NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Bernardsville, NJ
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
37 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Bernardsville, New Jersey since 1851, 6 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ida in 2021. Since 1950, 57 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 4 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 6
- Tropical storms
- 31
- Tornadoes
- 57
- EF3 or stronger
- 4
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for Bernardsville
The strongest storm to pass near Bernardsville was Gloria in 1985, a Category 1 hurricane with 87 mph winds when its centre passed 65 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was an unnamed storm in 1893, whose centre came within 36 miles. The record near Bernardsville begins with an unnamed storm in 1861; the most recent system was Ida in 2021, a tropical storm 41 miles away. The 1870s and the 1890s were the busiest decades, with 4 systems each. Of the 37 systems, 5 have come since 2000. Of the 455 New Jersey cities on this site, 64% have more hurricanes within 75 miles than Bernardsville. The highest rating among the 57 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 4 times; the most recent, on October 18, 1990, came within 20 miles. Of the 57, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 13 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 15. The most recent tornado was on June 26, 2023. Bernardsville has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 56% of the 455 New Jersey cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 38 times since 1975, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Of the 455 New Jersey cities, 74% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Bernardsville.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Bernardsville
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | IdaSep 2 | 41 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2020 | IsaiasAug 4 | 30 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2020 | FayJul 11 | 39 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2011 | IreneAug 28 | 31 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2008 | HannaSep 7 | 40 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1999 | FloydSep 16 | 54 mi | Tropical storm (59 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1996 | BerthaJul 13 | 29 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1985 | GloriaSep 27 | 65 mi | Category 1 (87 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1976 | BelleAug 10 | 67 mi | Category 1 (74 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1972 | AgnesJun 22 | 49 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1971 | DoriaAug 28 | 28 mi | Tropical storm (61 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1968 | Unnamed 1968 stormSep 11 | 67 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1961 | Unnamed 1961 stormSep 15 | 61 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1960 | BrendaJul 30 | 43 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1955 | DianeAug 19 | 16 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1952 | AbleSep 1 | 19 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormJun 19 | 36 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1929 | Unnamed 1929 stormOct 3 | 64 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1924 | Unnamed 1924 stormSep 30 | 29 mi | Tropical storm (68 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 4 | 2 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1904 | Unnamed 1904 stormSep 15 | 73 mi | Category 1 (78 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1903 | Unnamed 1903 stormSep 16 | 33 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1900 | Unnamed 1900 stormOct 14 | 54 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1899 | Unnamed 1899 stormNov 1 | 28 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1894 | Unnamed 1894 stormOct 10 | 75 mi | Category 1 (86 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 29 | 28 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 24 | 36 mi | Category 1 (86 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormSep 11 | 54 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 22 | 27 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1882 | Unnamed 1882 stormSep 24 | 67 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1878 | Unnamed 1878 stormOct 23 | 63 mi | Category 1 (82 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1877 | Unnamed 1877 stormOct 5 | 67 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1874 | Unnamed 1874 stormSep 29 | 34 mi | Tropical storm (67 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1872 | Unnamed 1872 stormOct 26 | 37 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1866 | Unnamed 1866 stormOct 30 | 26 mi | Tropical storm (60 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1863 | Unnamed 1863 stormSep 19 | 15 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1861 | Unnamed 1861 stormSep 28 | 40 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 1 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Bernardsville: 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 Bernardsville
By decade
- 2020s3
- 2010s6
- 2000s4
- 1990s16(1 EF3+)
- 1980s12
- 1970s11(3 EF3+)
- 1960s2
- 1950s3
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 18, 1990 | F3 | 20 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 8 |
| Sep 26, 1977 | F3 | 20 mi | 5.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 28, 1973 | F3 | 12 mi | 0.4 mi | 0 / 12 |
| May 28, 1973 | F3 | 7 mi | 0.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 26, 1981 | F2 | 19 mi | 0.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 20, 1981 | F2 | 12 mi | 3.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 14, 1974 | F2 | 15 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 2, 1973 | F2 | 18 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 26, 2023 | EF1 | in town | 1.38 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 31, 2019 | EF1 | 5 mi | 4.87 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 28, 2019 | EF1 | 14 mi | 1.25 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 25, 2016 | EF1 | 10 mi | 3.49 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 57, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Bernardsville
The Storm Prediction Center has 38 hail reports within 10 miles of Bernardsville since 1975, made on 29 separate days. Of these, 20 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest size, 1.75 inches (golf ball size), was reported on 3 days, most recently August 17, 2003. The most recent report is from August 6, 2024. July and August have the most reports, 8 each.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Bernardsville
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Somerville Somerset Airport, NJ, 8 miles southwest of Bernardsville at 105 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 86°F and low of 63°F; January is the coolest, at 39°F and 21°F. August is the wettest at 5.2 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.2 inches; the year adds up to 45.5 inches over 77 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 55% of the year's precipitation (25.2 of 45.5 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 37 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (15); a normal September there has highs of 78°F and 3.8 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 23 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 124 nights a year. That 45.5 inches is more than at 10 of the 51 New Jersey stations used on this site (20%). Basking Ridge, 3 miles south, has its own station (Somerville 4 NW, NJ): 46.8 inches a year, 1.3 more than here, and the same July average high, 86°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 39 | 21 | 3.2 | 6 |
| Feb | 43 | 22 | 2.2 | 6 |
| Mar | 51 | 30 | 3.9 | 7 |
| Apr | 63 | 39 | 3.6 | 7 |
| May | 73 | 48 | 3.5 | 7 |
| Jun | 81 | 58 | 4.2 | 7 |
| Jul | 86 | 63 | 4.9 | 7 |
| Aug | 84 | 61 | 5.2 | 7 |
| Sep | 78 | 54 | 3.8 | 6 |
| Oct | 66 | 42 | 3.7 | 6 |
| Nov | 55 | 33 | 3.4 | 6 |
| Dec | 44 | 26 | 3.9 | 7 |
| Year | 64 | 41 | 45.5 | 77 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Somerville Somerset Airport, NJ (105 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Bernardsville
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 392 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Bernardsville: 291 thunderstorm wind reports, 43 flash floods, 40 floods, 12 lightning strikes and 6 heavy rain events. They killed 1 person and injured 3, and the NWS estimated $313.5 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 92 mph, on July 1, 2013. August has had the most flash floods, 19 of 43. Of the 455 New Jersey cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 162 have had fewer than Bernardsville.
June 18, 2018: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Bernardsville — 1 killed, 1 injured.
June 25, 2013: lightning strike 8 miles from the centre of Bernardsville — 1 injured.
August 8, 2019: lightning strike 10 miles from the centre of Bernardsville — 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 Bernardsville's ZIP code 07924 have filed 32 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $318,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 56% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 395 New Jersey cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 94 have fewer than Bernardsville.
Somerset County, which includes Bernardsville, has been named in 30 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 19 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 hurricanes, 6 severe storms, 5 floods, 4 snowstorms). The latest major disaster declaration was Remnants of Hurricane Ida, on September 5, 2021. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Somerset County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for inland flooding, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Moderate for hurricanes, tornadoes and heat waves; Very Low for hail and coastal flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $160.6 million a year, the 11th highest of 21 New Jersey counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $125.7 million (78%), 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 Bernardsville
- Basking Ridge, NJ3 mi
- Far Hills, NJ4 mi
- Mendham, NJ4 mi
- Millington, NJ5 mi
- Stirling, NJ6 mi
- Gillette, NJ6 mi
- Bedminster, NJ6 mi
- Morristown, NJ7 mi
- Chester, NJ7 mi
- Warren, NJ7 mi
- Berkeley Heights, NJ8 mi
- Randolph, NJ9 mi
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