Amador County
Population 41,876 (2025) 595 sq mi
Large wildfires have burned 27,854 acres of Amador County since 1984, 50th most of 58 counties in California; the largest was the Power Fire in 2004.
Hazard fingerprint Each spoke is this county’s percentile among U.S. counties where that hazard occurs. How it is computed
- Wildfire burn scars since 19847
At a glance
The record for Amador County in eight numbers. Each links to its section below.
Tornadoes
No tornado is recorded here in the Storm Prediction Center database, which begins in 1950.
Hurricanes and tropical storms
No tropical storm or hurricane has tracked within 100 miles since records began in 1851.
Wildfire and smoke
27,854 acres burned in 7 large fires since 1984, equal to 7.3% of the land.
Largest
October 6, 2004
Power Fire, 17,280 acres
17,253 acres inside Amador County.
Most recent
July 4, 2022
Electra Fire
4,642 acres in total.
Every large fire
- 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
Smokiest year
2020: 57 days
Heavy smoke on 40 days in 2020, the most of any year.
Last 10 years
18.8 days a year
Medium or heavy smoke, 2016 to 2025.
2025
4 days
Medium or heavy smoke. 8 so far in 2026.
- 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.
Floods and flood insurance
78 federal flood insurance claims since 1980, with $1.5 million paid.
Most claims in one year
1997: 22 claims
$175,000 paid.
2nd most
2017: 10 claims
$198,000 paid.
3rd most
1996: 9 claims
$61,000 paid.
Claims by ZIP code
| 95642 | 42 | $1.1 million |
| 95685 | 22 | $209,000 |
| 95640 | 5 | $1,681 |
Flood events since 1996
- Flood11
- Heavy Rain6
- Flash Flood3
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.
Drought
In severe drought or worse for 113 of 1,581 months since 1895 (7%); the longest spell lasted 13 months.
113
Months in severe drought or worse since 1895
19
Months in extreme drought
7%
Share of all months, severe or worse
Lowest reading
July 2021
−5.21, extreme drought
Longest severe spell
13 months
June 1987 to June 1988.
Latest month
September 2026
−2.19, moderate drought
Last severe month: October 2022.
- 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.
Earthquakes and volcanoes
102 earthquakes of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles since 1900; the largest was magnitude 6.1 in 1994.
4
Magnitude 2.5+ inside the county since 1973
748
Magnitude 3+ within 50 miles since 1973
102
Magnitude 4+ within 50 miles since 1900
14
Magnitude 5+ within 50 miles since 1900
Largest within 50 miles
September 12, 1994
4 km S of Carter Springs, Nevada; 24.0 miles away, 8.7 miles deep.
Most recent, magnitude 3 or more
October 2, 2026
Magnitude 3.3
9 km WSW of South Lake Tahoe, CA; 13.1 miles away.
Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles
- 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 county boundary (or inside the county).
- 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
| Mono Lake Volcanic Field | 66.6 | Moderate |
| Mono-Inyo Chain | 74.4 | High |
| Mammoth Mountain | 83.0 | Moderate |
| Soda Lakes | 85.2 | Moderate |
| Long Valley Caldera | 86.1 | Very high |
| Clear Lake Volcanic Field | 99.3 | High |
- 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.
Severe weather and other events
30 events in the National Weather Service record, 30 of them since 1996.
2
Hail reports, 1 inch or larger
0
Hail, 2 inches or larger
1
Damaging gusts, 58 mph+
1
Winter weather events since 1996
0
Heat events since 1996
0
Cold events since 1996
Largest hail
March 29, 2013
1.00 inches
Strongest measured or estimated gust
January 20, 2019
58 mph
More event types since 1996
| Debris flows | 1 | 0 |
Costliest events since 1996
- Oct 17, 2015Debris Flow$100,000
National Weather Service narrative
Heavy rain caused a mudslide over the Butte Fire burn area, closing Electra Rd.
- Dec 31, 2022Flood$50,000
National Weather Service narrative
OES said the roadway flooded with cars getting stuck & 15 people needed help.
- Jan 10, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$2,000
National Weather Service narrative
There were 2 trees reported down into powerlines by the California Highway Patrol. Winds gusted to 41 mph at Westover Field - Amador County Airport.
- Jan 10, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$1,000
National Weather Service narrative
Tree down across the westbound lane of SR88. There was a gust of 45 mph measured at Mount Zion RAWS.
- 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.
Weather records
From Sonora, 36.4 miles from the county’s population centre, with records from 1906.
- All-time high
- 113°F2 times, most recently Jul 15, 1972
- All-time low
- 8°F2 times, most recently Dec 10, 1972
- Warmest night
- 79°FAug 8, 1921
- Coldest day
- 33°F2 times, most recently Dec 9, 1972
- Wettest day
- 5.42 inDec 11, 1906
- Snowiest day
- 11.0 inJan 1, 1910
- Hottest year
- 1934mean 62.5°F
- Coldest year
- 1964mean 55.1°F
- Wettest year
- 194046.67 in
- Driest year
- 20139.53 in
- Snowiest season
- 44.0 in1932-33
Median first snow
January 22
Earliest: December 9, 1932
Median last snow
March 1
Latest: April 19, 1955
39 of 62 winters had no measurable snow.
Station Sonora (USC00048353), 1,675 ft elevation, 36.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1906 to October 27, 2026; 88.4% 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.
Federal disaster declarations
21 since 1953. The most recent: Severe Winter Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, April 3, 2023.
| Apr 3, 2023 | Severe Storm | DR-4699-CA |
| Mar 10, 2023 | Flood | EM-3592-CA |
| Jan 14, 2023 | Flood | DR-4683-CA |
| Sep 1, 2021 | Fire | EM-3571-CA |
| Mar 22, 2020 | Biological | DR-4482-CA |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | EM-3428-CA |
| May 17, 2019 | Severe Storm | DR-4434-CA |
| Apr 1, 2017 | Flood | DR-4308-CA |
| Feb 14, 2017 | Severe Storm | DR-4301-CA |
| Sep 10, 2015 | Fire | FM-5111-CA |
| Jun 5, 2006 | Severe Storm | DR-1646-CA |
| Feb 3, 2006 | Severe Storm | DR-1628-CA |
| Sep 13, 2005 | Hurricane | EM-3248-CA |
| Feb 9, 1998 | Severe Storm | DR-1203-CA |
| Jan 4, 1997 | Severe Storm | DR-1155-CA |
| Mar 12, 1995 | Severe Storm | DR-1046-CA |
| Jan 10, 1995 | Severe Storm | DR-1044-CA |
| Feb 21, 1986 | Flood | DR-758-CA |
| Jan 20, 1977 | Drought | EM-3023-CA |
| Jan 26, 1969 | Flood | DR-253-CA |
| Dec 24, 1964 | Flood | DR-183-CA |
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.
How this compares
Where Amador County stands among 58 counties in California and 3,143 in the United States.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 0 | — |
| Tornadoes rated F3/EF3 or stronger | 0 | — |
| Tropical cyclones within 50 mi | 0 | — |
| Hurricane-strength passes within 50 mi | 0 | — |
| Wildfire acres since 1984 | 27,854 | 50 / 58 |
| Flood insurance claims | 78 | 42 / 58 |
| Flood insurance paid | $1.5 million | 42 / 58 |
| Disaster declarations | 21 | 40 / 58 |
| Flood events since 1996 | 20 | 56 / 58 |
| Hail and wind events since 1996 | 5 | 54 / 58 |
| Winter storm events since 1996 | 1 | 38 / 58 |
| Reported damage since 1996 | $153,000 | 58 / 58 |
| River crests at major flood stage | 0 | — |
| High tide flooding days a year, last 10 years | 0.0 | — |
| Months in severe drought since 1895 | 113 | 37 / 58 |
| Medium or heavy smoke days a year, last 10 years | 18.8 | 24 / 58 |
| Earthquakes M4+ within 50 mi since 1900 | 102 | 50 / 58 |
| Earthquakes M2.5+ in the county since 1973 | 4 | 55 / 58 |
Neighbouring counties
| Alpine County | 0 | 0 |
| Calaveras County | 2 | 0 |
| El Dorado County | 5 | 0 |
| Sacramento County | 16 | 0 |
| San Joaquin County | 19 | 0 |
Sources and vintage
Every number on this page comes from these public records.
- 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 USC00048353.
- 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.
- 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.