Flood Risk in San Jose, Costa Rica
Risk Level: Extreme — Score 9/10
Live Flood alert status near San Jose
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Flood watch, flood advisory, flood warning or flash flood warning near San Jose: what each means
The National Weather Service flood products, from least to most urgent. The live status above shows which, if any, is in effect within 300 km of San Jose.
Flood Watch
Conditions favor flooding or flash flooding, usually within the next 48 hours and for river flooding sometimes several days ahead. Flooding is possible, not certain. Review your routes and be ready to act.
Flood Advisory
Minor or nuisance flooding is expected or occurring, such as water ponding on roads or small streams edging out of their banks. An inconvenience rather than a threat to life if you avoid flooded roads.
Flood Warning
Flooding is imminent or occurring, usually from rivers or streams rising over hours to days. Never drive through flooded roads; move to higher ground if told to.
Flash Flood Warning
Rapid, life-threatening flooding is imminent or occurring, usually within 6 hours of heavy rain or a dam or levee failure. Move to higher ground immediately. A Flash Flood Emergency is the rare top tier for catastrophic flooding.
River flood products are tied to official flood stages at specific gauges, so a warning can be in effect for one river reach and not the next. Coastal flooding has its own Coastal Flood Advisory, Watch and Warning.
Live flood map around San Jose
Shows flood warnings and events that are active right now, refreshed through the day. When none are active, the map is empty by design.
Key Risk Factors
- High risk rating for San Jose based on ThinkHazard (River flood)
- 28 events recorded in proximity in recent decades
- Largest recent event exposed 5,079,760 people
- Significant river or coastal flood exposure
Peak season: March-September
Last significant event: Flood- Costa Rica (2025-07-29) — 5,079,760 people exposed
Highest Risk Cities for Floods
How San Jose Compares
Notable Flood Events Near San Jose
DisasterAWARE's historical archive records 5 notable flood events near San Jose, ranked below by impact. The most impactful: Flood- Costa Rica (July 2025) — 5,079,760 people exposed; $140,172M capital exposed.
Flood- Costa Rica
July 29, 2025 — WARNING
5,079,760 people exposed; $140,172M capital exposed
Flood - N of Heredia, Heredia, Costa Rica
February 21, 2024 — WARNING
112,000 people exposed; $1,863M capital exposed
Flooding/Rain - Costa Rica
August 19, 2013 — WARNING
Impact data not available
Floods - Costa Rica
July 30, 2012 — WARNING
Impact data not available
Floods - Costa Rica
October 17, 2011 — WARNING
Impact data not available
Flood Preparedness Tips
- 1.Know if your property is in a flood zone — check FEMA maps
- 2.Consider flood insurance even if not in a high-risk zone
- 3.Never drive through flooded roadways — Turn Around, Don’t Drown
- 4.Move valuables and important documents to upper floors
- 5.Install sump pumps and check valves in plumbing
Related Pages
How this data is built
San Jose, Costa Rica flood risk combines Historical Event Intelligence with authoritative hazard modeling from the Geospatial Intelligence Layers catalog. Live flood monitoring is available through the Event Intelligence API and the DisasterAWARE Platform.
The data behind this page
Every score and event here comes from DisasterAWARE's hazard database — available as downloadable historical datasets and a real-time API.
Monitor Flood Risk in Real Time
Get real-time flood alerts for San Jose, Costa Rica and hundreds of other locations with DisasterAWARE's enterprise platform.