60
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
0
Direct injuries
$5.0M
Property damage
Flood in Santa Cruz County, California: 60 recorded events between 2006 and 2026. The strongest on record measured 0. That places the county #184 nationally and #23 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Flood in Santa Cruz County, California: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for flood in Santa Cruz County is the 2020s, when 31 of the county's 60 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the Santa Cruz County archive, flood makes up 29.9% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #184 for this hazard and #23 within California, putting it in the 93.7 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jan is the peak month for flood in Santa Cruz County with 28 recorded events, while May is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 30, 2012 | SOQUEL | 0 | 1 | 0 | $0 |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 5, 2026 | PARADISE PARK | — | $0 |
| Jan 4, 2026 | SOQUEL | — | $0 |
| Nov 13, 2025 | LA SELVA BEACH | 0 | $0 |
| Feb 13, 2025 | MESA VLG | 0 | $0 |
| Feb 13, 2025 | BROOKDALE | 0 | $0 |
| Feb 13, 2025 | TWIN LAKES | 0 | $0 |
| Feb 5, 2025 | SAN LORENZO | 0 | $0 |
| Dec 29, 2024 | BIG BASIN | 0 | $0 |
| Dec 29, 2024 | PARADISE PARK | 0 | $0 |
| Nov 23, 2024 | MESA VLG | 0 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Santa Cruz County
- Debris Flow 51
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A man drowned in the waters of Soquel Creek in Capitola during a heavy rainstorm that produced minor flooding of the creek. He drowned in a section of the creek in Perry Park at the rear of a grocery store on 809 Bay Avenue in Capitola.
A fatal accident occurred just after 4:00 p.m. on northbound Highway 1 near Rio Del Mar Boulevard when a car spun out on the wet highway, went over an embankment and struck a tree. The 29-year-old male driver sustained minor injuries while the 27-year-old female passenger was fatality injured.
Evacuations to 50 homes in Felton on Sunday night. The San Lorenzo River flooded several streets, including Sylvan Way, River Road, Covered Bridge Road and Circle Road. Residents were able to return home around 11:00 PM that night.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many flood events are on record in Santa Cruz County, California?
60 flood events are recorded in Santa Cruz County between 2006 and 2026, causing 1 direct deaths.
What is the strongest flood recorded in Santa Cruz County?
The strongest flood on record in Santa Cruz County measured 0.
Where does the flood data for Santa Cruz County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Flood in Santa Cruz County, California.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/california/santa-cruz-county/flood/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.