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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Cape May Court House, 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

61 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Cape May Court House, New Jersey since 1851, 11 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ida in 2021. Since 1950, 14 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
11

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
50

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
14

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
0

no recorded deaths

What the records show for Cape May Court House

The strongest storm to pass near Cape May Court House was an unnamed storm in 1944, a Category 2 hurricane with 108 mph winds when its centre passed 59 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was an unnamed storm in 1904, whose centre came within 6 miles. The record near Cape May Court House begins with an unnamed storm in 1856; the most recent system was Ida in 2021, a tropical storm 61 miles away. The 1880s and the 1900s were the busiest decades, with 6 systems each. Of the 61 systems, 13 have come since 2000. Cape May Court House has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 82% of the 455 New Jersey cities on this site. The highest rating among the 14 tornadoes within 25 miles is F2, reached 3 times; the most recent, on July 21, 1987, came within 23 miles. Of the 14, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 5 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 5. The most recent tornado was on July 9, 2021. Of the 455 New Jersey cities, 100% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Cape May Court House. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 13 times since 1977, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Of the 455 New Jersey cities, 98% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Cape May Court House.

Compare Cape May Court House's storm record with another city →

Tropical storms and hurricanes near Cape May Court House

Tropical systems that passed within 75 miles of Cape May Court House, New Jersey, newest first
YearStormClosestStrength when closestPeak
2021IdaSep 261 miTropical storm (41 mph)Category 4
2021ElsaJul 98 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 1
2020ZetaOct 2926 miTropical storm (52 mph)Category 3
2020IsaiasAug 461 miTropical storm (66 mph)Category 1
2020FayJul 1023 miTropical storm (55 mph)Tropical storm
2013AndreaJun 816 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
2012SandyOct 2931 miCategory 1 (82 mph)Category 3
2011IreneAug 2815 miTropical storm (70 mph)Category 3
2008HannaSep 625 miTropical storm (52 mph)Category 1
2005Twenty-TwoOct 1465 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
2004JeanneSep 2921 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 3
2004GastonAug 3157 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 1
2004CharleyAug 1538 miTropical storm (41 mph)Category 4
1999FloydSep 1614 miTropical storm (64 mph)Category 4
1996BerthaJul 1327 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 3
1992DanielleSep 2650 miTropical storm (43 mph)Tropical storm
1986CharleyAug 1873 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 1
1985GloriaSep 2735 miCategory 2 (96 mph)Category 4
1985HenriSep 2457 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1976BelleAug 1058 miCategory 1 (91 mph)Category 3
1971DoriaAug 287 miTropical storm (67 mph)Tropical storm
1968Unnamed 1968 stormSep 1161 miTropical storm (52 mph)Tropical storm
1961Unnamed 1961 stormSep 1510 miTropical storm (59 mph)Tropical storm
1960DonnaSep 1249 miCategory 2 (98 mph)Category 4
1960BrendaJul 307 miTropical storm (58 mph)Tropical storm
1959CindyJul 1161 miTropical storm (54 mph)Category 1
1944Unnamed 1944 stormOct 2136 miTropical storm (48 mph)Category 4
1944Unnamed 1944 stormSep 1459 miCategory 2 (108 mph)Category 5
1944Unnamed 1944 stormAug 31 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 1
1934Unnamed 1934 stormSep 861 miCategory 1 (79 mph)Category 2
1934Unnamed 1934 stormJun 1958 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 2
1928Unnamed 1928 stormAug 1244 miTropical storm (63 mph)Category 2
1924Unnamed 1924 stormSep 303 miTropical storm (72 mph)Category 1
1916Unnamed 1916 stormMay 1718 miTropical storm (52 mph)Tropical storm
1907Unnamed 1907 stormJun 3060 miTropical storm (47 mph)Tropical storm
1904Unnamed 1904 stormSep 156 miCategory 1 (75 mph)Category 1
1903Unnamed 1903 stormSep 167 miCategory 1 (81 mph)Category 2
1902Unnamed 1902 stormOct 1250 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 2
1902Unnamed 1902 stormJun 1618 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
1900Unnamed 1900 stormOct 1436 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1897Unnamed 1897 stormSep 2452 miTropical storm (67 mph)Tropical storm
1894Unnamed 1894 stormOct 1028 miCategory 1 (83 mph)Category 3
1894Unnamed 1894 stormSep 3068 miTropical storm (72 mph)Category 3
1893Unnamed 1893 stormOct 2374 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
1893Unnamed 1893 stormAug 2450 miCategory 1 (91 mph)Category 3
1889Unnamed 1889 stormSep 2560 miTropical storm (41 mph)Category 2
1888Unnamed 1888 stormSep 1114 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1886Unnamed 1886 stormJul 266 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 2
1882Unnamed 1882 stormSep 233 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
1882Unnamed 1882 stormSep 1239 miTropical storm (59 mph)Category 3
1881Unnamed 1881 stormSep 1062 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 2
1879Unnamed 1879 stormAug 1846 miCategory 2 (97 mph)Category 3
1877Unnamed 1877 stormOct 412 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 3
1874Unnamed 1874 stormSep 2921 miTropical storm (60 mph)Category 1
1872Unnamed 1872 stormOct 2623 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 1
1866Unnamed 1866 stormOct 3028 miTropical storm (67 mph)Tropical storm
1863Unnamed 1863 stormSep 1920 miTropical storm (55 mph)Tropical storm
1861Unnamed 1861 stormNov 261 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 1
1861Unnamed 1861 stormSep 289 miTropical storm (68 mph)Category 1
1859Unnamed 1859 stormSep 1744 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 1
1856Unnamed 1856 stormAug 2026 miTropical storm (58 mph)Tropical storm

Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Cape May Court House: 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 Cape May Court House

By decade

  • 2020s2
  • 2010s1
  • 2000s2
  • 1990s1
  • 1980s4
  • 1970s3
  • 1950s1
Strongest tornadoes near Cape May Court House, New Jersey
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Jul 21, 1987F223 mi0.5 mi0 / 3
Aug 27, 1971F22 mi28.7 mi0 / 0
May 6, 1956F212 mi0.2 mi0 / 0
Jul 9, 2021EF111 mi0.94 mi0 / 0
Aug 4, 2020EF113 mi4.24 mi0 / 0
Jul 5, 2001F121 mi3.6 mi0 / 0
Jul 16, 1995F14 mi0.2 mi0 / 0
Sep 6, 1979F16 mi0.1 mi0 / 1
Aug 7, 2019EF023 mi0.1 mi0 / 0
Jul 3, 2003F04 mi0.1 mi0 / 0
May 27, 1989F016 mi0.1 mi0 / 0
Sep 23, 1986F010 mi1 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 14, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Cape May Court House

The Storm Prediction Center has 13 hail reports within 10 miles of Cape May Court House since 1977, made on 10 separate days. Of these, 7 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 May 16, 2025. The most recent report is from May 16, 2025.

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

Weather by month in Cape May Court House

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Cape May 2 NW, NJ, 10 miles southwest of Cape May Court House at 20 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 86°F and low of 68°F; January is the coolest, at 43°F and 29°F. October is the wettest at 4.2 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 3.0 inches; the year adds up to 43.9 inches over 76 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 52% of the year's precipitation (22.7 of 43.9 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 61 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (26); a normal September there has highs of 79°F and 3.8 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 15 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 72 nights a year. Snowfall averages 14.8 inches a year, most of it in February. That 43.9 inches is more than at 6 of the 51 New Jersey stations used on this site (12%). Sea Isle City, 9 miles northeast, has its own station (Estell Manor, NJ): 50.4 inches a year, 6.5 more than here, and a July average high of 87°F against 86°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Cape May, NJ, 10 miles southwest, averaged 75°F in August and 40°F in January over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the Cape May tide gauge, 10 miles from Cape May Court House, has risen 2.01 ± 0.09 inches per decade from 1965 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 20.1 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 120 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Cape May 2 NW, NJ
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. inDays ≥ 0.1"Snow inWater °F
Jan43293.264.540
Feb45293.065.740
Mar52354.172.547
Apr62443.370.153
May71543.670.060
Jun80633.560.069
Jul86683.960.073
Aug84674.050.075
Sep79623.860.074
Oct68514.260.066
Nov57413.360.054
Dec48334.072.044
Year654843.97614.858

Averages for 1991–2020 at Cape May 2 NW, NJ (20 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Cape May, NJ, 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.

New Jersey weather by month, station by station →

Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Cape May Court House

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 128 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Cape May Court House: 58 thunderstorm wind reports, 29 heavy rain events, 18 floods, 14 flash floods and 9 lightning strikes. They killed 0 people and injured 6, and the NWS estimated $30.4 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 75 mph, on October 9, 2007. July has had the most flash floods, 7 of 14. Of the 455 New Jersey cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 37 have had fewer than Cape May Court House.

  • August 1, 2012: lightning strike 7 miles from the centre of Cape May Court House — 4 injured.

  • July 21, 2015: lightning strike 2 miles from the centre of Cape May Court House — 2 injured.

    NWS: “9 at a construction site. One officer was taken to the Atlantic City Medical Center.”

  • April 2, 2005: flood 6 miles from the centre of Cape May Court House — $30.0 million damage.

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 Cape May Court House's ZIP code 08210 have filed 423 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $5.3 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Sandy in 2012: 126 claims (30% of all) and $3.4 million, then Flooding in 1980 with 100 and December Storm - Nor'easter in 1992 with 26. 76% 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, 320 have fewer than Cape May Court House.

Flood insurance claims in Cape May Court House by named event
EventClaimsPaid
Hurricane Sandy2012126$3.4 million
Flooding1980100$585,000
December Storm - Nor'easter199226$200,000
Hurricane Gloria198526$241,000
Winter Storm Jonas201613$110,000

Cape May County, which includes Cape May Court House, has been named in 34 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 22 of them major disasters (by incident: 10 hurricanes, 6 snowstorms, 5 severe storms, 4 floods). The latest major disaster declaration was Remnants of Hurricane Ida, on September 5, 2021. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Cape May County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for coastal flooding and strong wind; Relatively Moderate for hurricanes, inland flooding, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Low for tornadoes; Very Low for hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $99.7 million a year, the 15th highest of 21 New Jersey counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $38.9 million (39%), 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 Cape May Court House