Sacramento County

Every recorded tornado

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

Tsunamis

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

Mapped by NASA (2).

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 1, 2023Flood$134 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Sacramento County completed a preliminary estimate of a total of $133 million from public storm damage from January 1 through January 17, and a total of almost $700,000 in private property damage. There was extensive levee damage and flooding along the Cosumnes River from Rancho Murieta to Wilton. There was also widespread flooding of streams, creeks, and roadways across the county. Large numbers of trees were reported down from strong wind events, with widespread power outages and reports of damage to homes and cars.

2. Jan 1, 2023Flash Flood$134 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Cosumnes River rose rapidly due to very heavy rains and already elevated levels from previous storms. Sacramento County OES confirmed the levee along the Cosumnes River breached in three locations overnight, causing flash flooding in the surrounding areas from Rancho Murieta to Wilton. SR 99 between Dillard Rd and Grantline Rd was flooded with numerous vehicles stuck in flood waters, requiring water rescues and was closed around midnight due to flooding. Flooding continued well into January. Sacramento County issued an evacuation warning overnight for the Wilton area, changed to a shelter-in-place warning a couple of hours later due to unsafe travel conditions with surrounding…

3. Jan 1, 2006Flood$4.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A series of warm winter storms brought heavy rain, mudslides, flooding, and high winds to Northern California. - Levee overtopping, breaching, and river flooding occurred along the Feather and Sacramento mainstem rivers as well as along numerous smaller rivers, creeks, and streams. Several urban areas had significant street flooding. The Sacramento weir was opened for the first time since 1997 with twenty gates opened. - Transportation throughout the area was difficult during the course of the storms as airports were closed due to the high winds and major road closures resulted from flooding and mudslides. Interstate 80...the main artery between Sacramento and the San Francisco…

4. Jan 2, 1997Flash Flood$2.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The heavy rains brought the Cosumnes River to record flows above designed limits for the protective levees. Twenty breaks occurred, with the largest near the town of Wilton in the southern end of the county. The surging floodwaters inundated 33,000 acres of cropland and 84 homes. Emergency workers effected several roof-top and car-top rescues by boat and helicopter. The single death occurred at the Cosumnes River bridge near the town of McConnel.

5. Jan 22, 1997Flash Flood$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Localized heavy rain brought Chicken Ranch Slough out of its banks, flooding the Arden-Arcade area of the city. At least 1,000 homes and apartment buildings were flooded.

6. Feb 21, 2005Tornado$650,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down in the Natomas area of the Sacramento Metro area and was also viewed from the Sacramento International Airport. Nine businesses and several residences were damaged with mostly cosmetic damage and a tractor-trailer was overturned . Power was lost to 6200 customers for two minutes.

7. Jan 26, 1997Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy showers and thunderstorms moved over the metro area, re-flooding the neighborhoods surrounding Chicken Ranch Slough, which had just experienced flooding the previous 22nd. The flooding was higher and caused additional damage to 500 more homes.

8. Apr 2, 2006Heavy Rain$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Prolonged heavy precipitation with high snow levels resulted in excessive runoff into area river basins. Hardest hit was the San Joaquin River system and the Delta region. Many area reservoirs had minimal flood storage space as per seasonal norms and the large inflows had to be balanced very carefully with downstream releases to protect the fragile San Joaquin levee system. While the bulk of the flooding affected agricultural and rural properties, some local areas adjacent to waterways experienced flooding of homes and many roads were impassable. However, through the efforts of advance flood-fight measures, careful monitoring of levees, and critical water management coordination…

9. Oct 9, 2000Lightning$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck a television antenna, setting the roof ablaze.

10. Feb 11, 2000Heavy Rain$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Heavy rain inundated a sewage pump along Greenback Lane. This caused water and raw sewage to sweep downhill and into an impoundment on the American River.

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

115°FJun 15, 1961

All-time low

18°FDec 22, 1990

Warmest night

78°FJul 23, 2006

Coldest day

29°FDec 14, 1972

Wettest day

5.41 inOct 24, 2021

Snowiest day

2.0 inFeb 5, 1976

Hottest year

2014mean 64.4°F

Coldest year

1982mean 57.7°F

Wettest year

198333.44 in

Driest year

20135.81 in

Snowiest season

2.0 in1975-76

Station Sacramento Airport Asos (USW00023232), 19 ft elevation, 7.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1941 to October 26, 2026; 99.9% 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 USW00023232.
• 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.
• 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.