Northern California Christmas Flood, December 19-24, 1964

Location impacted: Northern California (Eel and Klamath River Basins)

Number three on the list of the California's worst storms was centered on the North Coast on the Eel and Klamath River Basins. The 6 days from December 19-24, 1964, were the wettest ever recorded at 101 northern California stations. The North Coast had the worst flooding experienced in that region on record. Every major stream in this North Coast produced new high values of extreme peak flows; 34 counties in California were declared disaster areas.

There were three major centers of activity: the Eel River, the Upper Klamath and the Yuba River in the central Sierra Nevada mountains. The highest 6-day rainfall reported for the Eel Basin was 31.71 inches at Branscomb; 14 of 17 stations in the Eel River Basin reported the highest ever rainfalls during this storm.

A telephone pole stands at the former town site of Weott [The Lost Village of Camp Weeott] along the Eel River with a sign near the top indicating the great depth of the water during the December 1964 flood. The signs serves to remind people not rebuild along the river.

The highest return periods for the storm were in the Klamath River Basin where Gazelle reported 8.09 inches. This total was 7.78 standard deviations above the mean. The associated return period is over 500,000 years. These high numbers were also reflected in the records of nearby stations of Yreka, Mt. Heborn and Callahan. This storm also produced the highest ever river stages on streams in Southern Oregon such as the Chetco River.

In all, 43 stations reported daily rainfalls of 10 inches or more on December 22, 1964. These stations were in the North Coast streams as well as the central Sierra Nevada. The highest reported rainfall in one day was 15 inches at Ettersberg in Humboldt County.

The highest ever rainfalls occurred in the Yuba and Bear River Basins, where Lake Spaulding received 32.60 inches of rain in 6 days. Six stations in the Yuba watershed reported over 10 inches of rain on December 22, 1964.

The stream flow on the Yuba River at Marysville peaked at 180,000 cubic feet per second (cfs), causing the second Christmas time flood in a decade. The December 1955 peak on the Yuba River at Marysville was 140,000 cfs.

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