Flooding in California, December 29 to 31, 1996

Name: Flooding in California, December 29 to 31, 1996
Start: 1996-12-29T18:00
End: 1996-12-31T23:59
Location: California

December 29 to 31, 1996 · NWS STO · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Heavy rains and snow pack melted by a subtropical airmass began on the 26th, creating flooding on the upper Sacramento River. The flooding began on the 29th at the Tehama Bridge gage (Tehama county).

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $20,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS STO wrote it up.

Heavy rains and snow pack melted by a subtropical airmass began on the 26th, creating flooding on the upper Sacramento River. The flooding began on the 29th at the Tehama Bridge gage (Tehama county). The flooding spread downstream to the Vina-Woodson bridge (Tehama county) very early on the 31st and to Hamilton City (along the Butte-Glenn county border) on the afternoon of the 31st. The overflow inundated several mobile home parks along the river and closed local roads. 500 people were evacuated in the town of Tehama. The flooding continued through the first week of the New Year.

Event by event

2 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Northern Sacramento Valley

When: December 29, 6:00 PM PST to December 31, 11:59 PM PST
Where: Northern Sacramento Valley forecast zone
Property damage: $20,000

Flood, Central Sacramento Valley

When: December 31, 4:00 PM PST to 11:59 PM PST
Where: Central Sacramento Valley forecast zone

What these are

Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in California in 1996 Every state in 1996 This day in weather history Warnings in California, December 1996

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. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5578680, 5578681.