California high wind and dust storms
Every recorded high wind record since 1996 · 58 counties with a record
NOAA's Storm Events Database records 9,795 high wind and dust records in California from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 347 a year since 2000. The deadliest was the November 2, 2024 strong wind in Marin County and Sonoma County: 6 deaths and 1 injury across 2 records. California ranks 1st of 52 states and territories by count and 16th of 51 per square mile.
High wind and dust storms in California, 1996 to 2026
Wind 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
- 9,7951996 to June 30, 2026
- A year since 2000
- 347average
- Deaths
- 123419 injuries
- Damage, 2025 dollars
- $674Mas filed
- Busiest year
- 2023766 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 high wind and dust records common in California?
California averages about 347 high wind and dust records a year since 2000, 1st of 52 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2023 (766). Per 10,000 square miles of land, California records 628 high wind and dust records since 1996, 16th of 51 states and territories by that measure.
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 high wind and dust records?
Per square mile, San Mateo County leads California: 151 days with a high wind record since 1996, 336.6 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Kern County has the most wind records (2,219 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).
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 the windy season in California?
California's high wind and dust records by month. The busiest month is January (1,875 records).
The values, month by month
Jan 1,875 · Feb 1,597 · Mar 1,054 · Apr 913 · May 463 · Jun 274 · Jul 41 · Aug 89 · Sep 150 · Oct 686 · Nov 1,059 · Dec 1,594 (records).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.
What were the deadliest high wind and dust records in California?
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-11-02 | Strong WindMarin County and Sonoma County · forecast zone Coastal North Bay Including Point Reyes National Seashore One storm episode: 2 records, 2024-11-02 to 2024-11-04; the totals are the episode's. Strong swell waves in the eastern Pacific resulted in two fatal boating accidents in the waters off the North Bay. | 27 kt wind | 6 | 1 | $9 |
| 2023-03-21 | Strong WindAlameda County and Contra Costa County · forecast zone East Bay Interior Valleys One storm episode: 8 records in 4 places; the totals are the episode's. A rapidly intensifying cyclone brought high winds to the region. A High Wind Warning was issued for the San Mateo Peninsula Coast, the Santa Cruz Mountains, and the Central Coast. In addition, a couple of Severe Thunderstorm Warnings were issued in light of the expected extreme winds for the Monterey and Santa Cruz ... | 35 kt wind | 5 | 5 | $48 |
| 2018-07-26 | Carr Fire · High WindShasta County and Tehama County · forecast zone Northern Sacramento Valley A powerful fire whirl developed within the Carr Fire in western Redding, CA on July 26th, with winds estimated in excess of 143 mph, equivalent to an EF3 tornado. The fire whirl was estimated to be on ground from 7:30 – 8:00 p.m. The fire whirl caused extensive tornado-like damage while rapidly spreading the fire. The ... | 134 kt wind | 4 | 6 | – |
| 2008-11-09 | Strong WindSan Bernardino County · forecast zone Western Mojave Desert A 13-vehicle pileup occurred on Interstate 40 near Newberry Springs, killing four people (indirect fatalities). The Barstow-Daggett airport, located about 15 miles west of the crash site, measured a peak wind gust of 53 mph approximately 30 minutes before the crash occurred. Visibility was reported to be poor due to ... | 46 kt wind | 4 | 0 | $1.4M |
| 2014-12-31 | High WindShasta County and Tehama County · forecast zone Northern Sacramento Valley One storm episode: 9 records in 6 places; the totals are the episode's. A strong low pressure system brought strong winds to the Sierra Nevada, the foothills, and the Valley. Butte County received significant wind damage, with 2 fatalities caused by falling trees. A fallen tree also caused a fatality and several injuries in Shasta County. Multiple fallen trees caused damage to homes in ... | 50 kt wind | 3 | 2 | $5.8M |
| 2011-01-14 | High WindRiverside County and San Bernardino County · forecast zone San Bernardino And Riverside County Valleys - The Inland Empire Moderately high winds, estimated between 40 and 50 MPH, were blamed for downed power lines and a subsequent transformer explosion which killed three residents in the 5400 block of Acacia Avenue in San Bernardino, CA. The residents went outside to see what caused the explosion and a few small spot fires from sparks, ... | 50 kt wind | 3 | 0 | $20K |
| 2009-10-13 | Dust StormKern County and Kings County · forecast zone Sw S.J. Valley One storm episode: 2 records; the totals are the episode's. A deep low pressure trough tapped into quite a bit of moisture from the remnants of Super-Typhoon Melor, bringing as much as around 2 inches of rain to the central and southern San Joaquin Valley on the 13th-14th. Much higher amounts fell in the Southern Sierra Nevada. Dinkey Creek received the most precipitation from ... | 3 | 0 | $481K | |
| 2024-02-04 | High WindAmador County and 6 more · forecast zone Southern Sacramento Valley One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. A major winter storm moved in from the south on February 4th, bringing heavy rain, strong winds, thunderstorms and heavy mountain snow through February 7th. Damaging winds brought down trees and caused widespread power outages. Flooding and strong winds resulted in multiple fatalities. Chain controls were observed in ... | 59 kt wind | 3 | 0 | $659K |
| 2023-09-01 | Dust StormRiverside County · forecast zone Coachella Valley Visibility estimated as low as 100 feet locally along Interstate 10 north of Palm Springs. Three people died in a car crash on Sunday afternoon in Palm Springs on North Gene Autry Trail. Police said the crash was caused by high winds that kicked up sand, severely reducing visibility. Winds at Palm Springs Airport ASOS ... | 3 | 0 | – | |
| 2016-10-15 | Strong WindMono County · forecast zone Mono Strong winds blowing from west to east across June Lake caused very choppy waters on the 15th. Five males (none wearing life jackets) were in a boat which capsized, causing the death of three of the males. Two of the men reached shore and were treated and released. The three victims were found by divers on the morning ... | 35 kt wind | 3 | 0 | – |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed by the National Weather Service, summed over each storm (one episode, or one named storm filed by several offices). Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.
The costliest high wind and dust records in California
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-01-18 | High WindFresno County and 3 more · forecast zone Central Sierra | 87 kt wind | 0 | 0 | $218M |
| 2008-01-04 | High WindButte County and 4 more · forecast zone Central Sacramento Valley One storm episode: 8 records in 8 places; the totals are the episode's. | 60 kt wind | 1 | 1 | $75M |
| 2007-10-21 | High WindRiverside County and San Bernardino County · forecast zone San Bernardino And Riverside County Valleys - The Inland Empire One storm episode: 4 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. | 69 kt wind | 0 | 0 | $71M |
| 2003-01-05 | High WindRiverside County · forecast zone Riverside County Valley/The Inland Empire One storm episode: 7 records in 4 places, 2003-01-05 to 2003-01-07; the totals are the episode's. | 65 kt wind | 2 | 11 | $50M |
| 2006-12-27 | High WindSanta Barbara County · forecast zone Santa Barbara County South Coast | 56 kt wind | 0 | 1 | $22M |
| 2002-02-09 | Gavilan Fire · High WindSan Diego County · forecast zone San Diego County Valleys One storm episode: 5 records in 4 places; the totals are the episode's. | 58 kt wind | 0 | 2 | $16M |
| 2011-12-01 | High WindFresno County and 3 more · forecast zone S Sierra Mtns One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. | 174 kt wind | 0 | 0 | $14M |
| 2017-02-17 | High WindSan Diego County · forecast zone San Diego County Coastal Areas One storm episode: 2 records; the totals are the episode's. | 53 kt wind | 1 | 0 | $11M |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.
Are high wind and dust 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.
| Decade | California | United States | California's share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996-99 | 649 | 14,026 | 4.6% |
| 2000s | 2,164 | 37,254 | 5.8% |
| 2010s | 3,122 | 41,748 | 7.5% |
| 2020-26 | 3,860 | 36,300 | 10.6% |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.
The most recent high wind and dust records in California
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-30 | Strong WindMonterey County · forecast zone Southern Monterey Bay And Big Sur Coast | 17 kt wind | 0 | 0 | $10 |
| 2026-06-29 | Strong WindAlameda County and 3 more · forecast zone San Francisco Bay Shoreline | 17 kt wind | 0 | 0 | $10 |
| 2026-06-28 | Strong WindSan Francisco County · forecast zone San Francisco | 20 kt wind | 0 | 0 | $10 |
| 2026-05-26 | High WindInyo County · forecast zone Owens Valley North | 54 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-05-26 | High WindInyo County · forecast zone Owens Valley South | 57 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-05-18 | Strong WindAlameda County and Contra Costa County · forecast zone East Bay Hills | 46 kt wind | 0 | 0 | $10 |
| 2026-05-18 | Strong WindSanta Clara County · forecast zone Eastern Santa Clara Hills | 41 kt wind | 0 | 0 | $10 |
| 2026-05-18 | Strong WindSanta Clara County · forecast zone Eastern Santa Clara Hills | 44 kt wind | 0 | 0 | $10 |
| 2026-05-18 | High WindNapa County and Sonoma County · forecast zone North Bay Interior Mountains | 63 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-05-18 | High WindNapa County and Sonoma County · forecast zone North Bay Interior Mountains | 63 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-05-18 | Strong WindSan Mateo County and 2 more · forecast zone Santa Cruz Mountains | 46 kt wind | 0 | 0 | $10 |
| 2026-05-18 | High WindAlameda County and Contra Costa County · forecast zone East Bay Hills | 50 kt wind | 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.
Next
- San Mateo County: the county's whole recordThe California county with the most high wind and dust records per square mile
- High wind and dust storms across the United StatesEvery state ranked, by year and month
- Every natural hazard in CaliforniaTornadoes, floods, storms, heat and the federal declarations
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