Merced County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Merced County: 0.
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.

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

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.

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 county boundary (or inside the county).
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

Mapped by USGS Conterminous (1).

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, 2023Flood$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Merced County Emergency Manager reported that several mandatory evacuations took place in Merced County as a result of flooding, The impacted areas included Planada which was completely evacuated as well as portions of Merced. Rainfall amounts in the Merced area were between 2 and 3 inches between noon on January 9 and the early morning of January 10 resulting in several cars being stranded and abandoned in flood waters as SR 99 through Merced and 16th St. in Merced were inundated with flood waters. A Flood Warning was already in place for Bear Creek since January 8 and continued through January 11. Bear Creek overflowed and peaked at a new record crest of 26.2 feet during the…

2. Apr 4, 2006Flood$9.7 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Due to continued heavy rain and subsequent high stream flows, a break in Black Rascal Creek flooded homes in north Merced. And Bear Creek raised over its banks in West Merced flooding a residential section in that vicinity. Overall there were approximately 300 homes flooded around Merced with over 500 people evacuated during the event.

3. Mar 25, 1998Flash Flood$9.6 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Over 65 homes and 19 apartments were flooded in and around Merced City as the result of torrential/record-setting rainfall in the previous 18 hours.

4. 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.

5. Feb 1, 1998Heavy Rain$2.0 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…

6. May 5, 2016Lightning$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   California Highway Patrol reported vehicle struck by lightning on SR 152 west of Los Banos at 1834 PST. Vehicle was disabled and no injuries were reported.

7. Mar 27, 2011Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   During the frequently stormy period that began on the 18th and ended on the 28th, as much as 7 inches of rain fell in the San Joaquin Valley and up to 10 inches of rain drenched the adjacent foothills while the higher elevations of the Sierra (above 7000 feet) received snow accumulations of up to 15 feet. Excessive runoff, combined with an increase in reservoir releases at the major dams caused higher than normal flows along rivers and streams through the end of the month. The Merced River at Stevinson peaked a half of a foot below flood stage at 4:30 pm on the 21st but otherwise remained well above monitor stage during the last two weeks of the month. Water levels along the San…

8. Dec 16, 2002Tornado$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   From low-topped convection, a short duration tornado touched down northwest of Merced California on the 16th and had a discernible damage track of 1.25 miles. The tornado dissipated but the parent cell...after a distance of about 3 miles...generated another weak tornado (with a noticable condensation funnel). This tornado was reported to have traveled about one mile over pasture land before dissipating. At its most intense, this cell spawned F1 Tornado damage for 3/8-mile when it lifted a roof from a house and carport and caused damage to various light structures along its path. There were no injuries or fatalities despite residents at home when the roof lifted from a house along…

9. 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.

10. 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.

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, 6.3 miles from the population 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.

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.

Neighbouring counties

• 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.