San Francisco County, California severe weather history spans 135 recorded events between 1982 and 2025. The dominant hazard is flood, accounting for 67.4% of all recorded events. It ranks #2,759 nationally and #32 in California.
135
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
4
Direct injuries
$145K
Property damage
The record
What the San Francisco County, California severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, San Francisco County, California severe weather history averages 3.1 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 84 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 1 events fall before 1990 and 134 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 Francisco County, California record is thunderstorm wind, responsible for 1 direct deaths. The costliest is lightning, with $120K 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 Francisco County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flood | 91 | 0 | $15K | 0 | 2002–2025 |
| Heavy Rain | 15 | 0 | $10K | 1.74 | 1996–2025 |
| Hail | 10 | 0 | $40 | 0.5 | 2017–2023 |
| Lightning | 7 | 0 | $120K | 0 | 2009–2018 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 6 | 1 | $10 | 70 | 1982–2024 |
| Flash Flood | 5 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1997–2014 |
| Debris Flow | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2019–2019 |
Decade by decade
San Francisco County, California severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in San Francisco County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 15, 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | CRISSY AAF | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Mar 2, 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | SAN FRANCISCO | 0 | 4 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A jogger near the intersection of JFK Drive and 30th Avenue within the Golden Gate Park noticed a woman down next to a fallen tree branch. Firefighters arrived to provide life-saving measures, but said that the victim had died. At the time of the incident, a Special Weather Statement was valid for the area, with wind gusts up to 40 mph and pea sized hail possible.
About 47,000 residents lost power around San Francisco as thunderstorms rolled through the city/county. The largest outage affected 36,000 customers in parts of Sunset, Glen Park and Park Merced neighborhoods. One lightning strike hit a power transformer causing it to explode. Besides the total destruction of the power transformer, two vehicles were damaged at the intersection of Broderick and Sacramento Roads.
Heavy rain drenched San Francisco causing storm drains to back up which resulted in minor flooding throughout the city. The Public Utilities Commission reported 25 minor floods at various locations. Nineteen of those floods occurred at intersections and six occurred at homes or businesses.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very High
FEMA NRI risk rating
830,235
Population (ACS)
$1.4M
Median home value
11
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 |
Within the county
Most affected places
- San Francisco 241
- Ocean View 149
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in San Francisco County, California?
135 events are on record between 1982 and 2025, causing 1 direct deaths and $145K in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in San Francisco County?
Flood, with 91 recorded events — 67.4% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many federal disaster declarations cover San Francisco County?
11 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include San Francisco County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is San Francisco County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates San Francisco County as very high risk, placing it in the 100 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the San Francisco 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
- San Diego County 1,117
- San Joaquin County 116
- San Bernardino County 1,642
- San Luis Obispo County 83
- San Benito County 38
- San Mateo County 163
Cite this page
“San Francisco County, California.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/california/san-francisco-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.