California

Storms in California in 1986

23 events in 17 episodes

Every storm the National Weather Service filed in California in 1986, 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 1986 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
23
Deaths
0
Injuries
1
Damage
$5.3 million
Episodes
17

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
Hail900
Tornado801$5.3 million
Thunderstorm Wind600

Every episode, month by month

February 1986

March 1986

May 1986

July 1986

August 1986

September 1986

More

Every year in CaliforniaEvery state in 1986Tornadoes in California in 1986Warnings in California in 198619851987

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.