Chowchilla

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond this area.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Flood insurance figures are for Madera County, the county that contains Chowchilla.

Claims by ZIP code

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

The drought index is for Madera County, the county that contains Chowchilla.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the city centre.
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Volcanoes within 100 miles

1. U.S. volcanoes within 100 miles, from the USGS Volcano Hazards Program. The threat category is the USGS 2018 National Volcanic Threat Assessment, which ranks volcanoes by how hazardous their past eruptions were and how many people and how much infrastructure lie near them. It is not a forecast of eruption.

USGS Volcano Hazards Program, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Mapped landslides

Landslides mapped in Madera County.

Mapped by USGS Conterminous (4), NASA (3).

1. Landslides mapped in the USGS compilation of landslide inventories across the United States (version 3.0, 2025), rated probable or better. The compilation joins inventories made by federal and state agencies for different purposes and areas, so the number mapped in a county reflects how closely it has been surveyed as much as how often its slopes fail. An area with few records may simply not have been mapped. Deaths are as recorded in the inventories; a slide listed in two inventories is counted once.

USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0, retrieved October 27, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jan 9, 2023Winter Storm, Mariposa - Madera Foothills$5.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Mariposa County Emergency Manager reported that the widespread flooding and damaging winds that took place on January 9th and January 10th resulted in $5.2 million in property damage throughout Mariposa County. Most of this was for road and bridge repairs as well as for the costs of emergency RMO response to clean rock slides, mud slides and debris flows across roads and to pay for overtime and contractors to complete the necessary repairs and cleaning.

2. Aug 20, 2001Wildfire$4.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The North Fork Fire was ignited by a rail-splitter accidentally and burned 4132 acres southeast of Bass Lake. There were two primary structures lost but no fatalities or injuries.

3. Apr 5, 2006Flood$2.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Berenda Slough had its banks fail between 1130 and 1230 PST on the 4th resulting in widespread water over farmland in Madera County southwest of Chowchilla. Flooding of this type and in this location had not occurred in at least the last 76 years as any high water flows had safely moved past the area within the banks of the area sloughs, creeks, and rivers.

4. Jul 8, 2003Wildfire$680,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The North Fork Fire was fought by California Division of Forestry and burned 360 acres. The cause was human but no fatalities or structures were lost.

5. Nov 11, 2024Dust Storm, Merced-Madera-Mendota$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   California Highway Patrol reported a 20 vehicle collision which led to several injuries on SR 152 at the intersection of Road 17 near Chowchilla as a dust storm pushed through the area. The Merced and Madera ASOS's both had visibility drop to 1.5 to 1.75 miles and had gusts between 40 and 50 mph. The portion of SR 152 south of Chowchilla was closed for a portion of the afternoon due to the collision.

6. Dec 3, 2021Dense Fog, Merced-Madera-Mendota$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Visibility below a quarter mile was reported in Atwater, Merced and Madera. Several webcams showed visibility below 1000 feet. California Highway Patrol was pacing traffic on SR 99 for several hours during the morning. California Highway Patrol also reported several fog realted multiple car accidents west of Chowchilla where visibility was below 100 feet. One accidents at the intersection of SR 152 and Ave. 9 at 836 PST resulted in one fatality. Several school districts either opened late or delayed or cancelled bus service.

7. May 5, 2005Heavy Rain$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Madera received 1.42" of rain during a 24-hour period ending by early on the 6th with over half of that occurring between Noon and 3 PM PST on the 5th from afternoon thunderstorms. Water collecting on a roof in downtown Madera led to its collapse and subsequent damage in mid-afternoon. Numerous locations around Madera had street flooding with other reported flooding in Madera County including a freeway offramp in the city of Madera as well as rural roadway flooding 14 miles east of Madera. Chowchilla, in Madera County, reported 1.34" in the 24 hour period ending on the 6th. Fresno County reported several locations of roadway flooding from the heavy rain from Kerman, west of…

8. Sep 25, 2001Wildfire$144,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Silver Fire was initially sparked due to lightning on the 25th but was allowed to continue as a resource burn well into October (notification to the NWS on 10/28/01). Total size of 186 acres with no structures lost nor injuries at a cost of $144,392.

9. May 20, 2002Tornado$130,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado occurred from the explosive development of a cell along neighboring cells' outflow boundary convergence. The tornado track on the ground was 2.675 miles and mostly F0 in intensity and as wide as 100 yards. It began relatively weak, peeling roofs off from farm structures, downing trees and fencing, but engulfing a well-built structure with minimal damage. However, a 1/4-mile stretch reached F1 intensity as it totally demolished a small farm structure toward the end of its run and was narrowed to a 40-yard path width at that point. The tornado occurred essentially in a rural area of south Madera, tracked west-to-east, but finished with a sweep toward the southeast.

10. Feb 14, 2023Dust Storm, Merced-Madera-Mendota$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    California Highway Patrol reported a 12 car accident in blowing dust just east of the intersection of SR 152 and Road 16 south of Chowchilla which resulted in SR 152 being closed in both directions between Road 16 and SR 99.

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

114°F3 times, most recently Jul 17, 1925

All-time low

13°FJan 13, 2007

Warmest night

86°FMay 21, 1904

Coldest day

34°F2 times, most recently Jan 5, 1961

Wettest day

2.20 in2 times, most recently Mar 9, 1911

Snowiest day

2.0 inJan 1, 1916

Hottest year

1996mean 63.8°F

Coldest year

1948mean 59.1°F

Wettest year

198323.41 in

Driest year

19034.62 in

Station Merced (USC00045532), 154 ft elevation, 19.2 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1899 to March 18, 2026; 85.5% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

Declarations for Madera County.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USC00045532.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Volcanoes USGS Volcano Hazards Program, U.S. volcanoes and 2018 threat assessment.
• Landslides USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0 (2025).
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.