PlainHazard

California drought

Every recorded drought record since 1996 · 34 counties with a record

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 1,870 drought records in California from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 110 a year since 2000. The costliest was the December 1, 2014 drought ($1.9 billion in 2025 dollars). California ranks 13th of 51 states and territories by count and 38th of 50 per square mile.

Drought in California, 1996 to 2026

Drought records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026.

  • recorded, no damage figure
  • under $1 million
  • $1 million or more
  • $10 million or more
  • $100 million or more, or 10 deaths
  • $1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
  • a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
  • a year with a death
Records
1,8701996 to June 30, 2026
A year since 2000
110average
Deaths
00 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars
$1.9Bas filed
Busiest year
2022606 records

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; deaths and damage as filed, damage in 2025 dollars. Search the record at NCEI.

Are drought records common in California?

California averages about 110 drought records a year since 2000, 13th of 51 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2022 (606). Per 10,000 square miles of land, California records 120 drought records since 1996, 38th of 50 states and territories by that measure.

  1. 1. Hawaii 2624
  2. 2. New Jersey 1205
  3. 3. Delaware 1062
  4. 4. Oklahoma 971
  5. 5. Georgia 900
  6. 6. Texas 711
  7. 7. New Mexico 528
  8. 8. Alabama 527
  9. 9. Tennessee 477
  10. 10. Iowa 466
  11. 38. California 120

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.

Which counties in California have the most drought records?

Per square mile, Yuba County leads California: 50 days with a drought record since 1996, 79.1 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Kern County has the most drought records (544 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).

  1. Yuba County 79.1 (73)
  2. Sutter County 78.0 (87)
  3. Solano County 57.2 (83)
  4. Amador County 55.5 (33)
  5. Calaveras County 50.0 (111)
  6. Sacramento County 48.7 (83)
  7. Nevada County 48.0 (64)
  8. Mariposa County 46.9 (198)
  9. Yolo County 46.4 (47)
  10. Alpine County 42.0 (31)
  11. Kings County 41.7 (148)
  12. Placer County 39.8 (111)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.

When is drought season in California?

California's drought records by month. The busiest month is October (186 records).

The values, month by month

Jan 160 · Feb 119 · Mar 125 · Apr 129 · May 143 · Jun 165 · Jul 161 · Aug 165 · Sep 167 · Oct 186 · Nov 184 · Dec 166 (records).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.

The costliest drought records in California

California: the most damaging storms since 1993, 2025 dollars
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2014-12-01 DroughtCalaveras County and 2 more · forecast zone Northern San Joaquin Valley 0 0 $1.9B
2007-07-01 DroughtRiverside County · forecast zone Coachella Valley 0 0 $2.8M

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.

Are drought records becoming more frequent in California?

California's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.

Drought: California and the United States by decade (2020s to June 30, 2026)
DecadeCaliforniaUnited StatesCalifornia's share
1996-9925,6000.0%
2000s31318,5711.7%
2010s53931,4411.7%
2020-261,01630,1473.4%

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.

The most recent drought records in California

The 12 most recent records, to June 30, 2026
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2025-03-01 DroughtKern County · forecast zone Mojave Desert 0 0 –
2025-03-01 DroughtKern County · forecast zone Mojave Desert Slope(S) 0 0 –
2025-03-01 DroughtKern County · forecast zone Indian Wells Valley 0 0 –
2025-02-01 DroughtKern County · forecast zone Mojave Desert 0 0 –
2025-02-01 DroughtKern County · forecast zone Mojave Desert Slope(S) 0 0 –
2025-02-01 DroughtKern County · forecast zone Indian Wells Valley 0 0 –
2025-01-23 DroughtKern County · forecast zone Mojave Desert 0 0 –
2025-01-23 DroughtKern County · forecast zone Mojave Desert Slope(S) 0 0 –
2025-01-23 DroughtKern County · forecast zone Indian Wells Valley 0 0 –
2025-01-23 DroughtKern County · forecast zone Frazier Mountain Communities 0 0 –
2025-01-23 DroughtKern County · forecast zone Grapevine 0 0 –
2025-01-23 DroughtKern County · forecast zone Tehachapi 0 0 –

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.

Federal disaster declarations for drought records in California

FEMA has declared 1 disaster in California for drought, counting its incident type and declarations that name the hazard in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); 0 were major disasters, the latest on January 20, 1977.

The 12 most recent
DeclaredNumberTitleAreas named
1977-01-20EM-3023Drought47

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

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