Tulare County, California severe weather history spans 474 recorded events between 1966 and 2025. The dominant hazard is flood, accounting for 46.0% of all recorded events. It ranks #967 nationally and #7 in California.
474
Recorded events
4
Direct deaths
11
Direct injuries
$107.4M
Property damage
The record
What the Tulare County, California severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Tulare County, California severe weather history averages 8.0 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2020s, with 171 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 6 events fall before 1990 and 468 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Tulare County, California record is flood, responsible for 2 direct deaths. The costliest is wildfire, with $66.3M in reported property damage. In total, 12 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Tulare County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flood | 218 | 2 | $20.0M | 0 | 1997–2025 |
| Heavy Rain | 47 | 0 | $14.0M | 1.38 | 1998–2023 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 40 | 0 | $4.5M | 62 | 1966–2023 |
| Funnel Cloud | 39 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1996–2024 |
| Hail | 29 | 0 | $125K | 1.5 | 1983–2024 |
| Wildfire | 28 | 0 | $66.3M | 565 | 1997–2003 |
| Lightning | 25 | 2 | $42K | 0 | 1996–2017 |
| Flash Flood | 20 | 0 | $765K | 0 | 1997–2021 |
| Tornado | 14 | 0 | $1.6M | F2 | 1980–2018 |
| Debris Flow | 12 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2017–2024 |
| Heavy Snow | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2000–2000 |
| High Wind | 1 | 0 | $0 | 55 | 2000–2000 |
Decade by decade
Tulare County, California severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
16 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980-04-05 | EF2 | 0 | 1 | 15.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1991-02-28 | EF1 | 0 | 1 | 0.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 1964-11-01 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1962-02-19 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 2018-03-22 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 1.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 2012-11-09 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2008-01-27 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2004-07-07 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2004-10-20 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1997-01-20 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Tulare County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 28, 2005 | Lightning | MINERAL KING | 2 | 7 | $0 |
| Jan 16, 1998 | Flood | SPRINGVILLE | 2 | 0 | $0 |
| Sep 3, 2017 | Lightning | LODGEPOLE | 0 | 3 | $0 |
| Mar 1, 1991 | Tornado | 0 | 1 | $250K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Lightning struck a group of camping Boy Scouts at the 10,700 foot elevation of Sandy Meadow 4 miles west of Mt. Whitney on the John Muir Trail on the 28th. There were 9 individuals struck in a tent that had been erected as shelter from the thunderstorm with one immediate fatality and another critically injured that expired the next day.
In trying to cross the Tule River in the mountains of Tulare County, an elderly couple's car was swept downstream off of a 100-foot low-water crossing. The river was running at a higher than normal level of 5 feet deep due to recent rains in Central California.
The McNally Fire was started by an illegal campfire. It charred 90,500 acres through July 31st and ultimately charred 150,696 acres. The fire was located in Tulare County near the town of Johnsondale and is the largest fire in Sequoia Park history. This fire threatened some of the park's historic Giant Sequoia Groves although they were successfully protected. There were 14 structures lost. At one time over 2,000 firefighters plus air support were being used to fight the fire. Cost to contain the fire was in excess of $14M by 7/31/02. The final cost assigned to this fire was $45.7M at containment on August 29th.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively High
FEMA NRI risk rating
478,693
Population (ACS)
$330K
Median home value
23
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 13, 2020 | Fire | SQF FIRE COMPLEX | FM |
| Aug 22, 2020 | Fire | WILDFIRES | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Tulare County, California?
474 events are on record between 1966 and 2025, causing 4 direct deaths and $107.4M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Tulare County?
Flood, with 218 recorded events — 46.0% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Tulare County?
16 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 15 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Tulare County?
23 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Tulare County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Tulare County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Tulare County as relatively high risk, placing it in the 97 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Tulare 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
- Trinity County 72
- Tuolumne County 66
- Tehama County 139
- Ventura County 169
- Sutter County 33
- Yolo County 75
Cite this page
“Tulare County, California.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/california/tulare-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.