San Benito County, California severe weather history spans 38 recorded events between 1985 and 2026. The dominant hazard is flood, accounting for 50.0% of all recorded events. It ranks #3,090 nationally and #53 in California.
38
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
1
Direct injuries
$20.0M
Property damage
The record
What the San Benito County, California severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, San Benito County, California severe weather history averages 0.9 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 18 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 1 events fall before 1990 and 37 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the San Benito County, California record is flood, responsible for 1 direct deaths. The costliest is flood, with $15.5M in reported property damage. In total, 7 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in San Benito County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flood | 19 | 1 | $15.5M | 0 | 2016–2026 |
| Flash Flood | 6 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1997–2017 |
| Debris Flow | 4 | 0 | $4.5M | 0 | 2014–2025 |
| Tornado | 3 | 0 | $3K | F2 | 1985–2016 |
| Hail | 3 | 0 | $0 | 1 | 2008–2018 |
| Heavy Rain | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2015–2019 |
| Funnel Cloud | 1 | 0 | $10 | 0 | 2025–2025 |
Decade by decade
San Benito County, California severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
2 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 2 touched down inside it and 0 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985-03-11 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2016-01-06 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.6 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in San Benito County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 17, 2026 | Flood | PAICINES | 1 | 1 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A small sedan attempted to ford Tres Pinos Creek along Browns Valley Road near Paicines on the night of February 17, with first responders responding to the scene during the night. The next morning, the driver was found walking along Highway 25 asking about the location of the passenger. The passenger's body was eventually found a mile downstream of where the car had gotten stranded. The driver was later arrested on charges of gross vehicular manslaughter. At the time of the incident, the TESC1 river gauge on Tres Pinos Creek measured stages above 2 feet, compared to a typical stage of less than a foot.
Heavy rain on January 24 caused the Pacheco Creek in San Benito County to flood. The Pacheco Creek stream gauge near Dunneville rose above flood stage at 11:45 am PST on January 22 and remained above flood stage until 4 pm PST on January 22.
At 8:50 AM PST on the morning of January 6, 2016, a weak tornado touched down in a field between Highway 156 and Orchard Road approximately 7 miles north of Hollister, CA in San Benito County. Results from a damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service later that day showed the damage to be consistent with a tornado of EF-0 intensity (maximum wind speeds of 75 MPH). The tornado lasted just a minute or two and caused spotty damage along a 3/4-mile length path 10-20 yards in width that crossed Orchard Road as it moved to the north-northeast. Two large barns/sheds were moderately-to-significantly damaged along with a fence and some trees.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Moderate
FEMA NRI risk rating
67,290
Population (ACS)
$793K
Median home value
18
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 |
| Mar 22, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in San Benito County, California?
38 events are on record between 1985 and 2026, causing 1 direct deaths and $20.0M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in San Benito County?
Flood, with 19 recorded events — 50.0% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed San Benito County?
2 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 2 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover San Benito County?
18 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include San Benito County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is San Benito County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates San Benito County as relatively moderate risk, placing it in the 85 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the San Benito 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
- Sacramento County 246
- San Bernardino County 1,642
- Riverside County 930
- San Diego County 1,117
- Plumas County 120
- San Francisco County 135
Cite this page
“San Benito County, California.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/california/san-benito-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.