Colusa County, California severe weather history spans 35 recorded events between 1988 and 2025. The dominant hazard is flood, accounting for 51.4% of all recorded events. It ranks #3,097 nationally and #55 in California.
35
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
10
Direct injuries
$8.8M
Property damage
The record
What the Colusa County, California severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Colusa County, California severe weather history averages 0.9 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 14 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 1 events fall before 1990 and 34 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Colusa County, California record is flood, responsible for 1 direct deaths. The costliest is flood, with $8.7M in reported property damage. In total, 8 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Colusa County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flood | 18 | 1 | $8.7M | 0 | 2006–2025 |
| Heavy Rain | 6 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1998–2025 |
| Tornado | 4 | 0 | $70K | EF0 | 2011–2019 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 2 | 0 | $0 | 50 | 1988–2016 |
| Funnel Cloud | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2019–2019 |
| Hail | 1 | 0 | $0 | 1.25 | 2019–2019 |
| Flash Flood | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1997–1997 |
| Wildfire | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1999–1999 |
Decade by decade
Colusa County, California severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
5 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-02-02 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2013-02-19 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2011-03-21 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2011-03-23 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 1.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2009-01-24 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Colusa County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 26, 2025 | Flood | WILLIAMS | 1 | 3 | $0 |
| Oct 16, 1999 | Wildfire | WILLIAMS | 0 | 7 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Around 3 PM PST on December 26th, a vehicle hydroplaned and crashed on Interstate 5 in Williams, CA in heavy rain. Initially there were 2 minor injuries and 2 critical injuries, but later one of the critical injuries was updated to a fatality.
The town of Maxwell, CA started flooding near 2:00 am due to rain in the last day causing local creeks to rise. The Colusa County Sheriff's Office posted a voluntary evacuation notice at 8:30 am, with some people evacuated by boat. Interstate 5 near Maxwell was under a foot of water, causing travel disruption. |Water inundated most of the homes in a 9-block area in Maxwell. Damage to an elementary school, a sheriff's substation, roads and 78 homes could total $7 million, according to the Colusa County Office of Emergency Services.
Colusa County completed a preliminary estimate of damage to roads, road closures, debris removal, and high river levels of about $800,000 in damage. The Colusa Boat Landing had some damages to the private levee, with an estimate of about $200,000.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Moderate
FEMA NRI risk rating
21,984
Population (ACS)
$393K
Median home value
19
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| May 17, 2019 | Severe Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR |
| May 1, 2019 | Severe Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Colusa County, California?
35 events are on record between 1988 and 2025, causing 1 direct deaths and $8.8M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Colusa County?
Flood, with 18 recorded events — 51.4% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Colusa County?
5 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 5 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Colusa County?
19 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Colusa County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Colusa County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Colusa County as relatively moderate risk, placing it in the 81 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Colusa 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
- Calaveras County 47
- Contra Costa County 108
- Butte County 179
- Del Norte County 47
- Amador County 29
- El Dorado County 238
Cite this page
“Colusa County, California.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/california/colusa-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.