Hayward

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 Alameda County, the county that contains Hayward.

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.

River crests

River gauges in Alameda County, the county that contains Hayward.

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

High tide flooding

Tide gauges in Alameda County.

1. High tide flooding days are days on which a NOAA tide gauge recorded water at or above NOAA's minor flood threshold, set from the gauge's tide range, counted by meteorological year (May to April). These are the counts in NOAA's annual high tide flooding reports; they are not National Weather Service flood stages. Years with less than 80 percent of data are left out.

NOAA CO-OPS high tide flooding counts, through April 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

The drought index is for Alameda County, the county that contains Hayward.

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.

Tsunamis

Tsunami records for Alameda County.

1. Places where NOAA's Global Historical Tsunami Database records a tsunami's water arriving, with the greatest height it reached above sea level at the time. Only tsunamis NOAA rates probable or definite are counted. Heights from eyewitness accounts and tide gauges are mixed, and older events are less completely recorded.

NOAA NCEI/WDS Global Historical Tsunami Database, 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 Alameda County.

Mapped by USGS CA East SF Bay 2016-2017 (10,614), USGS CA Crow Creek 1998 (3,325), CA GS (2,173), USGS CA Walpert Ridge 1998 (565), USGS CA SF Bay Dec 2022 - Jan 2023 (64), USGS Earthquake-Triggered Ground Failure (53) and 1 more.

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. Apr 6, 2006Debris Flow, East Bay Interior Valleys$11.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong April storms brought heavy rain to much of Alameda County. Landslides, eroding hillsides and cracked pavement was the result of the persistent rainfall - prompting nearly $10 million damage to county roadways. Oversatureated earth also caused landslide or erosion problems on private properties which spilled over onto county rights-of-way.

2. Dec 31, 2005Flood$8.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread flooding affected the county during the severe winter storm. Approximately 2 to 4 inches of rain fell in less than a 24 hour period, causing urban and small stream flooding. The most severe flooding occurred in San Leandro, Alameda, Oakland and Berkeley. Much of the damage was done to Public Property, mainly City and County facilities. An Oakland man was killed falling down his stairs during a storm related power outage. The flooding continued into the first few days of January 2006..

3. Jan 1, 2006Flood$8.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding that began on December 31st continued into the New Year. Approximately 2 to 4 inches of rain fell in a 24 hour period, causing widespread flooding in San Leandro, Oakland, Alameda and Berkeley. Much of the damage was done to Public Property, mainly City and County facilities.

4. Jan 19, 2017Hail$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Damage dollar amounts is a low estimate. Impacts are not fully known, but any individual car crash would likely exceed this amount.

5. Oct 13, 2009High Wind, San Francisco Bay Shoreline$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   High winds were reported throughout San Francisco Bay shoreline. Here are other measured peak wind gust reports from automated systems: Point San Pablo Bay Area Air Quality Management District - 74 mph and San Francisco Airport - 62 mph. The high winds knocked down power lines and trees causing hundreds of thousands of people to lose power. A huge oak tree crushed a house in Redwood City and brought down power lines. Also in Redwood City, dozens of trees were toppled, including at least two that hit houses or parked cars. Within San Mateo County at least 47 trees and 31 sets of power lines were knocked over. In Los Altos, three power lines and 18 trees were knocked down. Several…

6. Mar 24, 2011Debris Flow, East Bay Interior Valleys$1.6 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A landslide in the City of San Pablo affected six homes and two city parcels. The area affected was along Wyman Street and Hillcrest Road. Throughout Contra Costa County, nearly $16 million worth of damage occurred due to the March storms.

7. Dec 2, 2011Strong Wind, East Bay Interior Valleys$1.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wind has been blamed for spreading a fire that damaged 10 condominium units in the Walnut Creek area (200 block of County Brook Loop near Alcosta Blvd). Four other two bedroom condos had less serious damage. One resident was injured when they jumped out of their burning condo to the ground. The cause of the fire is unknown, but wind played a large part in spreading the fire.

8. Dec 5, 1996Heavy Rain$1.0 million
9. Dec 5, 1996Heavy Rain$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wide spread heavy precipatation from Pacific storm. SFO 1.4" santa Cruz 2.0", Boulder Creek 2.3" Kentfield 2.0". Large pine tree fell through home in Oakland due to the wet soil and wind in the storm. power was out to as many as 3500 people in the area. Traffic accidents were nearly double normal with 200 during the afternoon commute.

10. Oct 24, 2016Strong Wind, San Francisco Bay Shoreline$1.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    An 80-foot elm tree, three feet in diameter, was blown down in Berkeley and landed on an apartment building on College Avenue near Alcatraz Ave. No one was hurt and there was minimal structural damage.

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

104°FSep 6, 2020

All-time low

25°FJan 5, 1949

Warmest night

69°FAug 14, 2020

Coldest day

38°FDec 9, 1972

Wettest day

5.01 inDec 31, 2022

Snowiest day

1.0 inFeb 5, 1976

Hottest year

2020mean 61.2°F

Coldest year

1955mean 55.1°F

Wettest year

197329.37 in

Driest year

20134.89 in

Station Oakland International Airport (USW00023230), 5 ft elevation, 9.5 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 27, 2026; 89.1% 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 Alameda 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 USW00023230.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Tide gauges NOAA CO-OPS high tide flooding counts, 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.
• Tsunamis NOAA NCEI/WDS Global Historical Tsunami Database.
• 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.