Live
Active alerts for this county
Lake Wind Advisory
Lassen-Eastern Plumas-Eastern Sierra Counties; Greater Lake Tahoe Area; Greater Lake Tahoe Area; Greater Reno-Carson City-Minden Area; Western Nevada Basin and Range including Pyramid Lake
El Dorado County, California severe weather history spans 238 recorded events between 1972 and 2026. The dominant hazard is heavy rain, accounting for 58.4% of all recorded events. It ranks #2,191 nationally and #19 in California.
238
Recorded events
8
Direct deaths
0
Direct injuries
$29.1M
Property damage
The record
What the El Dorado County, California severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, El Dorado County, California severe weather history averages 4.4 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 150 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 4 events fall before 1990 and 234 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the El Dorado County, California record is thunderstorm wind, responsible for 8 direct deaths. The costliest is flash flood, with $15.0M in reported property damage. In total, 9 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in El Dorado County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heavy Rain | 139 | 0 | $100K | 0 | 1996–2025 |
| Flood | 51 | 0 | $6.3M | 0 | 2002–2026 |
| Hail | 22 | 0 | $1K | 1.75 | 1972–2025 |
| Debris Flow | 11 | 0 | $6.5M | 0 | 2012–2021 |
| Tornado | 5 | 0 | $1.0M | F0 | 1972–2020 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 5 | 8 | $23K | 62 | 1981–2025 |
| Flash Flood | 3 | 0 | $15.0M | 0 | 1997–2024 |
| Funnel Cloud | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2005–2005 |
| Wildfire | 1 | 0 | $200K | 0 | 1998–1998 |
Decade by decade
El Dorado County, California severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
5 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 4 touched down inside it and 1 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-12-24 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 6.2 mi | Crossed in |
| 2010-11-23 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2020-11-18 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 4.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 2015-07-08 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 2.7 mi | Touched down here |
| 1972-10-01 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in El Dorado County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 21, 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | FALLEN LEAF | 8 | 0 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Buoy data on Lake Tahoe indicated a northerly wind gust of 45 mph from nearby showers and collapsing thunderstorms. This caused significant waves on Lake Tahoe, with multiple boats damaged and one boat capsized near Emerald Bay, causing 8 fatalities out of the 10 on board. The two that survived were wearing life jackets, while the other 8 did not.
A large sinkhole on US50 near Bridal Veil Falls Rd. closed the westbound lanes. The damage remained through the spring and requires large scale repairs, with four lanes of the road have been reduced to two, one lane in each direction.|Crews demolished the westbound lanes, and stabilized the slope down to the river and and began erecting a retaining wall that will hold up the new westbound lanes.|The process will likely take several months and could cost an estimated $6.5 million.
Heavy rain fell in areas with significant snow berms and blocked storm drains, resulting in substantial flooding to around 50 homes in the Meyers area. Some of the worst flood damage was seen on Nahane Dr and Wailaki St per a KCRA news article. The end time of the flooding is estimated. Damage estimates are also roughly estimated.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Moderate
FEMA NRI risk rating
192,662
Population (ACS)
$680K
Median home value
27
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 3, 2023 | Severe Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR |
| Mar 10, 2023 | Flood | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | EM |
| Jan 14, 2023 | Flood | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR |
| Jan 9, 2023 | Flood | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, AND MUDSLIDES | EM |
| Sep 9, 2022 | Fire | MOSQUITO FIRE | FM |
| Sep 12, 2021 | Fire | WILDFIRES | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in El Dorado County, California?
238 events are on record between 1972 and 2026, causing 8 direct deaths and $29.1M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in El Dorado County?
Heavy Rain, with 139 recorded events — 58.4% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed El Dorado County?
5 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 4 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover El Dorado County?
27 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include El Dorado County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is El Dorado County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates El Dorado County as relatively moderate risk, placing it in the 91 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the El Dorado County, California severe weather history data come from?
Every figure is drawn from United States federal public-domain records: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events for the event archive, NOAA SPC SVRGIS for mapped tornado paths, FEMA for disaster declarations and risk ratings, and the U.S. Census for population context. Dates are shown in UTC and recent entries may still be revised by NOAA.
Nearby
Neighbouring counties
- Del Norte County 47
- Fresno County 783
- Contra Costa County 108
- Glenn County 50
- Colusa County 35
- Humboldt County 239
Cite this page
“El Dorado County, California.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/california/el-dorado-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.