San Benito County, California

What hazards hit San Benito County most?

The most frequent records are high wind and dust records: 69 since 1996. 59% of its high wind and dust records since 1996 fell in January and February. 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 San Benito County had?

NOAA records 3 tornadoes in San Benito County from 1985 to 2016, the strongest rated F2, with 0 deaths and 0 injuries recorded in the county. 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 2 tornadoes whose track touched San Benito County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 3: 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 San Benito County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the February 17, 2026 flood (1 death and 1 injury).

A small sedan attempted to ford Tres Pinos Creek along Browns Valley Road near Paicines on the night of February 17, with first responders responding to the scene during the night. The next morning, the driver was found walking along Highway 25 asking about the location of the passenger. The passenger's body was eventually found a mile downstream of where the car had gotten stranded. The driver was later arrested on charges of gross vehicular manslaughter. At the time of the incident, the TESC1 river gauge on Tres Pinos Creek measured stages above 2 feet, compared to a typical stage of less than a foot.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1307837)

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 San Benito 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).

High wind and dust storms in the 2010s: 40 records against 9 in the decade before, 40 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 San Benito 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?

59% of its high wind and dust records since 1996 fell in January and February. The two busiest months are in violet.

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

Federal disaster declarations for San Benito County

FEMA's register lists 18 declarations that include San Benito County: 13 major disasters, 5 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for flood (6) and severe storm (5).

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 San Benito County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 27 flood or flash flood records for San Benito County from 1996 to 2026, on 13 days, with 1 death. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), San Benito County ranks 1172nd of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $3.9 million on 129 claims filed in San Benito County; the most in one year was 39 in 2017. 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 San Benito County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates San Benito County Relatively Moderate overall, with an expected annual loss of $80.0 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 San Benito County

1. Fresno County 4,725
2. Merced County 1,946
3. Santa Clara County 910
4. Santa Cruz County 681
5. Monterey County 625
6. San Benito County 147

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
• High wind and dust storms in CaliforniaThe state's high wind and dust 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 San Benito CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download San Benito County's FEMA declarations (CSV)18 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis