Tulare County, California

What hazards hit Tulare County most?

The most frequent records are fog, smoke and funnel cloud records: 701 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 Tulare County had?

NOAA records 14 tornadoes in Tulare County from 1980 to 2018, the strongest rated F2, with 0 deaths and 1 injury 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 14 tornadoes whose track touched Tulare County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 14, 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 Tulare County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the January 18, 2026 dense fog (1 death).

CHP reported 2 vehicle collision on Highway 46 east of Poplar Ave due to heavy fog.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1310972)

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 Tulare 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 2020-26: 290 records against 90 in the decade before, 290 of them forecast-zone records. Drought in the 2010s: 111 records against 8 in the decade before, 111 of them forecast-zone records. Heat in the 2020-26: 224 records against 31 in the decade before, 224 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 Tulare 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 Tulare County

FEMA's register lists 23 declarations that include Tulare County: 15 major disasters, 5 emergencies and 3 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for flood (8) 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 Tulare County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 244 flood or flash flood records for Tulare County from 1997 to 2025, on 104 days, with 5 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Tulare County ranks 652nd of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $4.3 million on 366 claims filed in Tulare County; the most in one year was 107 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 Tulare County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Tulare County Relatively High overall, with an expected annual loss of $214 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 Tulare County

1. Kern County 5,583
2. Fresno County 4,725
3. Tulare County 3,121
4. Kings County 1,588
5. Inyo County 948

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 Tulare CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Tulare County's FEMA declarations (CSV)23 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis