Flooding in California, February 2 to 28, 1998

Name: Flooding in California, February 2 to 28, 1998
Start: 1998-02-02T09:00
End: 1998-02-28T23:59
Location: California

February 2 to 28, 1998 · NWS STO · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

2 feet above flood stage/4thHeavy rains on the 2nd and 3rd shut down Interstate 5 and State Route 99 in Shasta and Tehama Counties. A mud slide on the 11th near Turntable Bay partially blocked Interstate 5 where it crosses the main body of Shasta Lake.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $21 million
Crop damage: $6.5 million
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.

The following river stages were observed on the upper Sacramento River:Location: Period(s) above flood stage: Max Crest/Date OccurredRed Bluff briefly on the 3rd 1.9 feet above flood stage/3rdTehama Bridge 3rd -- 27th 8.2 feet above flood stage/3rdWoodson Bridge 3rd--4th, 6th--8th, 14th--15th, 19th--20th 6.0 feet above flood stage/3rdHamilton City 3rd, 8th 2.5 feet above flood stage/3rdOrd Ferry 3rd--24th (occasionally went below) 4.2 feet above flood stage/4thHeavy rains on the 2nd and 3rd shut down Interstate 5 and State Route 99 in Shasta and Tehama Counties. A mud slide on the 11th near Turntable Bay partially blocked Interstate 5 where it crosses the main body of Shasta Lake. The slide took weeks to clear. In Tehama County, 70 percent of the city of Tehama was inundated on the 3rd. A levee on Antelope Creek broke, flooding the town of Dairyville. 70 homes were flooded to a depth of more than one foot , with another 130 homes also flooded. Glenn County was one of the worst hit. In the town of Willows, raw sewage backed up in the northeast section of town. 100 homes were flooded. The $20 million in property damages is included in the estimate above, and the crop losses estimated above were all in Glenn County.The towns of Colusa and Williams in Colusa County used extreme measures to save their towns by building a "berm" around their respective towns to protect them from the smaller creek drainages that were backing up as the Sacramento River surged.

Event by event

2 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Northern Sacramento Valley

When: February 2, 9:00 AM PST to February 28, 11:59 PM PST
Where: Northern Sacramento Valley forecast zone
Property damage: $21 million
Crop damage: $6.5 million
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

Flood, Central Sacramento Valley

When: February 2, 9:00 AM PST to February 28, 11:59 PM PST
Where: Central Sacramento Valley forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

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 1998 Every state in 1998 This day in weather history Warnings in California, February 1998

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: 5671471, 5671472.