Madera County, California

What hazards hit Madera County most?

The most frequent records are winter storm records: 733 since 2000. 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 Madera County had?

NOAA records 11 tornadoes in Madera County from 1958 to 2024, the strongest rated EF2, with 0 deaths and 0 injuries recorded in the county. That is 15th 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 12 tornadoes whose track touched Madera County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 11: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); 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 Madera County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the February 2, 2026 dense fog (1 injury).

CHP reported a two vehicle traffic collision at intersection on Ave 14 at Rd. 24 with heavy fog in area. One minor injury reported.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1312632)

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 Madera 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).

Drought in the 2010s: 111 records against 12 in the decade before, 111 of them forecast-zone records. Heat in the 2020-26: 104 records against 27 in the decade before, 104 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 Madera 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?

Records by month in Madera County. The two busiest months are in violet.

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

Federal disaster declarations for Madera County

FEMA's register lists 25 declarations that include Madera County: 14 major disasters, 5 emergencies and 6 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for fire (7) and flood (6).

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 Madera County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 89 flood or flash flood records for Madera County from 1997 to 2025, on 51 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Madera County ranks 1540th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $699,000 on 63 claims filed in Madera County; the most in one year was 6 in 1993. 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 Madera County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Madera County Relatively High overall, with an expected annual loss of $162 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 Madera County

1. Fresno County 4,725
2. Madera County 2,487
3. Mariposa County 2,107
4. Merced County 1,946
5. Tuolumne County 1,601
6. Mono County 915

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
• Winter storms in CaliforniaThe state's winter storm records, by county, year and month
• The California recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Madera CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Madera County's FEMA declarations (CSV)25 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis