California

Storms in California in 2020

1,828 events in 366 episodes

Every storm the National Weather Service filed in California in 2020, with each episode’s narrative and every event in it. From 1996 the record holds 48 kinds of event with each office’s narrative; before that, tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind only, and before 1955 tornadoes alone.

California in 2020 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
1,828
Deaths
65
Injuries
259
Damage
$41 million
Episodes
366

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
High Wind37300$534,000
Excessive Heat24413109$6.0 million
Dense Fog17583$150,000
Strong Wind16000$189,000
Frost/Freeze12300
Wildfire11726103$30 million
Winter Weather11600
Heavy Snow10502$71,000
Flood10100
Heat5810
Winter Storm4900$2.1 million
Hail3700
Flash Flood3110$2.8 million
Thunderstorm Wind2000$51,000
Drought2000
Debris Flow1400
Rip Current1345
High Surf1133
Heavy Rain1100
Lightning1011
Coastal Flood902$40,000
Funnel Cloud800
Tornado8029$21,000
Cold/Wind Chill360
Dense Smoke300
Avalanche212
Dust Storm200
Astronomical Low Tide100
Storm Surge/Tide110
Sneakerwave100
Ice Storm100
Freezing Fog100

Every episode, month by month

January 2020

February 2020

March 2020

April 2020

May 2020

June 2020

July 2020

August 2020

September 2020

October 2020

November 2020

December 2020

More

Every year in CaliforniaEvery state in 2020Tornadoes in California in 2020Warnings in California in 202020192021

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.