Santa Clara County, California

What hazards hit Santa Clara County most?

The most frequent records are high wind and dust records: 517 since 1998. 47% of its high wind and dust records since 1998 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 Santa Clara County had?

NOAA records 6 tornadoes in Santa Clara County from 1951 to 2007, the strongest rated F2, with 0 deaths and 2 injuries recorded in the county. That is 25th 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 6 tornadoes whose track touched Santa Clara County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 6, 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 Santa Clara County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the June 29, 2026 strong wind.

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 Santa Clara 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: 291 records against 50 in the decade before, 291 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 Santa Clara 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?

47% of its high wind and dust records since 1998 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 Santa Clara County

FEMA's register lists 25 declarations that include Santa Clara County: 16 major disasters, 6 emergencies and 3 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (6) 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 Santa Clara County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 173 flood or flash flood records for Santa Clara County from 1996 to 2026, on 75 days, with 3 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Santa Clara County ranks 227th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $24.6 million on 1,630 claims filed in Santa Clara County; the most in one year was 536 in 1998. 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 Santa Clara County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Santa Clara County Very High overall, with an expected annual loss of $2.0 billion. 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 Santa Clara County

1. Merced County 1,946
2. Santa Clara County 910
3. Alameda County 746
4. San Mateo County 709
5. Santa Cruz County 681
6. Stanislaus County 262
7. 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 Santa Clara CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Santa Clara County's FEMA declarations (CSV)25 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis