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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Carrollton, VA

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

87 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Carrollton, Virginia since 1851, 14 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ophelia in 2023. Since 1950, 94 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 3 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
14

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
73

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
94

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
3

2 deaths in all

What the records show for Carrollton

The strongest storm to pass near Carrollton was an unnamed storm in 1879, a Category 2 hurricane with 106 mph winds when its centre passed 49 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was an unnamed storm in 1933, whose centre came within 8 miles. The record near Carrollton begins with an unnamed storm in 1851; the most recent system was Ophelia in 2023, a tropical storm 69 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1880s, with 9 systems. Of the 87 systems, 16 have come since 2000. Carrollton has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 93% of the 364 Virginia cities on this site. The highest rating among the 94 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3 or EF3, reached 3 times; the most recent, on April 16, 2011, came within 17 miles. Of the 94, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 48 have come since 2000. August has had the most tornadoes, 21. The most recent tornado was on June 16, 2023. Carrollton has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 91% of the 364 Virginia cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 45 times since 1974, with stones up to 2.5 inches (tennis ball size). Carrollton has more hail reports within 10 miles than 50% of the 364 Virginia cities.

Compare Carrollton's storm record with another city →

Tropical storms and hurricanes near Carrollton

Tropical systems that passed within 75 miles of Carrollton, Virginia, newest first
YearStormClosestStrength when closestPeak
2023OpheliaSep 2369 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
2021ElsaJul 928 miTropical storm (53 mph)Category 1
2021ClaudetteJun 2161 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
2020IsaiasAug 432 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 1
2019NestorOct 206 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
2018MichaelOct 126 miTropical storm (62 mph)Category 5
2013AndreaJun 77 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
2011IreneAug 2749 miCategory 1 (75 mph)Category 3
2008HannaSep 636 miTropical storm (52 mph)Category 1
2007GabrielleSep 1074 miTropical storm (43 mph)Tropical storm
2006ErnestoSep 128 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 1
2006AlbertoJun 1471 miTropical storm (44 mph)Tropical storm
2004GastonAug 3016 miTropical storm (39 mph)Category 1
2004CharleyAug 1430 miTropical storm (48 mph)Category 4
2003IsabelSep 1863 miCategory 1 (78 mph)Category 5
2000HeleneSep 2444 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
1999FloydSep 1627 miCategory 1 (75 mph)Category 4
1998EarlSep 456 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 2
1997DannyJul 2431 miTropical storm (47 mph)Category 1
1996JosephineOct 867 miTropical storm (52 mph)Tropical storm
1996BerthaJul 1316 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 3
1992DanielleSep 2563 miTropical storm (63 mph)Tropical storm
1986CharleyAug 1850 miCategory 1 (79 mph)Category 1
1983DeanSep 3052 miTropical storm (43 mph)Tropical storm
1972AgnesJun 2273 miTropical storm (52 mph)Category 1
1971DoriaAug 2819 miTropical storm (69 mph)Tropical storm
1970AlmaMay 2740 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 1
1969CamilleAug 2013 miTropical storm (41 mph)Category 5
1967DoriaSep 1646 miTropical storm (59 mph)Category 2
1965Unnamed 1965 stormJun 1668 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
1964CleoSep 144 miTropical storm (39 mph)Category 4
1963Unnamed 1963 stormJun 330 miTropical storm (54 mph)Tropical storm
1961Unnamed 1961 stormSep 1423 miTropical storm (51 mph)Tropical storm
1960DonnaSep 1265 miCategory 2 (98 mph)Category 4
1960BrendaJul 30overheadTropical storm (58 mph)Tropical storm
1959CindyJul 107 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 1
1956Unnamed 1956 stormOct 1851 miTropical storm (52 mph)Tropical storm
1956FlossySep 2864 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 1
1955IoneSep 2050 miCategory 1 (75 mph)Category 4
1955ConnieAug 1322 miCategory 1 (78 mph)Category 4
1953BarbaraAug 1452 miCategory 1 (86 mph)Category 1
1947Unnamed 1947 stormSep 2569 miTropical storm (43 mph)Tropical storm
1944Unnamed 1944 stormOct 2121 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 4
1944Unnamed 1944 stormAug 270 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 1
1943Unnamed 1943 stormOct 170 miTropical storm (63 mph)Tropical storm
1935Unnamed 1935 stormSep 68 miTropical storm (67 mph)Category 5
1933Unnamed 1933 stormAug 238 miCategory 1 (78 mph)Category 4
1929Unnamed 1929 stormOct 265 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 4
1928Unnamed 1928 stormSep 1943 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 5
1928Unnamed 1928 stormAug 1257 miTropical storm (47 mph)Category 2
1925Unnamed 1925 stormDec 369 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 1
1924Unnamed 1924 stormSep 307 miTropical storm (72 mph)Category 1
1916Unnamed 1916 stormMay 16overheadTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
1907Unnamed 1907 stormJun 3042 miTropical storm (52 mph)Tropical storm
1904Unnamed 1904 stormSep 1527 miTropical storm (67 mph)Category 1
1902Unnamed 1902 stormOct 1266 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 2
1902Unnamed 1902 stormJun 1636 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
1899Unnamed 1899 stormOct 3164 miTropical storm (60 mph)Category 2
1899Unnamed 1899 stormAug 1864 miCategory 1 (92 mph)Category 4
1897Unnamed 1897 stormOct 2566 miTropical storm (63 mph)Tropical storm
1894Unnamed 1894 stormOct 1028 miTropical storm (72 mph)Category 3
1894Unnamed 1894 stormSep 2970 miCategory 1 (81 mph)Category 3
1893Unnamed 1893 stormOct 2368 miTropical storm (52 mph)Tropical storm
1893Unnamed 1893 stormJun 1749 miTropical storm (62 mph)Category 1
1889Unnamed 1889 stormSep 2514 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 2
1888Unnamed 1888 stormOct 1164 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 2
1888Unnamed 1888 stormSep 1145 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1887Unnamed 1887 stormOct 2149 miTropical storm (43 mph)Category 1
1886Unnamed 1886 stormJul 230 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 2
1883Unnamed 1883 stormSep 1274 miTropical storm (44 mph)Category 3
1882Unnamed 1882 stormSep 2321 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
1882Unnamed 1882 stormSep 1138 miTropical storm (51 mph)Category 3
1881Unnamed 1881 stormSep 1019 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 2
1879Unnamed 1879 stormAug 1849 miCategory 2 (106 mph)Category 3
1878Unnamed 1878 stormOct 2330 miCategory 2 (99 mph)Category 2
1877Unnamed 1877 stormOct 435 miTropical storm (60 mph)Category 3
1876Unnamed 1876 stormSep 1742 miCategory 1 (76 mph)Category 3
1874Unnamed 1874 stormSep 2917 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 1
1872Unnamed 1872 stormOct 2510 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 1
1863Unnamed 1863 stormSep 1820 miTropical storm (58 mph)Tropical storm
1861Unnamed 1861 stormNov 271 miTropical storm (72 mph)Category 1
1861Unnamed 1861 stormSep 2718 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 1
1859Unnamed 1859 stormSep 1732 miTropical storm (60 mph)Category 1
1857Unnamed 1857 stormSep 1460 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 2
1856Unnamed 1856 stormAug 1928 miTropical storm (58 mph)Tropical storm
1854Unnamed 1854 stormSep 1029 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 3
1851Unnamed 1851 stormAug 2552 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 3

Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Carrollton: 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 Carrollton

By decade

  • 2020s10
  • 2010s17(1 EF3+)
  • 2000s21(1 EF3+)
  • 1990s21
  • 1980s3
  • 1970s12(1 EF3+)
  • 1960s5
  • 1950s5
Strongest tornadoes near Carrollton, Virginia
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Apr 16, 2011EF317 mi26.47 mi2 / 24
Apr 28, 2008EF38 mi24 mi0 / 200
Sep 5, 1979F37 mi2.5 mi0 / 2
Mar 31, 2017EF222 mi8.86 mi0 / 0
Apr 16, 2011EF27 mi22.61 mi0 / 0
Sep 4, 1999F212 mi1 mi0 / 6
Aug 6, 1993F217 mi2.5 mi0 / 0
Nov 28, 1988F214 mi12 mi0 / 0
Sep 5, 1979F212 mi0.5 mi0 / 9
Dec 24, 2020EF121 mi2.2 mi0 / 0
Aug 4, 2020EF19 mi21 mi0 / 0
Oct 31, 2019EF124 mi4.85 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 94, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Carrollton

The Storm Prediction Center has 45 hail reports within 10 miles of Carrollton since 1974, made on 31 separate days. Of these, 30 were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.5 inches (tennis ball size), fell on July 1, 1990. The most recent report is from June 16, 2023. June has the most reports, 12.

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

Weather by month in Carrollton

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Newport News International Airport, VA, 13 miles north of Carrollton at 42 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 88°F and low of 70°F; January is the coolest, at 49°F and 31°F. August is the wettest at 5.4 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.6 inches; the year adds up to 45.5 inches over 73 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 58% of the year's precipitation (26.4 of 45.5 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 87 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (35); a normal September there has highs of 81°F and 5.0 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 43 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 64 nights a year. That 45.5 inches is more than at 50 of the 109 Virginia stations used on this site (46%). Hampton, 12 miles northeast, has its own station (Langley AFB, VA): 47.8 inches a year, 2.3 more than here, and a July average high of 87°F against 88°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Sewells Point, VA, 12 miles east, averaged 81°F in July and 44°F in January over 2021–2025. It averaged 80°F or warmer from July to August. Sea level at the Sewells Point tide gauge, 12 miles from Carrollton, has risen 1.90 ± 0.04 inches per decade from 1927 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 19.0 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 115 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Newport News International Airport, VA
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. inDays ≥ 0.1"Water °F
Jan49313.1544
Feb53322.6644
Mar59383.4651
Apr70473.1660
May77563.7768
Jun85654.1776
Jul88704.7781
Aug87685.4780
Sep81635.0577
Oct71514.2668
Nov61403.0558
Dec53343.2648
Year695045.57363

Averages for 1991–2020 at Newport News International Airport, VA (42 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Sewells Point, VA, 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.

Virginia weather by month, station by station →

Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Carrollton

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 260 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Carrollton: 150 thunderstorm wind reports, 52 heavy rain events, 41 flash floods, 13 floods and 4 lightning strikes. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $6.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 79 mph, on August 5, 2003. August has had the most flash floods, 12 of 41. Of the 364 Virginia cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 286 have had fewer than Carrollton.

  • September 25, 2025: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Carrollton — 1 injured, $10,000 damage.

  • October 6, 2006: heavy rain event 9 miles from the centre of Carrollton — $3.0 million damage.

  • October 8, 2016: flood 7 miles from the centre of Carrollton — $2.0 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 Carrollton's ZIP code 23314 have filed 26 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1998, and were paid $395,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Isabel in 2003: 10 claims (38% of all) and $221,000. 81% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 183 Virginia cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 57 have fewer than Carrollton.

Flood insurance claims in Carrollton by named event
EventClaimsPaid
Hurricane Isabel200310$221,000

Isle of Wight County, which includes Carrollton, has been named in 20 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1972, 13 of them major disasters (by incident: 10 hurricanes, 3 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 snowstorms). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on April 2, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Isle of Wight County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for hurricanes and coastal flooding; Relatively Low for tornadoes, hail, inland flooding, strong wind, lightning and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $15.0 million a year, the 36th highest of 133 Virginia counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $5.5 million (36%), 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 Carrollton