Alert archive / California / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in California, 2024

111 severe thunderstorm warnings in 2024. An alert counts here when it covered any part of the state, so the counties below add up to more than the state. The archive of severe thunderstorm warnings reaches back to 1986.

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings by county

Each county as a circle sized by its count in 2024. Tap one for its archive.

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings
111
Busiest month
September29 severe thunderstorm warnings
Busiest day
September 8, 202415 severe thunderstorm warnings

Over time

By month

Warning verification

How often warnings here had a storm report inside them, and how much warning the reports had.

20 of 111 severe thunderstorm warnings covering California in 2024 had a qualifying storm report inside them; 29 of 123 hail, wind and damage reports fell inside a warning, on average 20 minutes after it went out.

California, 2024

WarningsWith a reportFalse alarm ratioReportsInside a warningMean lead time
Severe thunderstorm warnings1112082%12324%20 min

Each office's whole area, 2024

WarningsWith a reportFalse alarm ratioReportsInside a warningMean lead time
NWS Eureka, CA: severe thunderstorm warnings40100%80%
NWS Hanford, CA: severe thunderstorm warnings10190%333%9 min
NWS Medford, OR: severe thunderstorm warnings11191%138%13 min
NWS San Francisco Bay Area, CA: severe thunderstorm warnings6183%373%3 min
NWS San Diego, CA: severe thunderstorm warnings35489%1346%12 min
NWS Phoenix, AZ: severe thunderstorm warnings1402582%5765%18 min
NWS Sacramento, CA: severe thunderstorm warnings100100%10%
NWS Las Vegas, NV: severe thunderstorm warnings34488%3619%20 min
NWS Los Angeles, CA: severe thunderstorm warnings13931%4137%24 min
NWS Reno, NV: severe thunderstorm warnings70100%130%

An office's figures cover every county it serves, including across state lines.

Verified by the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow, which matches each storm-based warning with the local storm reports inside its polygon while it was in force, within 15 km of its edge: a tornado warning counts as verified on a tornado report, a severe thunderstorm warning on hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more, or wind damage, a flash flood warning on a flash flood report. The false alarm ratio is the share of warnings with no such report; "inside a warning" is the probability of detection, the share of reports that fell inside one; lead time runs from the warning's issue to each report inside it, counting zero for a report that came first. A warning with no report is not proof nothing happened: reports come from spotters, the public and damage surveys, and are thin where few people live.

The alerts

Every alert, in the order issued. Times are local, Pacific Time. Each opens its own page with the text, the map, the radar and the sounding.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 22, 10:13 AM PSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGXSan Diego62 min
Jan 22, 10:39 AM PSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGXSan Diego36 min
Feb 7, 4:28 PM PSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOXSan Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara45 min
Feb 7, 5:46 PM PSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOXSanta Barbara43 min
Feb 7, 6:48 PM PSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOXVentura49 min
Feb 7, 7:22 PM PSTSevere Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threatLOXLos Angeles, Ventura83 min
Feb 7, 10:50 PM PSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGXOrange, Riverside, San Diego38 min
Feb 19, 12:00 PM PSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHNXTulare45 min
Feb 19, 2:59 PM PSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSTOPlumas, Shasta, Tehama46 min
Feb 19, 3:34 PM PSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSTOButte, Plumas, Tehama56 min
Feb 19, 3:45 PM PSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSTOButte, Glenn, Plumas, Tehama34 min
Feb 19, 3:54 PM PSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMTRSan Mateo22 min
Feb 19, 5:37 PM PSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSTOEl Dorado, Nevada, Placer24 min
Feb 19, 5:58 PM PSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSTOEl Dorado, Nevada, Placer47 min
Feb 19, 9:31 PM PSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMTRNapa29 min
Feb 20, 5:19 PM PSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSTOButte, Plumas42 min
Mar 7, 3:33 PM PSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOXLos Angeles42 min
Mar 7, 4:17 PM PSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOXLos Angeles58 min
Mar 15, 6:07 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOXLos Angeles33 min
Mar 18, 12:54 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGXSan Diego66 min
Mar 24, 3:12 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOXLos Angeles63 min
Mar 24, 3:42 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOXLos Angeles43 min
Mar 24, 4:19 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOXLos Angeles26 min
Mar 29, 3:12 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMTRMonterey48 min
Mar 30, 3:49 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMTRSanta Clara26 min
Mar 30, 4:15 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMTRSanta Clara45 min
Mar 30, 7:19 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOXSanta Barbara41 min
Mar 30, 8:03 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOXSanta Barbara57 min
Mar 31, 12:32 AM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOXLos Angeles46 min
Apr 5, 3:31 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHNXFresno29 min
Apr 19, 4:00 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHNXKern, Tulare30 min
Jun 6, 6:04 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMFRSiskiyou41 min
Jun 6, 6:16 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMFRSiskiyou29 min
Jun 6, 6:57 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningREVLassen23 min
Jun 8, 4:44 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMFRSiskiyou31 min
Jul 13, 3:11 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHNXFresno34 min
Jul 13, 3:38 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHNXFresno37 min
Jul 13, 3:58 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHNXTuolumne32 min
Jul 13, 4:01 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSTOAlpine, Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Tuolumne44 min
Jul 13, 4:23 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHNXMariposa, Tuolumne52 min
Jul 13, 4:29 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSTOEl Dorado, Placer46 min
Jul 13, 4:41 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHNXMadera, Mariposa49 min
Jul 14, 1:10 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGXRiverside50 min
Jul 14, 1:27 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGXSan Diego48 min
Jul 14, 1:52 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningVEFSan Bernardino38 min
Jul 14, 2:10 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGXRiverside50 min
Jul 14, 2:21 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGXRiverside, San Diego39 min
Jul 14, 2:58 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGXRiverside34 min
Jul 15, 1:53 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGXRiverside52 min
Jul 15, 3:02 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRRiverside43 min
Jul 15, 4:02 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRRiverside43 min
Jul 22, 2:09 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningVEFSan Bernardino51 min
Jul 22, 2:58 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningREVPlumas32 min
Jul 22, 3:41 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningVEFInyo49 min
Jul 23, 2:29 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGXSan Diego61 min
Jul 23, 3:03 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGXSan Bernardino42 min
Jul 24, 2:33 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHNXMariposa, Tuolumne27 min
Jul 24, 2:58 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHNXTuolumne32 min
Jul 24, 3:22 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRRiverside21 min
Jul 24, 3:28 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningVEFSan Bernardino47 min
Jul 31, 5:25 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRImperial19 min
Aug 1, 4:33 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGXSan Diego57 min
Aug 1, 5:22 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGXSan Diego53 min
Aug 1, 5:29 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGXSan Diego61 min
Aug 1, 5:42 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRImperial48 min
Aug 1, 6:27 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGXSan Diego33 min
Aug 2, 3:23 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningVEFSan Bernardino52 min
Aug 10, 5:21 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRImperial, Riverside39 min
Aug 11, 1:02 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGXRiverside, San Diego58 min
Aug 11, 1:53 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGXSan Diego67 min
Aug 11, 3:44 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRImperial15 min
Aug 11, 8:27 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningVEFSan Bernardino48 min
Aug 17, 1:03 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEKATrinity27 min
Aug 17, 1:05 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMFRSiskiyou25 min
Aug 17, 2:36 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMFRSiskiyou22 min
Aug 17, 2:48 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEKATrinity27 min
Aug 17, 3:11 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEKATrinity34 min
Aug 17, 3:30 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEKATrinity30 min
Aug 17, 4:07 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSTOShasta, Tehama38 min
Aug 17, 4:43 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSTOShasta47 min
Aug 21, 4:57 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningVEFSan Bernardino48 min
Sep 7, 1:51 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGXRiverside, San Diego54 min
Sep 7, 2:33 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningVEFSan Bernardino42 min
Sep 7, 2:34 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGXSan Diego56 min
Sep 7, 2:36 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGXSan Diego19 min
Sep 7, 2:47 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRRiverside, San Bernardino28 min
Sep 7, 3:10 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGXSan Diego32 min
Sep 7, 3:24 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningVEFSan Bernardino36 min
Sep 7, 3:30 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRRiverside45 min
Sep 7, 3:34 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRRiverside41 min
Sep 7, 3:40 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRRiverside50 min
Sep 7, 3:40 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGXRiverside35 min
Sep 7, 4:18 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningVEFSan Bernardino42 min
Sep 7, 4:25 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRRiverside50 min
Sep 7, 4:29 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRRiverside46 min
Sep 7, 5:10 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRRiverside35 min
Sep 7, 10:02 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRRiverside28 min
Sep 7, 10:30 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRImperial, Riverside45 min
Sep 8, 1:09 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGXSan Bernardino51 min
Sep 8, 1:27 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGXSan Bernardino6 min
Sep 8, 1:27 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGXSan Bernardino63 min
Sep 8, 1:34 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGXRiverside41 min
Sep 8, 2:04 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGXRiverside, San Diego56 min
Sep 8, 2:24 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGXRiverside18 min
Sep 8, 2:27 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGXRiverside, San Bernardino48 min
Sep 8, 2:58 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGXRiverside, San Diego47 min
Sep 8, 3:10 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGXRiverside, San Bernardino50 min
Sep 8, 4:22 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGXRiverside53 min
Sep 8, 4:25 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGXSan Diego35 min
Sep 8, 4:50 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGXRiverside55 min
Dec 14, 1:25 PM PSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMTRSanta Cruz23 min

By county

Every county with at least one alert. A county page lists each alert that covered it.

The busiest days

Days with the most alerts issued, by UTC date.

Nearby

Alerts in force nowTornadoes on recordThe radar archive20232025

Sources

National Weather Service watches, warnings, advisories and statements from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's VTEC archive, which reconstructs tornado, severe thunderstorm, flash flood and marine warnings back to 1986 from the NWS text archive. Storm Prediction Center watches and mesoscale discussions from SPC's archive through the Mesonet. County centers from the US Census Bureau. Warning verification from the Mesonet's Cow. Rebuilt daily.