140
Recorded events
3
Direct deaths
9
Direct injuries
$46.5M
Property damage
Heavy Rain in San Diego County, California: 140 recorded events between 1997 and 2026. The strongest on record measured 2.3. That places the county #15 nationally and #1 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Heavy Rain in San Diego County, California: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for heavy rain in San Diego County is the 2020s, when 96 of the county's 140 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 San Diego County archive, heavy rain makes up 12.5% of all recorded severe weather across 16 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #15 for this hazard and #1 within California, putting it in the 99.4 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Aug is the peak month for heavy rain in San Diego County with 32 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 11, 2005 | SAN DIEGO | 0 | 1 | 3 | $1.0M |
| Feb 25, 2003 | OCEANSIDE | 0 | 1 | 3 | $250K |
| Jan 8, 2005 | IMPERIAL BEACH | 0 | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Apr 17, 2000 | COUNTYWIDE | 0 | 0 | 2 | $45K |
| Jul 30, 2003 | CAMPO | 0 | 0 | 1 | $150K |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 12, 2026 | WHISPERING PINES | — | $0 |
| Feb 16, 2026 | UNIVERSITY HGTS | — | $0 |
| Jan 1, 2026 | (SAN)SAN DIEGO INTL | — | $0 |
| Jan 1, 2026 | (MYF)MNTGMRY FLD SAN | — | $0 |
| Nov 15, 2025 | OCEANSIDE ARPT | 0 | $0 |
| Nov 15, 2025 | PALA | 0 | $0 |
| Nov 15, 2025 | WITCH CREEK | 0 | $0 |
| Nov 15, 2025 | MT LAGUNA AFS | 0 | $0 |
| Nov 15, 2025 | PINE HILLS | 0 | $0 |
| Nov 15, 2025 | WITCH CREEK | 0 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from San Diego County
- Flash Flood 256
- Flood 238
- Thunderstorm Wind 118
- Wildfire 105
- Funnel Cloud 58
- Hail 52
- Lightning 43
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
The driver of a big rig lost control in heavy rain and hit a guard rail and traveled down an embankment. During recovery of the truck, its fuel tank was punctured, spilling fuel across the roadway and resulting in a full closure of northbound I-15 at I-8.
Doppler Radar indicated very heavy rainfall from thunderstorms over rural San Diego County near Campo. According to the CHP, heavy rain reduced visibility to near zero along Interstate 8 and lightning caused a fire in the center divide. A gage just south of the border in Loma Tova, Mexico, measured 1.25 inches of rain in 15 minutes from the same cluster of storms. No reports of flash flooding were received most likely because of the rural location of the storms.
Many residents in San Diego County awoke during the early morning hours of the 23rd to the sound of heavy rain and thunder as tropical moisture associated with the remnants of former hurricane Emily brought widespread thunderstorms from the desert to the coast. The Cooperative Observer in Vista measured 0.75 inches of rain and reported that lightning had sparked some fires. A nearby trained spotter measured 0.70 inches in 30 minutes. Considerable debris cloudiness would limit thunderstorm activity in San Diego County that afternoon, however much stronger heating and instability to the north triggered severe thunderstorms in Riverside County.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many heavy rain events are on record in San Diego County, California?
140 heavy rain events are recorded in San Diego County between 1997 and 2026, causing 3 direct deaths.
What is the strongest heavy rain recorded in San Diego County?
The strongest heavy rain on record in San Diego County measured 2.3.
Where does the heavy rain data for San Diego 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
“Heavy Rain in San Diego County, California.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/california/san-diego-county/heavy-rain/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.