Ridgecrest

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 Kern County, the county that contains Ridgecrest.

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 Kern County, the county that contains Ridgecrest.

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.

The drought index is for Kern County, the county that contains Ridgecrest.

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 Kern County.

Mapped by NASA (16), West Coast Slow Moving (Yuankun and others, 2021) (5).

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 2, 2011Flood$12.7 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Kern County estimated damage from the storms of December 17th to January 2nd at 12.7 million dollars.

2. Feb 1, 1998Heavy Rain$12.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The following figures reflect estimated losses from the much above-normal rains and flooding of February. Subsequent months with normally increasing agricultural field operations were more significantly impacted by above normal rainfall. Consider this February list abridged and estimated in many respects (note Madera County is omitted, for example). The total rain/flood damage to area agriculture from the cooler and wetter spring in Central California is presented in the May Storm data figures.Fresno County Ag Loss $1.8M Property $1.6MKern County Ag Loss $5.4M Property $12.5MKings County Ag Loss $1.0M Property $20KMerced County Ag Loss $1.4M Property $2.0MTulare County Ag Loss…

3. Sep 3, 1997Flash Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A thunderstorm measured at 69 dBz moved from southwest to northeast up the El Paso Mountains in East Kern County on the evening of Wednesday, Sept 3rd. Reports indicated that 4.50" of rain fell from this storm in a little over an hour's time. The resulting flash flood through Red Rock Canyon State Park brought 28,000 CFS down through the park, across State Highway 14 and the Redrock-Randsburg Road, and on into Koehn Dry Lake. Nearly 100 motorists were stranded by the flooding with 4 cars swept into the water. Reports indicated that a 12-foot wall of water swept over Highway 14 at 7:10 PM PDT and subsequently over Redrock-Randsburg Road at 7:17 PM PDT. The number of injuries was…

4. Dec 19, 2010Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   At 1235 PST on the 19th local officials reported widespread flooding on many city streets in Bakersfield and around Kern County. At 1205 PST on the 20th the CHP reported large rock slides on CA Highway 178 have closed the Kern Canyon Road that connects Bakersfield and Lake Isabella. At 1600 PST on the 20th Local officials reported the city drainage infrastructure in Bakersfield was overwhelmed and backing up in some areas. Several city streets were flooded and closed with deep water.

5. Jul 21, 2002Wildfire$3.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Deer Fire was man-caused, was pushed by the typically strong up-valley southwest wind through the Kern River Canyon, and burned 1800 acres. The cost to contain the fire was $1.3M. However there were 47 primary residences, 1 commercial building, and 46 out-buildings lost due to this fire with an estimated value of $2.5M. There were no fatalities.

6. Aug 8, 1997Wildfire$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Named the "Jacks Fire"; Southwest of Walker Pass in the Southern Sierra Nevada in Sequoia National Forest. It was a lightning caused fire from thunderstorms developing from monsoonal moisture. It burned a total of 5693 acres. No injuries or structures were reported lost.

7. Jul 23, 2003Wildfire$2.6 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Basin Fire was fought by Sequoia National Forest and burned 1002 acres. Its cause was unknown but there were no fatalities. One primary structure was lost in the fire.

8. Feb 18, 2005Heavy Rain$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The period from the 15th into the 22nd of the month marked a period of unsettled weather for Interior Central California. Rain occurred during this time period with some locally heavy rain showers or thundershowers. On the 15th Central California was particularly hard hit with much above normal daily rain amounts as Merced received 1.24" during the 24-hour period, Madera 1.16", and Fresno 0.92". In the South San Joaquin Valley Bakersfield received 0.82" on the 18th (a daily record), a contribution by an early evening thundershower. Resultant ponded and flowing water in the South San Joaquin Valley from the 15th to the 22nd caused major damage to area roads...including Wheeler…

9. Jun 15, 2002Wildfire$1.9 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Borel Fire originated from unknown causes and burned 3430 acres. There were 7 primary residences and 12 out-buildings lost in this fire. There were no reported fatalities or injuries.

10. Jun 29, 2003Wildfire$1.6 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    The Tejon Fire burned 1155 acres in the Tehachapi Mountains of Kern County at a cost of $1.59M. One travel trailer was destroyed but no fatalities occurred.

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

119°F3 times, most recently Jul 9, 2024

All-time low

7°F2 times, most recently Feb 19, 1994

Warmest night

98°FJul 4, 2001

Coldest day

30°F2 times, most recently Dec 25, 1984

Wettest day

3.50 inAug 21, 2023

Snowiest day

9.0 inJan 5, 1974

Hottest year

1996mean 74.6°F

Coldest year

2003mean 60.1°F

Wettest year

20239.70 in

Driest year

19530.42 in

Snowiest season

9.0 in1973-74

Station Trona (USC00049035), 1,695 ft elevation, 17.9 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1920 to October 27, 2026; 94.0% 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 Kern 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 USC00049035.
• 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.