Flood, Redwood Coast
- When
- January 1, 12:00 AM PST to January 3, 6:00 AM PST
- Where
- Redwood Coast forecast zone
- Property damage
- $30 million
Flood in California, January 1 to 3, 1997
Widespread flooding of streams, creeks and rivers caused extensive damage. The hardest hit towns were Klamath and Stafford.
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $30 million
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
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 EKA wrote it up.
Widespread flooding of streams, creeks and rivers caused extensive damage. The hardest hit towns were Klamath and Stafford. Klamath was flooded by the Klamath River which crested 11.22 feet above flood stage. Stafford was virtually wiped out by a mudslide. Other major rivers that flooded and their crests were: the Eel River near Scotia (3.97 ft above flood stage), Eel River at Fernbridge (5.22 above FS), Eel River at Miranda (0.64 above FS), Mad River at Arcata (3.46 above FS) and the Van Duzen River near Bridgeville (0.91 above FS). Numerous road closures due to flooding and mudslides. The Northwest Pacific Railway was closed due to extensive damage to sections of track.
Event by event
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Flooding in Nevada, January 1 to 17, 1997
- Flooding in Washington, January 1 to 3, 1997
- Flooding in California, January 1 to 17, 1997
- Storm Surge in California, January 1, 1997
- Flooding and High Wind in Oregon, January 1 to 5, 1997
- Drought in Texas, January 1 to 31, 1997
- Flash Flood in California, January 1, 1997
- Flooding and High Wind in California, January 1 to 3, 1997
- Flash Flood in California, January 1, 1997
- Flood in Oregon, January 1 to 5, 1997
- Flood in California, January 1 to 2, 1997
- Flood in Oregon, January 1 to 4, 1997
More
Every storm in California in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in California, January 1997
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: 5586318.