Flash Flood, San Luis Obispo
- When
- May 5, 3:30 PM PST to 10:30 PM PST
- Where
- San Luis Obispo County, South Portion
- Coordinates
- 35.387, -120.452 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flooding in California, May 5, 1998
Heavy rain produced flash flooding and mudslides across Southern San Luis Obispo and Northern Santa Barbara counties. The flooding and mudslides closed portions of Highway 166 between Highways 101 and 33.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- 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 LOX wrote it up.
Heavy rain produced flash flooding and mudslides across Southern San Luis Obispo and Northern Santa Barbara counties. The flooding and mudslides closed portions of Highway 166 between Highways 101 and 33.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Flash Flood, Santa Barbara
- When
- May 5, 3:30 PM PST to 10:30 PM PST
- Where
- Santa Barbara County, North Portion
- Coordinates
- 34.538, -120.031 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- Flash Flood
- Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Tornadoes in California, May 5, 1998
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Kansas, May 5 to 6, 1998
- Flash Flood in California, May 5, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Florida, May 5, 1998
- Flooding and Lightning Strike in California, May 5, 1998
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Oklahoma, May 5, 1998
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Florida, May 5, 1998
- Heavy Rain and Strong Wind in California, May 5 to 6, 1998
- Lightning Strike in Florida, May 5, 1998
- Tornadoes and Hail in Colorado, May 5, 1998
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Kansas, May 5, 1998
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Oklahoma, May 5, 1998
More
Every storm in California in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in California, May 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: 5640763, 5640764.