San Luis Obispo 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 55 records.
- The costliest single record is Heavy Rain in 2005: $5.0M in property damage, in the dollars of that year.
- The deadliest record is Heavy Rain in 2004, with 1 death.
- FEMA has declared 28 disasters that named this county, most often for flood.
- The worst year for flood insurance claims was 1995, with 171 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 28 disasters that named San Luis Obispo County between 1967 and 2024.
| Incident type | Disasters | Most recent |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | 10 | 2023 |
| Severe Storm | 8 | 2024 |
| Biological | 2 | 2020 |
| Fire | 2 | 2016 |
| Freezing | 2 | 2007 |
| Coastal Storm | 1 | 1983 |
| Drought | 1 | 1977 |
| Earthquake | 1 | 2003 |
| Hurricane | 1 | 2005 |
Most recent declarations
- DR-4769 2024 · Severe Storm · Severe Winter Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides
- EM-3592 2023 · Flood · Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides
- DR-4699 2023 · Severe Storm · Severe Winter Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides
- EM-3591 2023 · Flood · Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides
- DR-4683 2022 · Flood · Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides
- DR-4482 2020 · Biological · Covid-19 Pandemic
- EM-3428 2020 · Biological · Covid-19
- DR-4308 2017 · Flood · Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides
- DR-4305 2017 · Flood · Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides
- DR-4301 2017 · Severe Storm · Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides
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 | 55 | 0 | 0 | $4.0M |
| Flash Flood | 29 | 2 | 1 | $0 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 15 | 0 | 0 | $4K |
| Flood | 11 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Wildfire | 11 | 0 | 5 | $290K |
| Heavy Rain | 8 | 1 | 0 | $5.0M |
| Hail | 5 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Excessive Heat | 4 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Tornado | 4 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Debris Flow | 3 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Frost/Freeze | 3 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Funnel Cloud | 3 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| High Surf | 3 | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Winter Storm | 3 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Winter Weather | 3 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Waterspout | 2 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
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.
Year by year
NOAA storm event records in San Luis Obispo County each year. The busiest year was 1998, with 27 records.
Show the numbers for every year
| Year | Records | Deaths | Property damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| 1997 | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| 1998 | 27 | 0 | $0 |
| 1999 | 2 | 0 | $0 |
| 2001 | 13 | 0 | $0 |
| 2002 | 1 | 0 | $290K |
| 2004 | 3 | 1 | $0 |
| 2005 | 5 | 0 | $5.0M |
| 2006 | 1 | 0 | $4.0M |
| 2007 | 5 | 0 | $0 |
| 2008 | 10 | 0 | $0 |
| 2009 | 3 | 0 | $0 |
| 2010 | 8 | 0 | $0 |
| 2014 | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| 2015 | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| 2016 | 3 | 0 | $0 |
| 2017 | 4 | 1 | $0 |
| 2020 | 2 | 0 | $0 |
| 2021 | 9 | 0 | $0 |
| 2022 | 3 | 0 | $0 |
| 2023 | 26 | 2 | $0 |
| 2024 | 16 | 0 | $0 |
| 2025 | 12 | 0 | $4K |
| 2026 | 5 | 0 | $0 |
Years with no record are left out of the table, not shown as zero.
Notable events
Costliest records
- Heavy Rain · Jan 7, 2005$5.0MNOAA name: SAN LUIS OBISPO · NOAA record 5438916
- High Wind · Jan 2, 2006$4.0MNOAA name: SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY CENTRAL COAST · NOAA record 5492613
- Wildfire · Aug 17, 2002$290KNOAA name: SAN LUIS OBISPO · NOAA record 5314663
- Thunderstorm Wind · Sep 24, 2025$2KNOAA name: SAN LUIS OBISPO · NOAA record 1291530
- Thunderstorm Wind · Sep 24, 2025$1KNOAA name: SAN LUIS OBISPO · NOAA record 1291531
Deadliest records
- Heavy Rain · Dec 30, 20041 deathNOAA name: SAN LUIS OBISPO · NOAA record 5430717
- High Surf · Jan 21, 20171 deathNOAA name: SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY CENTRAL COAST · NOAA record 677813
- Flash Flood · Jan 9, 20231 deathNOAA name: SAN LUIS OBISPO · 1 injury · NOAA record 1078958
- Flash Flood · Jan 9, 20231 deathNOAA name: SAN LUIS OBISPO · NOAA record 1151942
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 $8.7M on 632 claims in San Luis Obispo County from 1978 to 2024.
| Year | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 171 | $1.9M |
| 2023 | 103 | $3.9M |
| 1998 | 69 | $523K |
| 2001 | 49 | $739K |
| 1983 | 25 | $56K |
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 Luis Obispo 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 | 20 NCEI events over 31 years (0.65/yr). 8 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Flood, External | 3 | 48 NCEI events over 31 years (1.55/yr). 10 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| High Wind (non-convective) | 3 | 55 NCEI events over 31 years (1.77/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Hurricane / Tropical Storm | 2 | No events of this kind on the county's NCEI record over 31 years. 2 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Tornado | 2 | 4 NCEI events over 31 years (0.13/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Snow Fall / Blizzard / Ice Storm | 2 | 6 NCEI events over 31 years (0.19/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Temperature Extremes | 2 | 7 NCEI events over 31 years (0.23/yr). 2 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Drought | 2 | No events of this kind on the county's NCEI record over 31 years. 1 federal disaster declaration naming the county. |
| Wild Fire | 2 | 11 NCEI events over 31 years (0.35/yr). 2 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Earthquake | 2 | 1 federal disaster declaration naming the county. |
| Epidemic | 2 | 2 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Landslide | 1 | 3 NCEI events over 31 years (0.10/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Tidal Wave / Tsunami | 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. |
| 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 Luis Obispo 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 by county and others by forecast zone, and names both. Records are counted as San Luis Obispo County when their NOAA name is this county's name, alone or with a word like “Coastal” or “Inland” in front. The county codes NOAA also publishes have not been loaded for California yet; when they are, this page will count by code instead, and some counties' records will grow. NOAA names counted here: SAN LUIS OBISPO, SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY BEACHES, SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY CENTRAL COAST, SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY INTERIOR VALLEYS, SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY MOUNTAINS. Zones named for something else, such as a mountain range or two counties at once, are left out: 47% of California's NOAA records.
- Counts last rebuilt from the source records on Sep 15, 2026.
- This county's NOAA record is short (under 100 records, under 10 with damage, or under 10 years), so this page is not offered to search engines. It is still accurate.
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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.