California

Storms in California in 1980

28 events in 18 episodes

Every storm the National Weather Service filed in California in 1980, with each episode’s narrative and every event in it. Before 1996 the record holds tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind only, without narratives; floods, heat, winter storms and the other kinds begin in 1996.

California in 1980 on the map

Every episode with a place to put it, colored by kind of event.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over California

The year

Events
28
Deaths
0
Injuries
4
Damage
$3.1 million
Episodes
18

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

By kind of event

Kind of eventEventsDeathsInjuriesDamage
Thunderstorm Wind1300
Tornado904$3.1 million
Hail600

Every episode, month by month

January 1980

February 1980

March 1980

April 1980

May 1980

July 1980

August 1980

September 1980

More

Every year in CaliforniaEvery state in 1980Tornadoes in California in 198019791981

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24.