Santa Clara County, California severe weather history spans 264 recorded events between 1951 and 2026. The dominant hazard is flood, accounting for 54.2% of all recorded events. It ranks #2,013 nationally and #11 in California.
264
Recorded events
3
Direct deaths
8
Direct injuries
$19.9M
Property damage
The record
What the Santa Clara County, California severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Santa Clara County, California severe weather history averages 3.5 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 168 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 1 events fall before 1990 and 263 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Santa Clara County, California record is flood, responsible for 3 direct deaths. The costliest is hail, with $10.0M in reported property damage. In total, 10 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Santa Clara County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flood | 143 | 3 | $3.1M | 0 | 1996–2026 |
| Hail | 35 | 0 | $10.0M | 1 | 2012–2024 |
| Flash Flood | 24 | 0 | $6K | 0 | 1997–2017 |
| Debris Flow | 24 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2017–2021 |
| Heavy Rain | 13 | 0 | $25K | 5.63 | 2002–2024 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 8 | 0 | $5K | 78 | 1995–2025 |
| Tornado | 6 | 0 | $6.7M | F2 | 1951–2007 |
| Funnel Cloud | 5 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1998–2017 |
| Lightning | 5 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2018–2020 |
| Wildfire | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2003–2003 |
Decade by decade
Santa Clara County, California severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
6 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998-05-05 | EF2 | 0 | 1 | 0.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 1951-01-11 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 5.7 mi | Touched down here |
| 1998-05-05 | EF1 | 0 | 1 | 0.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2007-04-14 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 1998-02-06 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1997-12-08 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Santa Clara County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 31, 2022 | Flood | WAYNE | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Feb 25, 2011 | Flood | GILROY | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Jan 20, 2010 | Flood | CAMPBELL | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Aug 26, 2003 | Wildfire | CENTRAL PORTION | 0 | 4 | $0 |
| Oct 28, 2016 | Flood | SAN JOSE | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Feb 28, 2014 | Flood | WAYNE | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| May 6, 1998 | Tornado | SUNNYVALE | 0 | 1 | $3.8M |
| May 6, 1998 | Tornado | LOS ALTOS | 0 | 1 | $300K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Heavy rain caused the flood control channel of the Gilroy creek near Forest Street to rise to near capacity. Just before noon firefighters and police arrived at the scene where they pulled a 43-year-old male from the water. His death was determined to be from drowning.
As an arrest warrant was being served at a home in Campbell, a man ran into his backyard and hopped over a fence, where a cement drainage ditch was running at full capacity. The man tried to jump over the ditch but got caught in the water and dragged downstream. The Police Officers saw him try to keep his head above water, but he went under and drowned.
Heavy rain caused San Francisquito Creek to flood and briefly overtop a levee in East Palo Alto. Numerous other seeps and areas where water bubbled through the levee were also noted in the area. Homes on Verbena Drive nearest the levee were evacuated. Officials placed sandbags on top of the levees to temporarily strengthen the flood defenses.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very High
FEMA NRI risk rating
1,902,047
Population (ACS)
$1.5M
Median home value
25
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 |
| Aug 22, 2020 | Fire | WILDFIRES | DR |
| Aug 21, 2020 | Fire | SCU LIGTNING COMPLEX FIRE | FM |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Santa Clara County, California?
264 events are on record between 1951 and 2026, causing 3 direct deaths and $19.9M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Santa Clara County?
Flood, with 143 recorded events — 54.2% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Santa Clara County?
6 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 6 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Santa Clara County?
25 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Santa Clara County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Santa Clara County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Santa Clara County as very high risk, placing it in the 100 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Santa Clara 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
- Santa Barbara County 162
- Santa Cruz County 201
- San Mateo County 163
- Shasta County 193
- San Luis Obispo County 83
- Sierra County 60
Cite this page
“Santa Clara County, California.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/california/santa-clara-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.