | $0 |
| Extreme Cold/Wind Chill | 7 | 0 | 0 | $10K |
| Tropical Storm | 5 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Astronomical Low Tide | 3 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Tsunami | 3 | 0 | 0 | $325K |
| Dust Devil | 2 | 0 | 1 | $100 |
| Avalanche | 1 | 0 | 0 | $75K |
Records start in 1996. Damage is NOAA's estimate at the time, in nominal dollars, and is often rounded; it is not insurance claims data. A storm that crossed two NOAA zones in this county is recorded, and counted, once per zone. A storm filed against a forecast zone is counted in every county that zone covers, with the whole storm's damage; do not add these figures across counties.
Year by year
NOAA storm event records in San Diego County each year. The busiest year was 2021, with 188 records.
Show the numbers for every year
| Year | Records | Deaths | Property damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 17 | 1 | $37.4M |
| 1997 | 41 | 16 | $2.0M |
| 1998 | 56 | 5 | $10.5M |
| 1999 | 75 | 14 | $2.2M |
| 2000 | 69 | 12 | $1.9M |
| 2001 | 96 | 5 | $13.6M |
| 2002 | 94 | 5 | $32.0M |
| 2003 | 84 | 21 | $1.1B |
| 2004 | 93 | 0 | $8.0M |
| 2005 | 110 | 5 | $76.2M |
| 2006 | 38 | 5 | $369K |
| 2007 | 98 | 13 | $706.6M |
| 2008 | 78 | 0 | $1.6M |
| 2009 | 81 | 0 | $215K |
| 2010 | 27 | 1 | $3.2M |
| 2011 | 29 | 0 | $390K |
| 2012 | 63 | 1 | $4.2M |
| 2013 | 80 | 0 | $7.6M |
| 2014 | 117 | 2 | $30.4M |
| 2015 | 85 | 0 | $1.1M |
| 2016 | 141 | 7 | $5.2M |
| 2017 | 115 | 6 | $48.2M |
| 2018 | 78 | 3 | $1.2M |
| 2019 | 112 | 6 | $1.1M |
| 2020 | 121 | 1 | $4.5M |
| 2021 | 188 | 3 | $4.3M |
| 2022 | 150 | 1 | $11K |
| 2023 | 150 | 0 | $14K |
| 2024 | 121 | 4 | $81.0M |
| 2025 | 74 | 1 | $120K |
| 2026 | 17 | 0 | $0 |
Years with no record are left out of the table, not shown as zero.
Notable events
Costliest records
- Wildfire · Oct 25, 2003$1.0BNOAA name: San Diego County · 14 deaths · 90 injuries · NOAA record 5335898
- Wildfire · Oct 21, 2007$300.0MNOAA name: NWS forecast zone · 2 deaths · 40 injuries · NOAA record 62766
- Wildfire · Oct 22, 2007$151.1MNOAA name: NWS forecast zone · 5 injuries · NOAA record 64337
- Wildfire · Oct 21, 2007$75.0MNOAA name: NWS forecast zone · 8 deaths · 61 injuries · NOAA record 62886
- Wildfire · Oct 26, 2003$55.2MNOAA name: San Diego County · 2 deaths · 18 injuries · NOAA record 5335978
Deadliest records
- Winter Weather · Jan 7, 199714 deathsNOAA name: NWS forecast zone · NOAA record 5588449
- Wildfire · Oct 25, 200314 deathsNOAA name: San Diego County · $1.0B damage · 90 injuries · NOAA record 5335898
- Heavy Snow · Apr 1, 19998 deathsNOAA name: NWS forecast zone · 13 injuries · NOAA record 5693059
- Wildfire · Oct 21, 20078 deathsNOAA name: NWS forecast zone · $75.0M damage · 61 injuries · NOAA record 62886
- Winter Storm · Mar 5, 20003 deathsNOAA name: NWS forecast zone · $50K damage · 13 injuries · NOAA record 5136030
Each line is one NOAA record, linked to its page at NOAA. One large storm can appear more than once if NOAA recorded it in several zones of this county. Dollars are nominal.
Flood insurance claims (NFIP)
The National Flood Insurance Program paid $45.4M on 2,431 claims in San Diego County from 1978 to 2024.
| Year | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 273 | $1.7M |
| 1998 | 234 | $1.9M |
| 1983 | 220 | $883K |
| 2024 | 213 | $19.9M |
| 2010 | 150 | $3.0M |
A count of claims, not a rate: NFIP publishes no count of insured homes beside it, and most flood damage is uninsured. Nominal dollars. Records run from 1978 to 2024; claims filed without a county code are not on any county page. Source: FEMA OpenFEMA FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims.
Hazard vulnerability analysis: the probability column for a facility in San Diego County
A hazard vulnerability analysis rates each hazard for probability, impact, preparedness and response. Probability is the one column the county’s federal record can fill — NCEI storm events from 1996 to 2026 and FEMA declarations naming the county — and this is what it says for a facility here, on the 0–3 scale of the all-hazards structure surveyors expect. The other six columns are the facility’s own judgment about its building, and Calchis leaves them blank.
| Hazard | Prob. | Basis, from the county record |
|---|---|---|
| Severe Thunderstorm | 3 | 201 NCEI events over 31 years (6.48/yr). 5 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Flood, External | 3 | 669 NCEI events over 31 years (21.58/yr). 12 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Snow Fall / Blizzard / Ice Storm | 3 | 91 NCEI events over 31 years (2.94/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Temperature Extremes | 3 | 220 NCEI events over 31 years (7.10/yr). 2 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Drought | 3 | 131 NCEI events over 31 years (4.23/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Wild Fire | 3 | 209 NCEI events over 31 years (6.74/yr). 28 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| High Wind (non-convective) | 3 | 643 NCEI events over 31 years (20.74/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Landslide | 3 | 41 NCEI events over 31 years (1.32/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Hurricane / Tropical Storm | 2 | 14 NCEI events over 31 years (0.45/yr). 2 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Tornado | 2 | 13 NCEI events over 31 years (0.42/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Epidemic | 2 | 2 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Earthquake | 1 | No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Tidal Wave / Tsunami | 1 | 3 NCEI events over 31 years (0.10/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Volcano | 1 | No events of this kind on the county's NCEI record over 31 years. No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Dam Inundation | 1 | No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
A dash means the record does not speak to that hazard; it is not a zero. Whether a finished document satisfies the CMS Emergency Preparedness Rule is the facility’s finding and its surveyor’s. Complete the HVA for a facility in San Diego County — the technological, human and hazardous-materials rows, the six facility columns, the approval and the printed document — or read the sample analysis on that page first.
How this page was made
- Every figure is counted from public federal records held by Calchis: NOAA NCEI Storm Events, FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations, and FEMA NFIP claims. Nothing is modeled or estimated.
- NOAA files some events against a county and others against an NWS forecast zone, and publishes a code for both. Records are counted as San Diego County by that code — county records by the county's own FIPS code, zone records through the National Weather Service's published list of which counties each zone covers. No name matching is involved. Of 2,698 records, 1,091 were filed against this county and 1,607 against a forecast zone covering it. A zone storm is counted in every county its zone covers, and its damage figure is the whole storm's, not this county's share — NOAA does not publish that split. So these figures describe this county; they must not be added up across counties. Left out: 29% of California's NOAA records, which are marine zones or zones NWS does not map to a county.
- Counts last rebuilt from the source records on Sep 15, 2026.
Related
Responsible for San Diego County?
This page is the record of what has happened. Calchis also watches live NWS, USGS and NHC feeds against the places you name and alerts you when an event approaches them.
Free includes Live map + 3 triggers + 10 bond positions. Analyst is $149/mo for 1,000-location portfolios, ep curves, predictions, parametric triggers.
Recorded history from federal public records. Not a hazard score, a risk score, or a forecast, and not a substitute for professional actuarial or emergency-management assessment. Decision-support intelligence — not a primary alerting or dispatch system. Verify against official sources.