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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Bellingham, MA

Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.

Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated

51 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Bellingham, Massachusetts since 1851, 11 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ida in 2021. Since 1950, 59 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 2 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
11

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
40

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
59

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
2

95 deaths in all

What the records show for Bellingham

The strongest storm to pass near Bellingham was Edna in 1954, a Category 2 hurricane with 109 mph winds when its centre passed 66 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was an unnamed storm in 1869, whose centre came within 3 miles. The record near Bellingham begins with an unnamed storm in 1851; the most recent system was Ida in 2021, a tropical storm 74 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1960s, with 6 systems, one of them at hurricane strength. Of the 51 systems, 7 have come since 2000. Bellingham has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 49% of the 346 Massachusetts cities on this site. The strongest of the 59 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on June 9, 1953; its path came within 16 miles, and it killed 94 people. Of the 59, 5 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 28 have come since 2000. August has had the most tornadoes, 20. The most recent tornado was on September 6, 2025. Bellingham has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 76% of the 346 Massachusetts cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 55 times since 1959, with stones up to 2 inches (hen egg size). Bellingham has more hail reports within 10 miles than 50% of the 346 Massachusetts cities.

Compare Bellingham's storm record with another city →

Tropical storms and hurricanes near Bellingham

Tropical systems that passed within 75 miles of Bellingham, Massachusetts, newest first
YearStormClosestStrength when closestPeak
2021IdaSep 274 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 4
2021HenriAug 2248 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 1
2021ElsaJul 922 miTropical storm (53 mph)Category 1
2013AndreaJun 825 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
2008HannaSep 74 miTropical storm (52 mph)Category 1
2007BarryJun 419 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
2004HermineAug 3150 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1999FloydSep 1725 miTropical storm (56 mph)Category 4
1996BerthaJul 1416 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 3
1991BobAug 1926 miCategory 1 (92 mph)Category 3
1985GloriaSep 2753 miCategory 1 (82 mph)Category 4
1976BelleAug 1057 miTropical storm (45 mph)Category 3
1971DoriaAug 2871 miTropical storm (54 mph)Tropical storm
1968Unnamed 1968 stormSep 1168 miTropical storm (60 mph)Tropical storm
1966AlmaJun 1448 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 3
1961EstherSep 2668 miTropical storm (55 mph)Category 5
1961Unnamed 1961 stormSep 1521 miTropical storm (66 mph)Tropical storm
1960DonnaSep 1213 miCategory 1 (78 mph)Category 4
1960BrendaJul 3037 miTropical storm (48 mph)Tropical storm
1959CindyJul 1148 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 1
1954EdnaSep 1166 miCategory 2 (109 mph)Category 3
1954CarolAug 3113 miCategory 2 (105 mph)Category 3
1952AbleSep 251 miTropical storm (41 mph)Category 2
1944Unnamed 1944 stormSep 1523 miCategory 1 (79 mph)Category 5
1934Unnamed 1934 stormSep 936 miTropical storm (49 mph)Category 2
1934Unnamed 1934 stormJun 2053 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 2
1923Unnamed 1923 stormOct 1931 miTropical storm (53 mph)Tropical storm
1916Unnamed 1916 stormJul 2130 miTropical storm (63 mph)Category 2
1916Unnamed 1916 stormMay 1710 miTropical storm (58 mph)Tropical storm
1915Unnamed 1915 stormAug 52 miTropical storm (39 mph)Category 1
1908Unnamed 1908 stormMay 311 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 1
1907Unnamed 1907 stormJun 3043 miTropical storm (41 mph)Tropical storm
1904Unnamed 1904 stormSep 1543 miCategory 1 (85 mph)Category 1
1902Unnamed 1902 stormJun 177 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1897Unnamed 1897 stormSep 244 miTropical storm (47 mph)Tropical storm
1896Unnamed 1896 stormSep 1040 miTropical storm (63 mph)Category 3
1894Unnamed 1894 stormOct 1018 miTropical storm (62 mph)Category 3
1889Unnamed 1889 stormSep 2566 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 2
1888Unnamed 1888 stormSep 1210 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1888Unnamed 1888 stormAug 224 miTropical storm (47 mph)Category 3
1879Unnamed 1879 stormAug 1958 miCategory 1 (81 mph)Category 3
1878Unnamed 1878 stormOct 2456 miTropical storm (59 mph)Category 2
1877Unnamed 1877 stormOct 554 miTropical storm (63 mph)Category 3
1874Unnamed 1874 stormSep 3032 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 1
1872Unnamed 1872 stormOct 2721 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 1
1869Unnamed 1869 stormOct 458 miCategory 2 (104 mph)Category 2
1869Unnamed 1869 stormSep 83 miCategory 2 (105 mph)Category 3
1861Unnamed 1861 stormNov 32 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 1
1861Unnamed 1861 stormSep 2832 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 1
1858Unnamed 1858 stormSep 169 miCategory 1 (76 mph)Category 2
1851Unnamed 1851 stormOct 198 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm

Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Bellingham: a hurricane's worst winds sit within a few dozen miles of its centre, and inland cities are usually past that.

Tornadoes within 25 miles of Bellingham

By decade

  • 2020s16
  • 2010s9
  • 2000s3
  • 1990s3
  • 1980s9
  • 1970s6
  • 1960s5
  • 1950s8(2 EF3+)
Strongest tornadoes near Bellingham, Massachusetts
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Jun 9, 1953F416 mi34.9 mi94 / 1228
Jun 9, 1953F32 mi28 mi0 / 17
Aug 18, 2023EF214 mi9.1 mi0 / 1
Aug 7, 1986F218 mi4 mi0 / 20
Aug 31, 1966F223 mi1 mi0 / 0
May 20, 1963F223 mi0.3 mi0 / 0
Oct 12, 1962F222 mi4.1 mi0 / 0
Nov 21, 1956F217 mi0.1 mi0 / 0
Aug 9, 1972F119 mi4.9 mi1 / 6
Jun 26, 2024EF121 mi0.55 mi0 / 0
Jun 26, 2024EF111 mi8.6 mi0 / 0
Sep 13, 2023EF110 mi0.21 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 59, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Bellingham

The Storm Prediction Center has 55 hail reports within 10 miles of Bellingham since 1959, made on 38 separate days. Of these, 22 were 1 inch across or larger, and 2 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 2 inches (hen egg size), was reported on 2 days, most recently June 28, 2020. The most recent report is from June 2, 2023. June has the most reports, 18.

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.

Weather by month in Bellingham

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is West Medway, MA, 5 miles northeast of Bellingham at 210 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 85°F and low of 61°F; January is the coolest, at 38°F and 17°F. October is the wettest at 5.1 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 3.3 inches; the year adds up to 50.4 inches over 81 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 50% of the year's precipitation (25.0 of 50.4 inches). September has brought the most of the 51 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (21); a normal September there has highs of 76°F and 4.2 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 17 days a year, almost all from May to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 152 nights a year. Snowfall averages 51.5 inches a year, most of it in January. That 50.4 inches is more than at 51 of the 65 Massachusetts stations used on this site (78%). Blackstone, 4 miles southwest, has its own station (Woonsocket, RI): 52.0 inches a year, 1.6 more than here, and a July average high of 84°F against 85°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Providence, RI, 19 miles south, averaged 72°F in August and 36°F in February over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the Providence tide gauge, 19 miles from Bellingham, has risen 1.04 ± 0.05 inches per decade from 1938 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 10.4 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 58 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at West Medway, MA
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. inDays ≥ 0.1"Snow inWater °F
Jan38174.1713.539
Feb41183.3511.936
Mar48254.6811.040
Apr60354.873.247
May71463.980.055
Jun79554.570.064
Jul85613.560.071
Aug83593.970.072
Sep76514.270.068
Oct65395.160.161
Nov53313.871.652
Dec43234.7710.242
Year623850.48151.554

Averages for 1991–2020 at West Medway, MA (210 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Providence, RI, from NOAA Tides & Currents. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.

Massachusetts weather by month, station by station →

Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Bellingham

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 200 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Bellingham: 127 thunderstorm wind reports, 43 floods, 18 flash floods and 12 lightning strikes. They killed 0 people and injured 5, and the NWS estimated $60.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on August 10, 2000. September has had the most flash floods, 9 of 18. Of the 339 Massachusetts cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 157 have had fewer than Bellingham.

  • March 29, 2010: flood 8 miles from the centre of Bellingham — 2 injured, $23.6 million damage.

  • June 1, 2010: lightning strike 8 miles from the centre of Bellingham — 1 injured, $20,000 damage.

  • July 8, 2009: lightning strike 5 miles from the centre of Bellingham — 1 injured.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, events whose starting point is on record, 1996 to June 30, 2026. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses, and NWS notes that some reports are unverified.

Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings

Flood insurance policyholders in Bellingham's ZIP code 02019 have filed 25 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1987, and were paid $86,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 52% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 229 Massachusetts cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 74 have fewer than Bellingham.

Norfolk County, which includes Bellingham, has been named in 38 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1972, 23 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 snowstorms, 8 hurricanes, 7 floods, 7 severe storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm, on April 18, 2022. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Norfolk County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for inland flooding, coastal flooding and lightning; Relatively Moderate for hurricanes, tornadoes, strong wind and heat waves; Very Low for hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $146.9 million a year, the 4th highest of 14 Massachusetts counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $103.1 million (70%), is from inland flooding.

Claims: FEMA, OpenFEMA Dataset FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3, summed over ZIP codes; payments in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Declarations: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, by county. Retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

Risk ratings: FEMA, National Risk Index county table, December 2025 (v1.20), retrieved October 26, 2026; ratings compare counties nationwide, are meant for planning and are no substitute for a local risk assessment. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.

Cities near Bellingham