Kings County, California

What hazards hit Kings County most?

The most frequent records are fog, smoke and funnel cloud records: 593 since 1996. 66% of its fog, smoke and funnel cloud records since 1996 fell in December and January. The rank column places the county among California's counties by days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land over each hazard's complete period.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (county and forecast-zone records attributed to the county; a zone record shows its own totals on each county it covers). Days: dates with at least one record of the hazard in the county. Ranks: days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer), since 1950 for tornadoes, 1955 for hail and thunderstorm wind, 1996 for the rest.

How many tornadoes has Kings County had?

NOAA records 8 tornadoes in Kings County from 1964 to 1996, the strongest rated F2, with 0 deaths and 1 injury recorded in the county. That is 21st of 57 California counties by days with tornadoes per 1,000 square miles since 1950. A tornado that crossed a county line is counted in each county it touched, with the length of its path inside the county.

Counted as whole tornadoes rather than county records, the Storm Prediction Center's database holds 8 tornadoes whose track touched Kings County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 8, the same count); along their whole tracks they killed 0 people.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in California.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, tornado records by county (path length in the county, maximum width); ratings as published: F scale before February 1, 2007, EF scale after. Whole-track figures: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database (1950-2025). SPC severe weather database.

When was the last damaging storm in Kings County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the January 18, 2026 dense fog (3 injuries).

CHP reports 2 vehicle collision with additional vehicle involved on Hageman Road just east of Hugo Street with heavy fog in area. Report of minor injuries for two parties with possible major injury for additional party.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1310974)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database; every record of 2025-2026 is listed, earlier ones when they caused deaths, injuries or $250,000 of damage (2025 dollars), and every tornado.

The deadliest and costliest records

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths and injuries direct and indirect; damage is property plus crops as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars.

Is it getting more frequent?

Records per decade for Kings County's most frequent hazards. Counts rose everywhere after 1996, when NOAA began recording every event type, so compare decades within a hazard's complete period only (the shaded cells come before it).

Heat in the 2020-26: 195 records against 29 in the decade before, 195 of them forecast-zone records. Cells marked z rose mostly through zone records. The local National Weather Service office files these once per forecast zone, so a change in how it draws its zones or splits a storm into records moves this count as much as the weather does; read it beside the Kings County days with a record above.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records per calendar decade; zone records from the CZ_TYPE field (Z).

What time of year?

66% of its fog, smoke and funnel cloud records since 1996 fell in December and January. The two busiest months are in violet.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began.

Federal disaster declarations for Kings County

FEMA's register lists 19 declarations that include Kings County: 14 major disasters, 5 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for flood (7) and severe storm (4).

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), declarations through October 2, 2026; one declaration is counted once however many areas it names. OpenFEMA dataset page.

How many floods has Kings County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 40 flood or flash flood records for Kings County from 1996 to 2024, on 35 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Kings County ranks 2358th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $151,000 on 10 claims filed in Kings County; the most in one year was 3 in 2023. Claims count insured losses only: uninsured flood damage is not in this file.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026; claims by year of loss, payments in the dollars of the year paid. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk for Kings County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Kings County Relatively Moderate overall, with an expected annual loss of $96.0 million. These are FEMA's model estimates of future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of what happened; they can differ from the record above.

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, county table, December 2025 release. FEMA's National Risk Index map.

Counties that share a border with Kings County

1. Kern County 5,583
2. Fresno County 4,725
3. Tulare County 3,121
4. Kings County 1,588
5. Monterey County 625
6. San Luis Obispo County 243

Source: U.S. Census Bureau county adjacency file; NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950. The Census Bureau's adjacency file.

Next

• Tornadoes in CaliforniaEvery California tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• The California recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Kings CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Kings County's FEMA declarations (CSV)19 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis